I probably wouldn't be taking dio photos if it weren't for digital cameras!

I can remember my very first photo, probably early '83, where I setup the Joe forces for an incoming attack (of, what, three Cobras?!). It was 110 film (remember those?) and turned out blurry (I was only 8). No doubt I got chewed out for wasting film on toys, and the hobby was squelched. I tried it again, of and on, but we never had a "good" camera in the house, so a macro focus was out of the question. Man, I wish I could find that blurry photo of the '82 Joes, though...

These days, dio photography has kept the hobby alive for me. I'm not a "collectible" guy, in that I don't enjoy filling shelves of ambiguously valuable items. But I love the Joes, and seeing them in various situations from all of you stimulates my imagination. For me, any diostory is a fun read, because someone's putting a lot of effort into a presentation. Things were pretty dull when the site was down.

Wow, this is a lively forum! You guys rule.

I hadn't considered the part those old catalogs played in inspiring us. Worse still, I hadn't factored in the impact of digital cameras!

I'll be sure to drop a link when the column goes live.

Thanks so much!

Cheers,

Monte

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Now, maybe I'll add some international and maybe exotic feeling to the topic

As for me, firstly and mainly, the Joes were toys (the best toys ever, ex aequo with Lego, but still toys). I had quite a collection and when my cousin get to my place (or I to his), we always had some major Joe vs Cobra battles.

Then I grew up from them, and then when I got broadband internet (hell... when was it... 2003? 2002? around that date somewhere) I started digging up the net and found - Joes are still alive and I was hooked again.

I never did action or story photos before, but we had a digi-cam in family back in the 2003 or something and I thought - "why not take a chance". First photos were... 4/10 if I were to give them points Layout sometimes sucked, with bad light and so on - however still have them, and they feature some nice not photoshopped effects.
And then a storyline came to my mind and it all started... (and still I"m probably the only one in my country making Joe-dioramas...)

And besides - noteworthy is a fact, that here in Poland, we have very limited amount of Joes. Mostly figures from something like 88-89 wave up to Star Brigade (which were last Joes on our shop shelves). Not all figures from particular waves, not all vechicles and no real way to get them from other countries (not counting those lucky kids, who had a family in the US back then).

Joes are still hard to obtain here, as getting them through e-bay costs quite a lot and collections grow much much longer

And I do agree with other, saying that making dios is closest thing to playing with Joes in childhood

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I forget who's tagline is,"paying hasbro's bills since 1982", but that, I believe is many of us even if it's been intermittently. i was introduced to Joedios by discovering Violentfix's website. his website was instructive, inspirational, innovative and his narratives are genius. Violentfix has many links, but Joedios was the most consistent and dedicated regarding the dio content. Joedios is the most organized site of its kind and seems to attract a more serious artist...yes artist. i chose the term artist because these pics are definitely a mode of expression, and it takes a certain level of fearlessness to do this...ask Otto. he questioned how you tell a woman you're interested in that you take pictures of your"army guys". not everyone has the self assurance to pursue a medium that is perceived as a bit dorky or immature. i hope no one here ever stops and i hope that this site continues to perpetuate an iconic pastime like Joe collecting.
Thanks Monte... THE END

At the end of the day, who cares what others think of our hobby? We harm no-one and it keeps us off the streets!

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"The future's uncertain and the end is always near." - The Doors "Roadhouse Blues".

Unless you take pictures of your figures on the street

Hopefully when not to busy to avoid them getting smashed.

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Is for constructive criticism (will even settle for destructive) just anything but "Nice shot" or "Awesome".

Funny you guys should mention taking pics on the street. At the front entrance to our housing Complex is an area of exposed ground (dirt and Rock) the looks like the caves in Tora Bora Afghanistan. I've been wanting to do a Cobra attacks the Taliban photo shoot there.....just a matter of not getting hit while doing it! LOL!

When we talk about Dios, are we talking about the textbook definition? Dio's have been around for centuries. Look in ANY museum! Stuffed animals in glass with painted backgrounds. I Remember making Dioramas for dinosaurs and book reports in elementary school.

I like what someone said earlier in that the legends who created this site gave it it's new meaning. Yet, I show friends at work my stuff and give them the Website and they say "Joe Deeos?" (Think Ronnie James Dio when you say it!) I started "Re-collecting" in 2002, and while searching for places to get replacement parts, I ran into THIS site and thought "Well, I'm too old to get down in the floor and play with them, why not set em up and take digital pictures of them?"

To me, "Dios" means works of Art. It is more than just crude tisspue paper and pipe cleaner palm trees with plastic dinosaurs in a box set up as a static display. It's Combining Model making, photography, lighting, Set Design, Story telling and Special Effects And enjoying taking the time, effort and imagination to combine these crafts to make people suspend their disbelief, quit thinking they are looking at toys and enjoy a story...hopefully a well told one! It's taking the childish art of the Diorama and professionally bringing it to life.

It's not about being the best at any of these disciplines, yet learning and improving in each of them so they compliment one another and bring alive an art that started as making a model of a single moment in time!

Now that you mention it, that's probably true and where the catalog/stores borrowed the idea from initially.

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Is for constructive criticism (will even settle for destructive) just anything but "Nice shot" or "Awesome".

Oh thank you.

I should point out, the invention of digital cameras have made just about everyone a fotographer. I use FOTOGRAPHER as the 90% of who can't shoot a single thing clearly the 1st time around. Let's face it, real photographers, the best of the best of the best can get what they want on one try (2 if it's still life). Real photographers can take hours getting the right set, setting up the exposure, etc. Some of us are real good at taking pics of our toys, but for the more advanced folks, HOW MANY SHOTS DID IT TAKE YOU???

In a way, we are more like movie makers. We need to take several shots from different angles so we can see what we like best. In the real world that isn't easy. You only got 1 shot of someone hitting a homerun and getting it right.

Yes, real photographers have most likley moved to digital so they can, uh, well, do what they do. But I believe that a lot of the old skool guys (craig in other words) can shoot with either type of camera and do well. And EVEN if real photographers had to go thru rolls of film, well, the cost to them was a lot more to get their game right (unless of course it was all paid for).

So I say FOTOS all the time because the amount of time, effort and etc isn't as hardcore for most of us. Call them pieces, works, art, whatever... It's just that most of the stuff in the PHOTOS sections are 1-shot fotos/pieces. It's hard to explain.