Awesome photography by Ki Young Lee, and maybe you?

[Bruce N H]

Hey all,

Recently I've been following some people who do really awesome photography, where the emphasis is not so much on building MOCs, but on highlighting figs (and sometimes MOCs) using great photography, lighting effects, and editing. One great example of this is Ki Young Lee. Be sure to check out his whole photostream to see great examples with the Avengers, Star Wars, CMFs, and other themes, but here are a few of my favorite castle-centric ones:






So, how about you? What's your best photo? I'm not saying what's your best MOC, but your best image? Alternatively, what are some of the best images you've found by others?

Bruce

[soccerkid6]

Great topic idea, Bruce. I have a lot of pictures I like, so it'd be hard to choose a favorite. Unfortunately, my photo editing skills aren't very advanced, so most of my pictures aren't too fancy.
But here's one I especially like (from an entry for the last CCC, actually):

[mrcp6d]

This is a cool topic Bruce! This is one of my favorites of my MOCs, but the pic itself is not my work, it's my younger brother's:

For this he used a SUPER long exposure (pretty sure he told the camera to open the shutter, then when he was done, close the shutter) and a flashlight to add soft lighting to only portions of the build. Lots of trial and error in a dark room. He's got a talent for photography IMNSHO.

[Crazycrownieguy]

Those are some pretty amazing photos.
my personal bests would have to be a tie between these two

[josdu]

It's tough (even though editing isn't my strong point ), but I dare say of my newer MOCs this one is the best shot :
Dreary Night by W. Navarre
Also, great idea for a thread !

[Bruce N H]

Some great examples so far! Craziecrowny, in the space-themed one, are those Lifelites?

I guess I should have included one for myself. This is one of my earliest post-dark-age shots, but still one that I'm extremely proud of, my Chamber of Marzabul. The MOC itself is pretty basic - a square room with a little bit of texture on the walls (if I re-did this today I'm sure I'd do much better on that), but I was proud of how the scene came together. It was all in an enclosed box so no extra light could come in, and lit with two desk lamps. One was overhead, and I built a tube out of LEGO bricks (melted a couple, btw) to get the spotlight effect (in the book, a shaft of light from far overhead brings sunlight down onto Balin's tomb). The other light used a blue bulb and was outside the doorway on the left, so we get that greenish blue glow on Boromir, who is standing watch at the door (where a hoarde of orcs will come through shortly).


Bruce

[Crazycrownieguy]

Some great examples so far! Craziecrowny, in the space-themed one, are those Lifelites?

I guess I should have included one for myself. This is one of my earliest post-dark-age shots, but still one that I'm extremely proud of.

Bruce

Yes they are, I got them as a christmas present a couple years ago. That's really good for being taken so soon after your dark ages.

[Sir Valiant]

Great topic Bruce! I am currently working on a MOC right now that is talking for to long for getting the right picture rather than just building something cool. I think some of the very best photos of LEGO castle creations are the ones that use forced-perspective. This is a really ahrd thing to do as you are building in various scales and trying to have it all line up great for the camera.

Some of my own personal work that I love a lot are:

and:


When a picture can tell an entire story, then it is pretty amazing.
By far my favorite LEGO photo that I have seen is this one by Dark-Alamez:

Now that takes some real skill!

Sir Valiant~

[gid617]

Here is one that relied heavily on editing:

And I've also done a few edited GARCs but those don't quite fit the Castle part of Classic-castle.
Then here are some that are just nice shots, I thought.



(And a link to a even-less-castle one.)
But of course those last few involved a lot of building too!

[Mark of Falworth]

I try to do this kind of shot quite a lot. Photography is a big part of making a MOC.
Most of my better pictures in this style also have a good amount of LEGO bricks in them too.


Climax of Destiny by Mark of Falworth, on Flickr


CCC (LoR) A Visit to the Armory. by Mark of Falworth, on Flickr


(LCC) The End (Part 2){Cinematic shot} by Mark of Falworth, on Flickr


(LCC) Through the Heat of the Desert by Mark of Falworth, on Flickr

[digger1221]

Here's a pic I took a couple years ago using a neat trick that didn't require any editing.

[Justin M]

Still one of my favorites

[Brother Steven]

Neat idea Bruce! here are some of my favs!


A Nook Of Learning


GRÔZ The Giant


Naughtston Abby


Seeking Aid

[Adolfo]

My contribution for this wonderful topic:

Neuschwanstein Castle - Gatehouse 1 by Adolfo LUG Brasil, on Flickr

[Brickninja]

Mine.