Toy Photography: Water & Reflections
Updated: Aug 31
If you've seen my toy photography, I think you have probably already realised how much I love photographing them in water. I think a lot of photographers are drawn to reflections. Windows, puddles, mirrors - there’s just something about it which scratches my brain. (One of my favourite photographers, Demas Rusli, does reflections ridiculously well, by the way - definitely worth checking out if you haven’t come across his work before.)
But let's be honest, water is a bitch to work with.
Quick Find:
2.1. Shallow Water
2.2. Deep Water
2.3. Moving Water
3.1. Angles & Composition
3.2. Building the Scene
Toy Photography with Water
Anyone who has spent time carefully building a miniature scene outdoors will know just how quickly the weather can undo your plans, let alone then adding in the additional water element. It's incredibly frustrating when you’ve spent so much time creating the scene in the first place, to then knock it all over into the water. That's another level of annoyance.
Over time, I’ve experimented with a few different approaches to creating water-based images, from using natural reflections to working with small, controlled bodies of water. In this article, I’ll share some of the techniques that I’ve found most useful, along with a few tips for making the process a little easier - and hopefully a lot less stressful.
Finding the Best Water Locations for Toy Photography
One of the hardest parts of water photography is finding the right location, followed closely by having the patience to wait for the weather to cooperate. We can’t do much about the weather, but we can choose where we shoot, which means at least half the struggle is already taken care of.
After plenty of failed attempts at locations I thought would work perfectly, I’ve realised that one of the most important things to look for is shallow water. It sounds obvious, but if the water is too deep, there’s a pretty good chance your entire setup is going to sink.
For most of my shots, I look for shallow, still water with plenty of distance between my subject and the background. That extra distance lets the surroundings fall nicely out of focus, creating a softer backdrop and helping the subject stand out.
Start with Puddles
If you’re completely new to water photography, one of the best places to start is also one of the easiest to find: a puddle.
Puddles are a surprisingly effective way to practise photographing water and reflections. They’re usually shallow enough to make setting up relatively painless, and if the weather is on your side, the surface can be still enough to give you a beautifully clean reflection.
The other advantage is that you have much more control over the scene. A puddle might only be a few feet across, but your camera doesn't need to know that. Add miniature trees, plants, rocks or even a doll’s house in the background and you can start turning something very ordinary into a much bigger world.
It’s actually one of the things I love most about toy photography: what exists outside the frame doesn't really matter. You only need to create the illusion for the small part that ends up in the photograph.
Here’s one of my first ever puddle shots, taken back in 2016.
Working with Deeper Water
Sometimes you’ll find a location that looks perfect, only for the water to be far too deep to simply place your figures into it. In that case, you’ll need to build from the ground up.
Find something tall and sturdy enough to push securely into the ground beneath the water, with the top sitting just below the surface. This gives you a hidden platform to build your scene on, while still creating the illusion that your figures are standing naturally in the water.
Using Running Water
Still water might be easier to work with, but running water can bring a completely different feel to an image. Streams, small waterfalls and even gently moving water can add a sense of movement that you simply don't get from a perfectly still surface.
The main challenge is keeping your setup exactly where you put it. Even a fairly gentle current can be surprisingly good at moving lightweight figures and props, so spend a little extra time properly ‘grounding’ everything before you start shooting. Make sure any stands or supports are heavy and secure enough to withstand the movement of the water. Otherwise, you might find yourself unexpectedly running downstream trying to rescue half your setup.
Running water will also affect your reflections. Rather than the clean, mirror-like reflection you can get from still water, movement across the surface will distort and soften it. Personally, I quite like this effect, particularly when photographing boats, as that little bit of movement can make the scene feel much more natural.
Freezing or Blurring the Water
Once everything is securely in place, you can decide what you actually want the water to look like.
A faster shutter speed will freeze more of the movement, capturing individual splashes and details in the water. Slow the shutter speed down and that movement begins to blur, giving the water a much softer appearance.
Take it further with a long exposure and you can create that smooth, almost smoky effect you often see in landscape photography. I particularly like this when working around streams, where the soft movement of the water can create a nice contrast against a completely sharp figure.
There isn't necessarily a right shutter speed to use here. It depends on how quickly the water is moving and the effect you're trying to create, so this is one of those occasions where it's worth experimenting. Take a few shots at different shutter speeds and see how much movement you want to keep in the final image.
What You’ll Need for Long Exposures
If you decide to experiment with longer exposures, there are a few extra bits of equipment worth bringing along.
The most important is a tripod. Once the shutter starts staying open for longer, shooting handheld becomes increasingly difficult. Even the smallest movement can leave your figures looking blurry rather than keeping them sharp against the moving water.
A remote shutter release can also be useful, although it isn’t essential. Pressing the shutter button can introduce a tiny amount of camera shake, so a remote lets you take the photograph without touching the camera. If you don't have one, your camera's two-second timer does pretty much the same job for free.
If you're shooting during the day, an ND filter is probably the most useful addition to your kit. Think of it as sunglasses for your lens: it reduces the amount of light reaching the camera, allowing you to use a much slower shutter speed without completely overexposing the image.
You won't necessarily need one if you're shooting somewhere fairly dark or around sunrise and sunset, but in brighter conditions it gives you much more freedom to experiment with longer exposures.
