Every month, we pick a LEGO photographer active in our community and share some of their work and a little about themselves. This month we flight to Italy to meet mike_rudeboy_.

So here I am, my name is Mike and I come from Italy.

I started taking my first steps in the world of photography in 2013, when I accidentally saw an amazing Star Wars themed Lego photo online and wanted to know who took that shot!

That’s how I first learned about AVANAUT: and that’s how I also started trying, just for fun, to photograph a simple static minifigure. Seeing my photo and theirs, there was an abyss of technical competence regarding the subject’s composition, the lighting, etc.

My photographic genre varies greatly, from those of dinosaur films like Jurassic Park and Science Fiction like Star Wars. Every now and then, I try to reproduce some experiences I’ve had in life, like Skydiving

Currently I use a Canon 6d MK2, with a Sigma 105mm Macro, an external flash, and many multi-color LEDs.

In all my photos, I always use some natural elements like water, sand, talcum powder, and steam to recreate environments of vegetation, meteorological conditions

The exclusive photo

For this scene, I was inspired a bit by Rambo. I really wanted to see some sort of post-battle scene for a Stormtrooper, so I imagined a scenario of a soldier who survived a battle and was abandoned on the planet.

Regarding the photo, it took me about 15/20 shots to achieve the ideal light I wanted, using various angles.

To give the soldier a sense of desperation, I had to remove the head and replace it with Patafix (or BLue Tac) inside the helmet so that I could better manage the expression.

I am very happy with this shot and I put it among my top 10 favorites.