I’ve got the LEGO Malfoy Manor set that was sent to me by LEGO through Brickcentral for a review! This set have 1601 pieces and 9 minifigures.

First of all, I have to say that I’m a Potterhead, so I was really excited to get this set!

The Build Experience

I thought the construction would be repetitive since the Manor is symmetrical but it was very pleasant to make. Yes, there are elements that repeat themselves, but often these are accompanied by new elements like the different rooms in the Manor.

Photographer’s Perspective

I must say that the facade of the Manor is extremely visually beautiful.
There are several details and monuments visible.
I love the little snakes that are found everywhere.

My favorite room is the main hall! The large table, the chandelier, the frames, everything is perfect.

And what can I say about the Death Eater mark on the floor! WOW!

But I have to say that the first thing I noticed and that displeased me from a photography point of view was the depth of the rooms in the Manor.
The pieces are very beautiful and could have had much more photo potential if they had been larger or deeper.
Sometimes it’s even difficult to put a minifigure in the room.
The two easiest rooms to photograph were the dungeon and the kitchen because they were at a slight angle.

There are many windows that were useful for lighting several of my photos.
However, the middle windows are only in appearance because behind it is the wall of the great room.

I would have liked to take a picture of the front of the Manor with all the windows lit up, but this is impossible to do so.

As a Potterhead, I had a lot of fun recreating the falling chandelier scene!

I attached Dobby with mounting putty to the chandelier and used wire to attach the chandelier.
I manually moved the chandelier up and down while taking my photo to achieve motion blur.

I’m glad there’s a new face of Harry that’s perfect for Malfoy Manor.

That being said, it would be really nice to have some new hair for Hermione! A braid for example.

Conclusion

This set is visually very beautiful. Perfect as decoration.

On the other hand, from a photographer point of view, I am disappointed with the depth of the rooms in the manor. I would have liked better access to the rooms and the ability to put a minifigure in each of them.

For this reason I give a score of 9/10 for the visual, but a 6.5/10 for the photo.
All in all, I loved building and photographing this set!

See you soon Muggles!

Behind the scene

I wanted to create a dark atmosphere with a green light reminiscent of Voldemort.

I placed the light under the floorboards to achieve the effect without making the whole room green and used a facial spray.

I balanced everything with a blue light for a cold atmosphere.

Here is the BTS photo as discussed above. I took the picture with my 35mm macro lens, ISO800, f11, 1/8s.

I used two light sources for this photo. The blue one on the outside windows for a night effect and the yellow one for the torch flames.