My Nessie.
^ Very, very interesting use of the focus here. Nice photo, is that a new throw?
No, I have has it for a few months.
Nice one @mgiroux77!
Great string picās too Logi. The black paper makes em pop.
Cool idea and photo in the bowl too mrcnja.
Nice job of keeping the thread going everyone. I basically went from my āstockā photos for my catalog and insurance purposes lol, to taking some spinning shots lately. If you guys are on Instagram in here, follow me as ātotalartist.ā Iām taking some yo-yo shots on there, and a lot of other people have some nice Instagram accounts worth checking out.
About Yo-Yo Poses:
Iād like to pose a question for discussion. Do you guys have certain āyo-yo posesā you typically use to take photos? I certainly have my basic two poses that I always use when I get a new yo-yo.
Pose #1:
The first one Iāll call a āprofileā shot. It shows most of the cup area of the yo-yo, but on an angle, so you can see the other half too. My aim while taking this shot, is to show most of the cup area, slightly turned to the side, and also, it irks me if the back half is higher than the front half. I try to get them even, or close to it. Here is an example of what I consider a good shot at this pose:
In this shot, the back is higher than the frontā¦I donāt like it quite as much:
Pose #2
Maybe Iāll call this one the āfull bodyā shot 
The aim of this pose is to capture the two halves, gap, overall shape and so on. But, I donāt like to see any response area showing. I have not always achieved this. But, I try to use the LCD screen as much as possible, for a good shot. If I see the response too much in a gap shot, I usually donāt like the shot. Usually, if I see the response, it means the shot is not centered properly. On some yo-yos, it cannot be prevented. Hereās what I consider a good shot at this pose:
Or this is even a bit better:
When yo-yos are moving, I donāt mind the response area showing, but not for these two poses. Any thoughts?
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I took a lot of photos of my throws this weekend. I still want a few more shots tomorrow though. Once I have all of them, Iāll pick my favorites to post here and on Instagram. In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram @brad_stark44 ;D
Awesome, I will follow youā¦for sure. 
That looks nice. I hope to see more people post spinning shots. Iām surprised I donāt see more of them.
Doing spinning shots really requires 2 people to get the job done ideally. It can be done by oneself, but itās just more difficult to get it done right. Centering it in the frame, angle and what-not.
I may do my collection with spinning shots but for now itās not needed. Iād also do two shots: One with the flash for a freeze, and another with the flash off for that blurred image weāre actually going for.
So anywayā¦
Here are some of my latest shots, this is YoyoSpiritās polish job:
Great spinning shot hereā¦first, Hatrick:
Aware:
Wrath:
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TotalArtist, since you are really trying to improve your photography and starting to deconstruct what makes a good light box photo, Iām going to take a moment and play the critic. I apologize in advance for coming off as harsh.
Starting off with the HOT, we at first see a good light box photo. The composition is good and the background is clean. Unfortunately, the picture is overexposed. The rim on the near half is washed out, especially towards the upper part. The half in the background also reflects some lighting hot spots.
The Void falls to the other extreme; it is underexposed. Most likely, the reason for the issue here is relying to much on your cameraās automatic ability to judge exposure. Even on automatic settings, most cameras will allow you to adjust the exposure of the picture. When in doubt or when you donāt feel like trying to dial in exposure on the cameraās screen, just use exposure bracketing and pick the best shot when you are sorting through them on your computer. As far as getting the front halfās upper edge to be higher than the back, it all comes down to shooting from a low enough angle. Set the camera down in the light box and shoot from there.
This photo of a polished yo-yo is a mess. The two main reasons for a light box is to get a consistent background and to soften the incoming light. Harsh light results in ugly photos. Using natural sunlight is fine, but you have to soften it for clean photos and doubly so when photographing a polished yo-yo in the midday sun. I count no less than eight hot spots. The other tricky part about polished yo-yos is that you have to deal with the reflections that come off of them. I highly recommend using something similar to what you use for the background to cover the opening of the light box. That way you donāt get distracting reflections of yourself in the photo.
The spinning shots all turned out very well and do not have any glaring flaws. I especially love the Wrath. The exposure is perfect, the colors pop, and the tilt adds interest. A+ photo
I think you gave your honest opinion, so I can accept that from some one with more experience taking photos than myself. I think constructive criticism is better than just criticism, so I can take it for what itās worth. The H.O.T., overexposed, true, but worked for what I needed it for. I think itās not as easy to capture as some others Iāve taken. Iāve taken better, but like the pose on that one. Definitely what I wanted to achieve in that area.
