Mitchel Wu Toy Photography Behind the Scenes: Ant-Man's Jump

This was not the image I initially set out to create. In my head I had a fun idea for something completely different, with totally different toys. It wasn't coming together in real life though because of a number of reasons, and after spending quite a bit of time messing around with posing and positioning I abandoned that idea and grabbed Ant-Man instead. But even that went through a couple variations and problem solving until I got to the idea you see here. So in this case, as is so often the case, the most challenging part of creating this image was coming up with the idea. Once I had the idea the setup and execution was comparatively easy. Check out this video, which shows how I set the shot up. And apologies for the bad sound quality - filming in my living room is like filming in an echo chamber. I just ordered a little mic for my iPhone which should improve future videos quite a bit. Improving overall video quality is an ongoing goal.

In situations where your tripod doesn't feel stable just hang a sandbag (or even a camera bag in a pinch) from it to stabilize it. This sand bag weighs around 20 pounds and firmly planted my tripod on the stairs. This is my usual setup - Canon 5D3 and Manfrotto 057 CF Tripod.

I find that a 3-way head on the tripod is easier and faster to dial in than a ball head. But in the field I'll use a tripod with a ball head since it's lighter and more compact.

And the final image. Using a wireless remote shutter release allows me to be near my setups or as in this case, IN my setup. I went up and down those stairs a couple dozen or more times checking angles, exposures and the positioning of myself and the knife. At first I used a meat cleaver but it was just a little too much and distracted from Ant-Man. Pretty happy with the final image.

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Thank you to my sponsors at Atmosphere Aerosol, Manfrotto, Spider Holster and Lowepro camera bags.