"Smash Day" is the day where we shoot the fun part: breaking things! Tony doesn't just make props out of these builds. Every piece is a fully functioning weapon and the crew demonstrates that by chopping and breaking things with the finished product.

Before all of the smashing begins, glamour shots for both weapons were shot before we scuff them up in the process of smashing props. Two weapons were crafted for this project: "Ashbringer" (pictured above) and "Doomhammer" (pictured below).

In addition to the weapons, the crew also produced a full set of Demon Hunter armor to help promote the launch of that playable class just before WoW: Legion. The weapon shown was not crafted for this shoot, but it was forged by the same blacksmith. The crew brought it along to add a nice finishing touch to the look of the costume pieces.

With everything in place, it was time to break stuff! I used the same high-speed setup as the previous shoot days in the workshop, but with a lot less danger. Instead of trying to wait for the right moment, I used burst photography to pick and choose the best moments of each break.

The biggest challenge I had as the set photographer was the haze on set and staying out of the way of the video shot, but getting the best angle possible. I had to quickly coordinate my position with the DP to make sure everything was set, and in post production I took advantage of Lightroom's dehazing feature along with some heavy duty color correction to clear up the final shots.

With the Azeroth Armory series, there's ALWAYS a mascot willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. This Murloc, for example...

After the breaking was done and the set cleaned up, we brought on the Demon Hunter for their glamour shots and a few fun poses to show off the full costume. I also added some basic effects for the eyes to better represent the in game characters.

You can view the complete "Azeroth Armory" videos on the official World of Warcraft Youtube channel.