Tabletop treasures

Amy Davies asks three photographers to explain how to photograph miniatures, models and tabletop scenes all from the comfort of your own home – the ideal winter photo project

Steve Berry 

Steve is a self-employed creative, working in graphic design, photography and film-making. His photographs of famous movie sets started as a lockdown project back in March 2020, needing something to occupy his mind after losing out on a new contract thanks to the pandemic. Steve believes that model and miniature photography is an art form which deserves more recognition, and would relish further opportunity to work with galleries, at events and with brands.

I decided I would teach myself product photography and learn how to use my camera for studio-type shots. That started out quite basic, such as bottles of Pepsi, but it rapidly became boring until I remembered I had a few bits of Lego knocking around. I thought I’d create some movie scenes with them, and posted my first picture on Instagram. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be that bothered but I got a great response so I started posting a few creations here and there.

As lockdown became a lot lengthier than I anticipated, I started to think a little bit more about my photos and started a theme called the COMPARE-O-SHOT where I would replicate a famous movie scene using Lego and whatever I had around the house. These went down a storm, and soon the creations started getting more intricate and extreme. As I had no income, I had to improvise by illustrating mini sets on the computer, printing them out on card and using household items as backdrops and props. From there, it evolved into the work that I create now.