Vesa Lehtimäki
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avanaut.bsky.social
Vesa Lehtimäki
@avanaut.bsky.social
400 followers 120 following 230 posts
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
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avanaut.bsky.social
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!
Sample from the book. There is a music jam session in the ewok village. They’re playing music by a bonfire up on a platform in a tree. A sample from the book. A sandtrooper caught by a surprise by a big rancor beast jumping on him from behind. A sample from the book. The Millennium Falcon having a problem on a landing platform. There is smoke coming from the rear deck. Chewbaccca is on his way to fix it. A sample from the book. Inside Jabba’s lair with some villains and Han Solo in carbonite. A dark and moody scene.
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
A sample from the book. Snowtroopers by a snow lantern next to a gigantic AT-AT Walker in dark Hoth night with a big moon on the sky. A sample from the book. A Y-wing fighter landed in what looks like a forest. Maybe Endor. The pilot standing bext to it looks a bit startled. A sample from the book. Darth Vader with red lightsaber walking in a blizzard dangerously close to several AT-AT walkers. A sample from the book. Darth Vader standing in fierce Hoth blizzard. I find this one very amusing, you just have to imagine quiet bossanova music coming from inside Vader’s helmet. Regardless of the weather it is always very comfortable inside that costume (or is it armor?), I think Vader is wearing comfy pajamas underneath that thing.
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
Five different language covers of the Small Scenes book, French, Spanish, Danish, Finnish and English. On the cover is a Lego Star Wars snowtrooper minifigure on skis jumping over a small knoll with snow flying around.
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
avanaut.bsky.social
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
A photograph of a yellow 1967 model Ferrari Dino 206 GT parked on parking lot in front of a building with large windows. A super wide crop, lots of sunshina. The car has headlights on, it's just to show that they work. The photograph was taken with a scale model car, looks real even if I say so myself.
August 29, 2025 at 2:52 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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!
Copper/orange coloured Maserati Boomerang scale model photographed on a white tabletop from two angles with front and rear lights on. The 1:16 scale Maserati Boomerand with front and tail lights. The pop up headlight mechanism on the model was not very good so I just glued them shut. The smaller lights below were doable so I settled for them. I didn't add dashboard lights to this because if you look at a real car from a little distance you never really see any lights on their dashboards. Less is more. Only, I regret not adding rear registration plate lights, they shoud be there. Two Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider models fly away from camera towards stromy cloud background. Engine lights burning bright with some lens flare. This was the one with the Photoshop cheat. There are three versions of this photograph, each with different clouds. The Cylon Raider model is old, I built it as a kid around 1980, or so, and it has no lighting. I didn't want to pry it open and rebuild it for this so I settled for a cheat. This time. This was a nostalgic one-off. I did consider buying the awesome big Moebius kit but let it go for now. A yellow Ferrari Dino 206 GT scale model photographed from top front and top rear against black floor. The model has front headlights and tail lights on. This is my first attempt to try lighting a 1:24 scale car with glossy paint. Bigger car models are really expensive and I'm testing whether the small, more budget friendly scale works for creating realistic images. My modeling skills set some limits to this of course but we'll see. I'm still waiting for the paint to dry on some of the parts on this one. Photographing it a little later, maybe next week. A Space 1999 Eagle Transporter scale model added to a real NASA photograph of an astronaut and a moon rover vehicle on the surface of the Moon. As if the Eagle was really there too. The Eagle model has some experimental lighting on the tubular chassis. I added red "emergency" lights in the structure thinking it might look cool in a photograph. It didn't and I've never really used them. In this photograph the small yellow light on the cockpit window adds a lot, I think. Small detail, a little splash of colour to tie the Eagle together with the coloured spots on the Moon Rover.
