Vesa Lehtimäki
banner
avanaut.bsky.social
Vesa Lehtimäki
@avanaut.bsky.social
Illustrator and an occasional photographer of small things. Never won any awards but I was nominated for a HUGO once. You’ll find no AI here. avanaut.com
While the book was mostly made with photographs I already had, several were photographed exclusively for the book. These four, for example.

I think the book succeeded in capturing the essence of my discoveries photographing Lego.

Good times!
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Some photographs from the Small Scenes book. These existed before the decision to make the book was made. It is basically a collection of works I had managed to achieve by the time of publication.
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Small Scenes from a Big Galaxy book of my Lego Star Wars photographs was published exactly ten years ago today. Ten years! Time goes by fast when you’re having fun.

Pictured all five language editions that came out shortly after the original English edition.
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Making room for some new goodies, putting this in bags and up for sale. How much do these fetch these days? Prices on eBay vary wildly.
September 2, 2025 at 1:01 PM
My new car, photographed it on a sunny day a while ago. I just love those curvy lines, what a gorgeous little car. They sure did good back in 1967.

Too bad it's less than 20 centimeters long, a scale model I built.

#scalemodel #ferraridino #toyphotography
August 29, 2025 at 2:52 PM
I sampled a few of the scale models with lighting for this post and added some background info to them. Random picks in no particular order. Let's call this a #FlashbackFriday post.

Have a great weekend!
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I think using Photoshop for adding light takes away the fun. If I photoshop lights on then where's the limit? It never ends. There is an appeal to that as well of course, nothing wrong with it, but I enjoy the limits of what can be done with some leds and optic fiber. It feels more real to me.
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Sometimes I get questions about the lights on the models in my photographs. People are curious to know whether the lighting is real or if it's photoshopped on. Well, the lights are always real (with one exception).

Captions in ALT text.
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
You don't really get how big those walkers are until you see one on a foggy day.

#scalemodel #starwars
July 6, 2025 at 4:11 PM
I was unwinding from a busy week the other day, leisurely photographing garden flowers on a sunny day. Just playing with the camera, no plan, having a moment. Then a bee arrived and before I knew it The Blue Danube Waltz began playing in my head. You know?
June 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
The Pit Stop (2015). When you gotta go, you gotta go.

The dog in the photograph is still with us, turns 14 in September. #FlashBackFriday
May 23, 2025 at 11:07 AM
I opened some folders in the archives to look for something. I found this instead. From 2009, I had bought Corel Painter software and I was figuring it out by making random illustrations with it. Not using Painter anymore but for a while I used it very much.
May 12, 2025 at 4:57 PM
My lightsaber. A charming little thing.

#maythefourthbewithyou #starwarsday
May 4, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Got one, a Graflex. It’s an oddly captivating item to hold.

Roger Christian’s book Cinema Alchemist offers great insight to the birth of the lightsaber and more. I liked it a lot.
May 4, 2025 at 11:21 AM
A #throwbackthursday post from 2017. The idea was to make a pair of photographs to sell the illusion of the X-wing better. As if I'd just walked in there and took some snapshots from different angles.
April 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM
A second drone shot to go with the one I posted a couple of days ago. Reposting the other one together with the new one to make a diptych of a sorts.

#toyphotography
April 16, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I wanted to try drone photography (not having my own I got some help from a friend). It's quite cool how our Earth looks like from above, even if it's just 30 meters or so.

Also, if you look close you may notice a subtle reference to the upcoming Andor Season 2. 🤓
April 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
It occurred to me it’s been 14 years since I put these two characters together in a photograph. How time flies!

The setup ("setup" ... a dead plant on a table) was there after I shot the golden spaceman a couple of days ago, so I figured why not give it a go.
April 4, 2025 at 12:54 PM
There is feedback and there is feedback. This one, received on Flickr, had me in stitches: "You are like the Morgan Freeman’s voice of Lego photography." Don't really know what it means exactly but I love it! :D
April 3, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Photographing the golden Lego Spaceman yesterday was fun. It was a sunny day today as well so I stepped outside to explore this a little more.

Four more variations of the same.

#lego #toyphotography #spaceman
April 2, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Spring is here! I took a selfie sitting outdoors enjoying the warm sunrays. The selfie part was somewhat unintentional but I'll let it pass.

#lego #toyphotography #classicspaceman
April 1, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Leftovers from a winter photoshoot. Couldn’t do more of these now if needed, no snow, the reflections would give it away. A problem with a chromium ship.
March 31, 2025 at 4:27 PM
The things you find when on a walk and keeping your eyes open. What I’ve learned is to always carry a camera.

#toyphotography #scalemodel #dune

Two variations of the same. Indecisiveness, you know how it is.
March 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
I made this Snowtrooper snow globe in 2018. A fun idea I thought. Forgot it in a cupboard after taking photographs of it. Took it out a while ago to see how it was after all this time. Not very good, as it turned out. Poor trooper had been attacked by bacteria growth.

#toyphotography #starwars
March 16, 2025 at 9:17 PM
The Silver Surfer x 2.

Playing with different lighting, direct and indirect. The differences are enhanced by the chromium surfaces. That’s a fun little custom minifig, not an official release.

The one with glitter is two years old, the other one is new.

#lego #toy #toyphotography
March 12, 2025 at 5:31 PM