The Void, Iād agree is underexposed, but suited my purposes enough that it passed for what I needed it to accomplish, so I used it for the catalog. That was my example of not the best pose, so maybe that will get a re-do at some point. I recently used that photo on Instagram and lightened it before I posted there. I noticed what you had. As for the polished yo-yoā¦I love the look of the hot spots in it. I think the part you hate, is the part I loved, as it gave it that extra bling. I love that photo, and get a lot of compliments on it. Yoyoexpert liked that shot on Instagram. The people who love it are not photographers, but that goes for most of the people who look at them, so I will continue to use that shot as is. Yoyospirit usually captures himself in the photos of his work, to show the literal āmirrorā quality of the job, so I thought it best to continue that for consistency. I didnāt mind being in the photo so much for that reason. Iāve had consistent troubles with extremely shiny yo-yos, whether in or out of the light boxā¦also raw yo-yos in general. I have taken very few photos of yo-yos outside. So, that will come in time.
The spinning shots, Iād agree, I like them the most. Iāve had some trouble with the raw rainbowflauged Sovereign, but otherwise, they seem straight forward getting clean shots. But, I think you enjoy those more, because Iām taking about 150 shots minimum and picking the best few of the bunch. When I do the catalog shots, I just snap 5 or less, pick one of each pose, and move on. Once in a while Iāll go back and re-do them, but these days, not that often. Those shots were originally taken for insurance purposes, so they usually suit the purpose they were taken for. I donāt require very much for them, but people generally enjoy them, and I do as well. I think much of the advice here, has taken me a long way. Thanks for taking the time to write that up. Most would not have.
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Here are my shots from the weekend and today. I donāt have a proper light box setup at the moment so I went with nature shots. I am open to constructive criticism as I am still very new to photography.
Lost Essence with blue/green glow in the dark powdercoat by Mullicabob
Ninja Hurdles Chief
Gold Wrath
Phoenix Edition Victory
Copperwood Y-Factor, didnāt notice the dirt on the rim until I put the picture on my computer
Paul Kerbel MVP
Drop Bear
Kitteh Code 2, didnāt know how blurry it was until I put it on my computer
Jason Wong Wet Whistle with a bonus spider web
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great stuffs going on here.
Wow, Mr.Squirrel, youāve been out doing a lot of shots. Looking good there, I can tell youāre working with the focus, and getting it direct on the yo-yo, where you want it. The light is hitting the Chief and Drop Bear just right, and made those my favorites.
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I have 5-6 basic poses I use, which can climb to up to 9 or 10:
I am preferring to take the shots with the string off.
Head on.
Angled sides, so 2 shots.
Profile/width
Other face, if necessary. Depends on the yoyo. If the graphics are different or different colors, then yes, itās necessary.
Tall shot, yoyo on side. Another profile shot, but from another angle, really.
Thatās my basics right there.
Then if I want/need/desire/arenāt too tired:
Yoyo taken apart:
Half with axle, often angled a bit towards camera.
Half with bearing, often angled a bit towards camera.
Half with no axle or bearing, often angled a bit towards camera.
One half with axle shown, one half with bearing shown, axle-half tilted towards camera to show bearing seat.
Iād like to do spinning shots.
Donāt feel that you have to take yo-yo pictures in a light box. Pictures taken with a light box are generally very sterile and somewhat boring photos. Their point is to draw all the focus to the subject and highlight the details of said subject. When you are shooting outside of a light box, you have to worry more about lighting and composition as these things are made more complex. But with the added complexity comes an added freedom to bring out your more artistic side (something which I often struggle with). When photographing a yo-yo in a dirty, non-sterile environment, see the yo-yo as a subject in a larger scene. Allow the yo-yo to interact with the world around it, whether it is sitting on a tree branch, dangling from a belt holster, or something more imaginative and interesting than my uncreative brain can come up with. Get out there, create scenes, take lots of pictures, and then think about what you like and donāt like about your photos.
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I do like a good lightbox photo, and TotalArtist has some great ones! I also like environment shots with natural lighting. Iām not picky when it comes to good yoyo shots.
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Cascadeā¦