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
A closeup of a K-2SO Star Wars scale model droid head with brightly lit eyes. I was adamant in lighting K-2SO's eyes. There was very little room inside the head and I had to carve out lots of plastic to fit my lighting in there. It worked out well eventually. A white custom painted N-1 Starfighter from The Phantom Menace / The Mandalorian photographed against black with bright overhead lighting. Engine and cockpit dashboard lights are on. Amber engine lights because blue reads terrible on digital camera sensor. Tight fit here as well but nothing too complicated. You can see a power socket next to the left wing root, the three small round holes. No batteries inside this one, external power only. A Dune Ornithopter scale model photographed on tabletop, dark with overhead lighting with the front floodlights on the vehicle burning brightly. The Dune Ornithopter had powerful floodlights on it in the movie. The small 1:72 scale model had the light pods too but not much room to add actual lights in them. I sourced some very small leds from my pile of leftovers from earlier builds and gave it a go. The lights on the model were meant to be movable, you could turn them sideways and up and down but due to adding the lights I feared the movement would wear the wiring and end up severing them. I decided to glue everything down just in case. I haven't photographed this model much, never with lights on, but I will use the lighting option some day. Star Wars B-wing Starfighter photographed from front and rear quarter angles. Amber engine lights and a couple of red light dots seen in the cockpit. The B-wing engine lights were a no-brainer. The Bandai model even had a sort of optical lighting system with the kit, only the light source was needed. The cockpit however, was a different story. I spent a lot of time to get that to work as I wanted. There are just a few tiny optic fiber lights in the dashboard and rear wall of the cockpit but the whole thing rotates freely without the light cutting off, unlimited 360° with constant light. Now, that took some head scratching.
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
The Aries 1B Lunar Ascend Vehicle scale model from 2001: A Space Odyssey film standing on a light table with black background. The model is brightly lit from below with some lights from inside the cabin can be seen. Lighting the Aries 1B was a lot of work. All those ceiling light panels were lit separately. Also I cut open the floor in the elevator pit to light it as it was in the film only to have it concealed inside the model, never really to be seen from the outside. This model was the biggest effort with the least outcome in terms of lighting. Closeup of a Bandai RX-78-2 model head with light in its green eyes. The Bandai Gundam RX-78-2 model didn't need lighting, it already had it. I didn't know this when I bought the kit and it was a pleasant surprise, I was prepared to hack it but I didn't have to. The light looks nice on it. A scale model of the EVA pod from 2001: A Space Odyssey film photographed against black with all the lights on. The bright headlights and some cockpit dashboard lighting visible. The 2001: A Space Odyssey 1:8 scale EVA Pod was a lot of work! A LOT! The dashboard wasn't really designed to be lighted and was a bit awkward to accomplish. Many have done it though and with great results. Mine works well enough for me. It's actually quite beautiful a model when all lights are on, one of my favourites. The Police Spinner car scale model from Blade Runner photographed on top of a spread of an old Cinefantastique magazine. In the magazine an article about making of the life size filming model car can be seen. The longest build, this took years to finish. I messed up the wiring at some point when originally building this and it pissed me off enough to box the build. After many years I admitted defeat, took the model out of the box and finished it with what I could get to work. So, no flashing lights on top but there are some dashboard lighting and what's most important everything on the front works.
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
You don't really get how big those walkers are until you see one on a foggy day.

#scalemodel #starwars
A single Star Wars AT-AT walker standing still, towering high above lush green treetops in thick fog.
July 6, 2025 at 4:11 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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?
A bee in flight approaching a white flower in closeup. A still from 2001: A Space Odyssey movie, the Orion shuttle approaching the rotating Space Station 5.
June 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
A slightly frosty, misty hayfield, early morning, hay cut short. On the foreground a small dog (a borderterrier) is having a poop, on the background sitting on the field with boarding ramp open is the Millennium Falcon.
May 23, 2025 at 11:07 AM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
Three Star Wars Stormtroopers in dark and smoky atmosphere, one trooper fires his blaster and it emits bright red ray of light. This image is a digital painting.
May 12, 2025 at 4:57 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
My lightsaber. A charming little thing.

#maythefourthbewithyou #starwarsday
May 4, 2025 at 8:59 PM
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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
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
A Star Wars X-wing starfighter parked in a driveway of a large parking house with cockpit canopy open. The driveway is several stories high open space with surrounding walls covered with large air ducts and piping. Very industrial looking place, clean, no cars can be seen. A Star Wars X-wing parked on a driveway insode a large parking house. Photographed from the side so that only lower half of the X-wing can be seen. Top is behind the low ceiling of the section the X-wing was photographed from. Some concrete pylons also obscure the view. No cars in this one either but white parking space markings can be seen on the foreground.
