[PHOTOS] This Dad And His Tiny Lego Friend Went On A 365-Day Adventure Together
This father of two quit his job to take photos with his iPhone and a small Lego friend. See what they've been up to since then.
By Judith Yeoh — 28 Feb 2014, 05:05 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
Andrew Whyte and this little Lego man running away from a crab, went on a year-long 'Legography' project
Andrew Whyte, is a father of two who quit his job in 2007 to become a full-time dad by day and a full-time photographer by night
Father-of-two Andrew Whyte quit his job in 2007 to become a full-time dad by day and a full-time photographer by night.
Image via dailymail.co.ukWhen his kids discovered the Lego camera accessory which fits in the hand of the mini Lego man, Andrew had a lightbulb moment
“I love to document everyday things and build them into mini-series,” Whyte says. “But quite often there's nothing cohesive about what I shoot from one day to the next. As soon as my kids discovered the camera accessory at the Lego store, which fits in the hand of a mini-figure, I worked out a way to start placing the character in my day-to-day shots and he became a cohesive element. For the whole year, I really never left home without the figure.”
“The whole series thrived on spontaneity so for the most part there was no planning involved,” he says
There are shots out in nature and there are some in metropolitan settings, there’s interaction with animals and industrial machines, inclement weather and bright sunny days. The one thing there is very little of, however, is shots at night, since lighting is difficult using an iPhone.
Also slipped through sticky situations
Here's a behind-the-scene shot with Andrew, focusing on a wedding couple with his iPhone 4S
Behind the scenes Mr Whyte sets up the wedding shot with help from the couple's son
Image via dailymail.co.uk
Over here, he's not hurt, he's just hard at work
Dedicated: A different view of the bendy-tree picture shows the lengths Mr Whyte is willing to go to in order to get the perfect angle
Image via dailymail.co.ukWhen the sun goes down, the two-men show get some of the most captivating shots
This is the very first photo Andrew took with his new iPhone 5S. "I'm taking the rainbow as a good omen."
"Struck gold" Andrew says, "The very first photo from my brand new 5s- I'm taking the rainbow as a good omen."
Image via akamaihd.netMore awesome Legography to inspire aspiring photographers among us
TIP from the photographer himself: hold your phone upside down so your lens is close to the ground. It gives your small subject magnitude.
"Perhaps the most important thing the iPhone brings, though, is the ability to manipulate scale. By getting in close to the mini figure I can make the character look life-size, to better fit in with his surroundings." -Andrew Whyte
Image via akamaihd.netThis behind-the-scenes image from a previous shoot shows the common distance between camera & figure. The iPhone's minimum focusing distance is about 4" - I just need to be able to get light onto the back of the figure to help the camera focus, hence often carrying a torch.
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Holding the phone upside down, for instance, rendered the lens low enough to look up at the figure and give him a sense of magnitude. The difference in depth of field, by which the background turns blurry, occurs naturally depending on how close Whyte positions the camera to the figure, often less than 8 to 10cm apart.