Finally, bring something to clean your lens. This sounds incredibly boring until you're standing in a stream and realise every photograph has a giant water droplet across it.
Light, Colour & Reflections
Something that’s easy to overlook when choosing a location is what surrounds the water, not just the water itself.
Water naturally reflects the colours and light around it, which means your surroundings can have a huge impact on how it appears in the final image. If you’re shooting beneath trees, for example, the greens and warmer tones from the landscape can be reflected across the surface, helping the water feel like part of the environment rather than something separate from it.
This is one of the reasons I love shooting around woodland. Trees, plants and even the sky can introduce beautiful colours and textures into the water without you having to add anything to the scene yourself.
The opposite can also happen. If there’s very little surrounding the water to reflect, or you’re shooting from an angle where it’s predominantly reflecting a bright sky, the surface can appear almost completely white. Sometimes that can work, but it can also become one of the brightest parts of the image and start pulling attention away from your subject.
If the water is looking too bright or empty, try changing your camera angle before changing anything else. Even a small adjustment can completely change what the surface is reflecting. Shooting slightly lower, repositioning your setup or finding an area surrounded by more trees and foliage can introduce much more colour and depth into the water.
It’s worth remembering that when you photograph water, you’re not only photographing what’s beneath the surface. You’re photographing everything it can see.
How to Create Reflections in Toy Photography
One of my favourite parts of shooting with water is the reflection. It can completely transform an image, and depending on how still the water is, you can create anything from an almost perfect mirror image to something much softer and more distorted.
If you’re looking for a strong, clean reflection, still water is your best friend. The more movement there is on the surface, the more distorted your reflection will become. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. A little movement can add a sense of motion to an image and sometimes make the scene feel much more natural.
Just be careful when scouting particularly still water. If it’s stagnant, has an unpleasant smell or generally looks like somewhere you probably shouldn't be putting your hands, it’s best to find somewhere else. No photograph is worth getting ill for.
As you can see in the image below, the water was moving very slowly, which softened and slightly blurred the reflection. I actually really like this effect when photographing boats, as it gives the impression that they're moving through the water rather than sitting perfectly still.
Angles & Composition
For a strong reflection, I usually position my camera as close to the water level as possible, shooting across the surface rather than down towards it.
This also works particularly well with toy photography because the lower perspective helps bring you into the figure’s world. Instead of looking down at a small toy, you’re photographing it much more like you would a full-sized subject.
That’s what works best for my style, but don't be afraid to move around your setup and experiment with different angles. Sometimes shifting the camera by only a few inches can completely change the reflection. I have a habit of wanting to squeeze the entire reflection into the frame because I love the symmetry it creates. The problem is that this can sometimes mean pulling the camera too far away, making the actual subject feel a little lost.
If you want both the subject and its reflection to stand out, try putting plenty of distance between your setup and the background. You can then use a wider aperture to soften any distracting details behind your subject and keep the attention where you want it.
Building the Scene
Once I’m happy with the position of my figures, I start looking at everything around them.
One of the easiest ways to make a miniature scene feel more believable is to pay attention to scale. I’ll often remove large leaves, sticks or anything else that suddenly makes my figures look obviously tiny. At the same time, smaller rocks, branches and plants can be repositioned and used as part of the scene. A small branch can become a fallen tree, while a few carefully placed rocks can completely change the landscape.
For example, in the image below I didn't want the Guardian to actually be standing in the water. I wanted it to look as though he was sitting at the edge of a lake, staring out across it.
I placed him on a rock beside the water and then used leaves in the background to build up the surrounding landscape and add an extra pop of colour. It's a fairly simple setup, but carefully choosing what stays in the frame — and what gets removed — can make a huge difference to how believable the final scene feels.
Water Photography Field Kit
Before setting out to find that perfect patch of water, it helps to be prepared for the fact that you’re probably going to get wet.
Whenever I head out to shoot around water, waterproof hiking boots are one of the first things I bring. There’s also a fairly reliable chance that I’ll end up sitting, kneeling or lying in the water at some point to get the angle I want, so waterproof trousers are always a good idea too. Leave the jeans and anything remotely fancy at home and be prepared to get a little wet and muddy.
A small tripod is another useful addition to your kit, particularly when you’re working at ground level or experimenting with longer exposures. Aside from keeping the camera steady, it also means you’re not trying to balance expensive equipment precariously on rocks at the edge of the water.
I also like to give my camera a little extra protection when I’m shooting particularly low. I’ll sometimes wrap a transparent plastic bag around the camera body, leaving the lens exposed. Even a sandwich bag can work in a pinch. It won't make your camera waterproof, but it can provide an extra barrier against splashes, mud and wet ground.
Finally, in the wise words of Douglas Adams, “always carry a towel.”
"Always carry a towel." - Douglas Adams
It turns out this is equally good advice for intergalactic travel and water photography.
TL;DR: Pack a small tripod, a plastic bag to help protect your camera body from splashes and mud, walking boots or wellies, waterproof trousers, a towel and, if you have room, a spare pair of socks.
Water is only one way to bring your a miniature world to life. If you'd like to explore more ways to photograph figures, take a look at my toy photography tips & tricks, where I cover everything from camera angles and composition to aperture and lighting. If it's inspiration you're after, I also have a list of toy photography ideas to help you stay creative.
As always, stay curious.
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