April 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
A white coloured custom built Star Wars Mandalorian N-1 Starfighter photographed from directly above. It is parked on a clear patch on a terrain that looks like sand with greyish earth colours, it is a sunny day and everything has a strong and clear shadow. Around the N-1 there are some items that look like service tools, a small generator maybe, a big toolbox and a smaller one with what looks like a wrench set inside. There are track marks of maybe trucks on the ground. A black and white coloured "Partisan" Star Wars X-wing fighter photographed from directly above. It is parked on a small clear patch on a terrain that looks like sand with brownish and grey colours, it is a sunny day and everything has a strong clear shadow. Around the X-wing there are some mounds of sand and there are track marks of maybe trucks on the ground.
April 16, 2025 at 4:13 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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. 🤓
A black and white coloured "Partisan" Star Wars X-wing fighter photographed from directly above. It is parked on a small clear patch on a terrain that looks like sand with brownish and grey colours, it is a sunny day and everything has a strong clear shadow. Around the X-wing there are some mounds of sand and there are track marks of maybe trucks on the ground.
April 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
A Star Wars Ewok and a Scout Trooper Lego minifigure standing in what appears to be lush vegetation. The depth of field is very shallow with focus on the trooper’s helmet eyepiece. The atmosphere is warm and sunny.
April 4, 2025 at 12:54 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
Screencap of the feedback comment "You are like the Morgan Freeman’s voice of Lego photography".
April 3, 2025 at 12:37 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
A golden Lego Classic Spaceman minifigure standing in a shrub of heathers on a sunny day. A macro photograph, shadows are greenish blue, smoky atmosphere, shallow depth of field. The Spaceman is looking left of the camera. A golden Lego Classic Spaceman minifigure standing in a shrub of heathers on a sunny day. A macro photograph with shallow depth of field, the overall colour is magenta-ish. The Spaceman looks almost directly to the camera. A golden Lego Classic Spaceman minifigure standing in a shrub of heathers on a sunny day. A macro photograph, smoky atmosphere, shallow depth of field. The Spaceman is looking left of the camera. A golden Lego Classic Spaceman minifigure standing in a shrub of heathers on a sunny day. A macro photograph, slighty smoky atmosphere, shallow depth of field. The Spaceman in dead center of the frame looking right to the camera.
April 2, 2025 at 4:36 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
A golden Lego Classic Spaceman minifigure standing in a shrub of heathers on a sunny day. A macro photograph with shallow depth of field, the overall colour is pink-ish.
April 1, 2025 at 2:11 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
A white Naboo/Mandalorian N-1 starfighter photographed outdoors on a sunny say against blue sky. Low angle, below eye level, rear quarter view. A white Naboo/Mandalorian N-1 starfighter photographed outdoors on a sunny say against some trees (background out of focus). Eye level front quarter view. A white Naboo/Mandalorian N-1 starfighter photographed outdoors on a sunny say against white snowy background. Front quarter view, higher than eye level. A white Naboo/Mandalorian N-1 starfighter photographed outdoors on a sunny say against blue sky. Low angle, below eye level, front quarter view.
March 31, 2025 at 4:27 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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.
A Dune Ornithopter sitting with wings deployed behind some shrubs and a shallow wall made of rocks. It is a sunny early spring day with no green on sight, the vegetation is still dry and light brown/tan in colour after the snow has gone. The sky is deep blue with no clouds. A Dune Ornithopter sitting with wings closed behind some shrubs and a shallow wall made of rocks. It is a sunny early spring day with no green on sight, the vegetation is still dry and light brown/tan in colour after the snow has gone. The sky is deep blue with no clouds.
March 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
A Lego Snowtrooper minifigure standing inside a snow globe which has just been shaken, the snow particles are flowing inside it beautifully and the minifigure is only partially seen. Photographed on a white tabletop. A closeup of the Snowtrooper inside the snow globe, fallen and partially covered with the snow particles. A photograph of the Snowtrooper snowglobe as it is now, the trooper minifigure laying on the bottom face up with some of the snow particles following a thread or like hypha on top of the minifigure. The level of water is clearly lower than it is in the other picture. Photographed on white.
March 16, 2025 at 9:17 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
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
A chrome plated Lego Silver Surfer minifigure with surfboard in hand, photographed with shallow depth of field inside a perforated metallic sieve. Very shiny. A chrome plated Lego Silver Surfer minifigure riding a surfboard in a hail of silver glitter. Lots of glitter. Photographed against black to make the glitter show better.
March 12, 2025 at 5:31 PM