DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

These moody toy car photos were made from stuff we can all find at home

Jan 17, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic 9 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

If you ask me, few things can spark our creativity as limited resources can. Photographer from Kerala, India Mithun M Das’ gives us a perfect example of this. He took some really cool photos of 1970 Dodge Charger. But the trick is that they were all taken in his living room, with a toy car and scenes made from stuff he could find around him.

Perhaps you remember Mithun by a very cool couple photo made with a droplet, a paper cutout and a background on a computer screen. Or maybe you’re familiar with great macro photos he took using a modest kit lens. He always wants to show that we need to work with what we got, and his latest project is no different.

Mithun wanted to do something different from what we can see in many photography tutorials. “Almost every tutorial in YouTube on toy car photography uses softboxes, remote triggers, tripods, and the list goes on,” Mithun tells DIYP. “So I wanted to try and see if I could get decent photos without any of these accessories and by getting creative with ordinary things around us.”

As his main subject, Mithun used a 1:32 scale model of 1970 Dodge Charger. He tells me that it’s the one Dominic Toretto uses in the Fast and the Furious 1. I frankly don’t remember the movie at all, but the true fans among you probably do.

As for the background and the base, Mithun used two Thermocol sheets and a couple of books to support them. He used dirt and mud to create the ground, and the garage you’ll see in two of the images was made out of simple cardboard. Good ol’ wheat flour acted as the snow. Here’s one BTS video for you to see how it was done. I especially like the natural “smoke machine.” :)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mithun M Das (@mithun_dthirdiphotography)

“Most of the photos were shot at night, to avoid interference of natural light,” Mithun explains. He used a fluorescent tube as the light source for most of the photos most of them. As for the gear, the photos were shot on a Nikon D7200 paired with a Nikkor 50mm 1.4G and a Nikkor 18-140mm. Also, all of the scenes were built from scratch and there was no Photoshop involved.  Mithun only used Photoshop to add a background in some photos, as well as to add light to the headlights.

“What I’m trying to say is that everything you need is right around you. You just have to play with it,” Mithun wants you to know. He hopes that his photos will inspire at least a few of you out there to just experiment and work with what you’ve got.

Take a look at more photos below, and make sure to check out more of Mithun’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

This boy with autism raised $40,000 to publish book of toy car photos he shot with his phone Default ThumbnailTake Cool Car Photos With A DIY Specialized Car Rig Photographer creates surreal moody art with only stock photos Make a DIY smartphone slider with a toy car and some household items

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Mithun M. Das

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Venus Optics soon to announce super-fast Laowa f/0,95 Argus lenses
How to photograph a clear liquid bottle using inexpensive gear and unusual modifiers »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Mirrorless cameras shot 58% of this year’s Astro Photographer of the Year shortlist images
  • The Shure SM7dB eliminates quiet microphone signals with a built-in preamp
  • Web Photoshop Launches with Adobe Firefly AI: No longer beta and no longer free
  • How I shot this maternity portrait on a huge 1m² large format camera
  • Photographer’s favourite ‘Robin Hood’ tree cut down overnight

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy