Each month, we pick a LEGO photographer and share some of their work and a little about themselves. This month, we put the spotlight on stories_in_bricks!

Hi, my name in Daniel and I live in the northern part of Germany at the moment.

Photography has been a hobby of mine for quite some time and I enjoy mostly nature and sports photography as a creative balance in life. LEGO re-entered my life with the “Doctor Who” Ideas set, as I’m a fan of science fiction and Doctor Who in particular.

I dipped my toes into the world of toyphotography after my godson saw and really liked the Tardis and the figure of Clara Oswald (without really understanding the background). Just for fun, I started to take Clara and the Tardis with me when I traveled, sent him pictures from the places they visited, and also created an Instagram account (then under the appropriate name travelling_clara).

It was a lot of fun and from there the whole toyphotography kind of snowballed…

More acquired minifigures and sets widened the range of stories I was able to tell. With the amount of Doctor Who content decreasing, I regenerated my account into stories_in_bricks, since that is what I want to do with my photos: Tell stories with the help of bricks.

I prefer taking figures and sets outside and use natural materials and light for the photos. And because you never know what photo spots you will find when visiting new places, my camera backpack always holds a small box of an assortment of minifigures and accessories.

If not taking shots outside, I build small MOCs or sceneries inside, if the weather doesn’t play along or if I want to achieve a special effect.

As gear for toy photography I use a Nikon Camera mostly with a 24 mm wide angle or a 105 macro lens. A small LED light or reflector helps with the lighting when I’m outdoors.

Indoors the lighting setup could get more complex with several flashes and LED lights.

In addition to the artistic eye, I try to use different skills and techniques I learned from “normal” photography — especially if I want to achieve “special effects” in photos.

I want to do as much as possible “in camera”, i.e. with practical effects. Using practical effects in the world of toy photography is sometimes easy because of the scale. But the scale also brings new challenges and it’s fun for me to find solutions for these problems. It might take some time and several tries to find a way to realise a practical effect, but it’s always fun to find solutions.

And if I find some particular creative or fun solution, I’m happy to share it on the @brickcentral Discord server.