Macro Photography With Minifigures

Handy tips for photographing minifigures

The first thing you probably think of with macro photography is close-up photos of exotic or non-exotic flowers in vibrant colours. Or flies photographed from very close up, so close that you can count the lenses in their eyes. But anyone who searches on Instagram will find many photos of Lego figures, Playmobil dolls and miniature people (scale 1:87) placed in the real human world. Welcome to the world of #minifigures.

The only limit is your own imagination

When photographing minifigures, there are roughly two approaches. In the first, a miniature person is in a miniature world, such as a Lego doll in a Lego living room. The trend, however, is to place such a figure in the grown-up world. Think of road workers chopping open a real walnut, or a man rescuing a swan from the oil (a cup of coffee). Or a group of construction workers trying with all their might to pull an Apple earbud out of someone’s real ear. The possibilities are endless.

Photograph at eye level

Of the miniature figures, that is. After all, the photo should give the impression that the figure is just as tall as the viewer. You will notice that this is quite tricky with a DSLR camera, especially if you use those 1:87 figures (Faller or Preiser, best known from model train layouts). The size of the camera and the lens often prevents you from getting down to eye level. It works much better with a smartphone: its lens is located at the corner of the device and can therefore take photos very close to the ‘ground’, for example by holding the smartphone upside down.

Tell a story

Placing a figure nicely is one thing, but it’s much more fun to turn it into a mini story. That can be done with a single minifigure, such as in a photo where a miniature man is trying to crack open a walnut. In this type of photo, you often see the figure tackling an enormous and impossible task. You can also do it with multiple figures doing something together; plugging a data cable into a computer, for example.

Make unexpected combinations

There are all kinds of minifigures available: Lego, Playmobil, Faller and Preiser. The latter not only make standard figures without striking features (‘ordinary people’) but also figures with professions. Lego holds the rights to many films, from Star Wars to Harry Potter. There’s a photo circulating of Darth Vader from Star Wars riding a bike with Yoda in front, floating past the Death Star; a fun parody of the famous scene from ET. Another photo shows a Storm Trooper who has taken off his helmet and is enjoying the sunset with his girlfriend on a real beach. The only limit here is your imagination.

Create depth

Photos taken with smartphone cameras have a large depth of field. However, the cameras also have a minimum focusing distance. Anything too close will appear out of focus in the photo. By using this (smartly), you create depth in the images. To do this, place the figure that can appear out of focus close to the lens. This makes the entire photo more interesting to look at.

Soft toys and pets

Soft toys make excellent supporting models: they stay put wherever you place them and never run off with the minifigures you set in front of them. Cats, especially older ones, are often suitable too. They do not see a minifigure as a threat or as food – the figure has no scent and does not move – so there is a good chance that your cat will simply stay put while you are taking a photo. But of course, you never know for sure; they are still cats, after all…

Inspiration

For inspiration, you can look up the work of the following Instagrammers:

@yislegocollection
@miniverse.de
@frankweisenberger

A commonly used hashtag is #minifigures