365 Days of Stormtrooper Photos

[bonniegrrl]

365 Days of Stormtrooper Photos

Words: Bonnie Burton
Photos: Stéfan Le Dû

Ever wonder what your toys do when you're not around watching over them? Star Wars fan and photographer Stéfan Le Dû brings to life his stormtrooper action figures in a series of photos he's taking every day for a year. His stormtroopers are capture on film undergoing dangerous adventures, playing games, hanging out with monkeys and more.

Starwars.com chats with Stéfan about what drives him to take photos of his action figures in... action.

What made you want to take a different photo of a stormtrooper toy every day?

I love Star Wars, I'm a big fan of toy photography, and I wanted to try something a bit challenging on Flickr. I saw a few awesome pictures using these stormtroopers toys before like Doctor Beef's sets. I also stumbled upon a few excellent "365 days" project, like "Year of the Fett" which is using LEGO Star Wars figures. All of this led me to this project of "One Stormtrooper shot, each day, during one year".

Which photo is your favorite?

There are a few ones I like more than the other ones. The "Theory of Evolution of the Stormtrooper" is one of them. I like it because besides my usual TK455 and TK479 Stormies (yes, they have ID codes), there's Chewbacca on it (everyone loves Chewbacca), plus some monkeys (everyone loves monkeys), and the concept stormtrooper from Ralph MacQuarrie! All of this arranged in a way that makes sense (or tries to).


(Photo by Stéfan Le Dû)

How do you come up with specific scenarios for your photo sets?

The ideas come from various sources of inspirations. I like using objects in my house, or every day situations, or other toys, and giving them a "Galactic Civil War" touch using the stormtroopers. Other movies or pop culture references are also something I like to use. Some photos are just a "one-shot" idea, other fit into a series inside the series, like the "Imperial Requisitions," the unavoidable "Not the droid we're looking for" or the more recent "Movie Stars."

What I like about these particular stormtroopers action figures is that despite their integral armor, they can be very expressive - there's a lot of body language in them.

Do you have tips for fans who want to start creating cool Star Wars toy photo series like yours?

It's not easy to give tips to people because I'm just an amateur who's trying to give some fun while having fun myself, but here are a few things :
- Do, or do not. There is no try. Sorry, I needed to say that.
- Choose some characters that you like and inspire you. Ideas will come more easily. If the characters are some popular icons, it will be easier to catch some attention from the Internets.
- If you want to run a 365 project, it's a good thing to always have a few ideas in advance, because there can be some days when you don't have time or inspiration. Look around you, think about it a little bit everyday, and ideas will come.
- Ideas are the more important thing, but if you can, read one or two articles about basic photography techniques, like composition. There are some very simple things that anyone can do to improve his shots, without the need of a big professional $1000 camera.
- More importantly, have fun! That's what toys are for!

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Check out the full photo set here:
Stormtroopers 365

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SOURCE: Official Star Wars Blog