Toy Photographer Oliver Peterson Discusses His Second Halloween Cover
This week’s cover art was created by none other than Dan’s Papers’ own Oliver Peterson, the managing editor for DansPapers.com.
Peterson started freelance writing for Dan’s in 2003, and joined the staff in 2012 as the web editor – a role that evolved into his current title. As a writer and editor, Peterson has won numerous awards, including from the Press Club of Long Island and the New York Press Association.
But in addition to his writing skills, Peterson is also a gifted artist and toy photographer – and that’s what is featured on this week’s cover. This is Peterson’s second Dan’s cover; his first one was for the 2022 Halloween edition of the paper.
A Conversation with Oliver Peterson
What went into creating this particular cover picture?
Quite a lot goes into creating a scene like this. I actually set up an entire little 1980s neighborhood Halloween with parked cars, a lawn, fences, bushes, carved pumpkins on the ground, potted fall flowers and a bunch of other stuff — even the fallen dry leaves, which I think you can see in the photo. It’s all taking place around this massive dollhouse that was generously given to me by a former coworker at The Southampton Press, plus we have layers of lighting, including lights inside the house and out on the “street.”
And of course we have all the action figures! Luckily I have a massive collection, and these are a large cross section from different brands, years, even scales, but the primary focus is on these NECA figures of kids wearing Ben Cooper Halloween costumes, which were what we all wore during my childhood in the 1980s. It’s a plastic outfit that comes with a half-shell cheap plastic mask held on by a rubber band.
There are also Stranger Things and Twilight figures that are supposed to be the older, denim-clad metalhead teens hanging around while the younger kids trick or treat, and a Marvel Legends Agatha Harkness playing the mother answering the door.
How did you get into, specifically, toy photography?
I was always into toy collecting and eventually, while on a break from painting my mixed media collage work — which people liked — I started playing with the idea of actually doing something with these toys I’d amassed. I took my first toy photos of G.I. Joes as a kid in like 1987, so maybe I always had an inkling that I could do something more with my collection.
Walk us through the process of getting a good toy photo.
You can take a great toy photo with a cellphone and a flashlight, but I’ve gathered some nice gear over the last 11 years of doing this. It’s really all about setting up a convincing scene where everything is in scale, creating depth and composition, getting your camera (or phone) nice and low so it’s down at the action figures’ level, and a bit of creative lighting. Building complicated dioramas and stuff like that can come later, once you’ve got the basics.
Among Dan’s cover art, which is typically paintings, your toy photography is rather unique. What made you think to submit your toy photography for cover art, and when was your first cover?
I think I submitted a picture I did of the Jurassic Park guy, John Hammond, and a little dog on the beach, which of course looked just like our founder Dan Rattiner on the beach, but it was turned down. However, David Taylor, who handled covers at the time, asked me to submit more photos and they chose one I did of skeletons for the Halloween 2022 issue. I was thrilled to get a chance to do it again this year.
When did toys turn from child’s play to art for you?
I’ve been collecting since childhood with maybe a few short breaks. It’s probably a bit out of hand, but it will also blow your mind. I’ve got a lot of stuff from a lot of different genres, eras, films, etcetera. I started photographing them in 2013, though I didn’t get decent at it for quite a while.
The creatively inclined reader might see this cover and want to try something similar themselves. What advice would you give them for getting started?
Like I said, you don’t need much. Just try it with your iPhone and a couple cheap light sources. Lighting is everything. Or shoot outdoors when the light is right so nature will do it all for you. Then the only thing you need to do is create a compelling pose, angle and setup that maintains the illusion. You can’t have a giant maple leaf lying next to a six-inch action figure. Something like moss, for example, or a putting green, can look like normal grass for a tiny figure.
That’s how you need to look at things, and once you do, it’s hard to stop.
How do you help to develop your toy photography further?
For me it’s about improving my photography skills and technique, with the camera and the lighting, and about developing more compelling and original ideas, telling stories that go beyond recreating scenes from popular films, comic books, whatever. And I’m always inspired by seeing what the brilliant people online are shooting, and not just toy photos.
Where can people find more of your photography?
People can visit my Instagram, @oliversees, and drop me a line. There are a ton of pictures to look at and I’d love to hear what you think!
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