A Photographer’s Playground
I’ve never outgrown my fascination for toys. A few years back a friend asked me to lead a workshop photographing toys. My first reaction was, “Who’s going to sign up for that?” He suggested I do a Google search and it opened a whole new creative doorway and reason for collecting toys. I discovered there are thousands of people around the world creating very fun photographs with toys.
Toys now accompany my camera on just about every trip. These images are some of my favorites from around South Dakota.
Chad Coppess is the photo editor for South Dakota Magazine
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I like placing toys in real situations and landscapes. I created this custom vintage photographer with parts from various action figures and the camera is actually a pencil sharpener. Here he lines up a shot along the Missouri River near Pierre. -
Badlands National Park is one of my favorite toy photography locations. Landscapes here make spectacular settings for prehistoric, Old West and science fiction images. -
Sometimes the most fun photos come by placing toys in a magnificent location. -
Western history is one of my favorite subjects and it’s fun to pose toys where a scene like this may have actually happened. When I discovered this line of cowboy toys, I knew I’d found a gold mine of inspiration. -
A figure like King Kong really needs a dramatic building in the background, like the State Capitol in Pierre. -
Stuntman Evel Knievel rides a wheelie in the sunrise at Stockade Lake. -
The lush greenery of Sica Hollow State Park is a great place for naive Wilderness Explorer Scout Russell to find a snake. -
A cowpoke relaxes in the actual ghost town of Scenic. -
Fort Pierre native Casey Tibbs became a rodeo legend and is still celebrated in the arena bearing his name. -
Although rarely seen along the Missouri River in South Dakota, an occasional moose does wander through frosty scenery here. -
The legend of Jesse James and his horse jumping Devil’s Gulch at Garretson is still debated, but the toy versions need a little time to calm down from the excitement. -
Showing motion with inanimate toys can be a challenge, but waves on Lewis and Clark Lake create the illusion that this truck is actually moving. -
Same place, different day as the yellow truck shot, this dinosaur is just heavy enough to sit still while the water flows past him, again creating the illusion of a living creature. -
An early mountain man explorer and his pet mountain lion enjoy a calm sunrise at Sylvan Lake. -
Bikers navigating the Needles Highway during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally aren’t aware that they’ve been joined by a miniature version of themselves. -
Real locations like the inside of the bank at the 1880 Town near Belvidere make a toy sheriff look authentic. -
While researching a story on strange beings reported in the Badlands, I photographed a yeti traversing the steep hillsides. -
Historic Deadwood makes a great backdrop for lawmen on the prowl. -
When I spot a feature like the dilapidated church in the ghost town of Cottonwood, I just need to find a spot that puts the toy at the right angle. In this case he is standing on a fence post. -
Making do with what’s available, this cowboy found just the right angle atop my vehicle to show off the beauty of Spearfish Canyon behind him. -
Dinosaurs did roam the plains of West River and a little bit of spray fog in a can provides the atmosphere to make it seem like they still do.
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