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 Australia to meet tongwars!

Hello there!
I’m Richard, aka Tongwars from the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

I’m 46-yrs old, married and a dad to 4 beautiful girls. In my working life, I’m a Registered Nurse at a busy local hospital.

I started LEGO photography at the end of 2017 after a work colleague introduced me to Toy Photography on his Instagram. At the time I had a small LEGO Star Wars collection that allowed me a chance at starting this awesome hobby we share. I’ve always been a massive fan of Star Wars fan art and this gave me the spark to try and create my own version.

I love the idea of bringing “toys-to-life” and have always tried to meld LEGO minifigures and vehicles in real-world settings. I’m equally a LEGO and Star Wars fan and equally a fan of both characters and vehicles. I love that LEGO provides the opportunity to have both at my disposal.

I shoot exclusively on iPhone. As you can possibly guess, I live a very busy life. Phone photography allows me to shoot edit and post in a very small amount of time. I like that everything can be done on phone and for the most part, I have my systems down to an efficient work-flow. I also like how low I can sit the phone lens relative to the subject. This allows me to create an “upwards” angle, creating size on a relatively small subject. 

I use a mix of both outdoor and indoor photography. Scale is key in creating the toys to life illusion. I enjoy building dioramas inspired a scaled element that I’m always on the look-out for. I’ve used multiple different items in the past ranging from house bricks, old wooden fence pales, through to fish and reptile tank ornaments. As long as the scale is proportionate, then I can hopefully create something that will work.

The exclusive photo

For this new LEGO photograph, I’ve found inspiration from my recent travels to Central Australia. We found that the rich red sand was beautifully contrasted with lush grassy greens. This was something we didn’t expect to see in abundance and made for some incredible scenery.

I’ve used some reptile tank stone ornaments from my good friends at Kazoo pets. The red sand is from Central Queensland that I’ve had for some time. I’ve mimicked the green contrast by using moss from my garden. It’s winter here now in Australia so I fortunately have plenty available.

The challenge for me is really a mix of time and inspiration. Trying to find variety after 500-plus posts can be difficult. I’ve made an effort this year to start using minifigures that I’ve yet to photograph. I try not to do “same-same” posts though I find that can be quite the challenge!

Lastly, I’m consider myself very lucky to be a member of the toy photography and LEGO community as a whole. It’s such a positive and inspiring group to be a part of. I’ve been fortunate to be afforded some incredible opportunities through this passion and I’m extremely grateful for. 

Many thanks for reading and a big thanks to BrickCentral for this artist spotlight!