Breakfast

Every day should start with a good breakfast, in this case for me it's starting with a phenomenal breakfast...MOC! This is one of those rare occasions (which I LOVE by the way) where I find myself looking at a pic and going "oh wait, that's LEGO too, holy crap...that's all LEGO". The level of detail, clever construction and perfect photography of this MOC by LegoJalex is simply impeccable.

Setting The Mood

I realize that cinematic lighting isn't appropriate for photographing most MOCs, but when it is, this is how it's done. LEGOMINDED perfectly sets the mood in this dark and dank place using a principal of lighting that is often overlooked, negative space. Sometimes what you don't see is just as, if not more, important than what you do see. Can't you hear the sporadic water drips, the faint hiss of steam from a nearby boiler, the white noise of the pipes overhead, the scurry of an unseen rodent. This is how you set a mood.

Did You Get That Memo?

This is sort of my personal hell. I always swore I would never work at a place like this and I'm happy to report I never have. Of course, the mainframe/terminal computer system was gone by the time I entered the workforce so there was little chance of that. That being said, this MOC by LegoJalex perfectly recreates what used to be cutting edge business technology in splendid black & white. Now, do you have that TPS report?

Just Shoot It

I love this. I get questions all the time on photography and camera gear and I usually have the same first question "what's your budget?" It really doesn't matter these days what camera you use. I've seen stunning shots from an iPhone and terrible ones from a Canon 5D. Lighting isn't terribly difficult either, you can get by with simple desk lamps. The one constant, the one thing that matters is time. If you're in a hurry to get your MOC on Flickr, you can expect it to be a bad shot. Take your time, look critically at the images. Don't be afraid to take a shot, look at it on your computer and then go back and shoot again. I do this all the time, so do professionals, and so should you. Every MOC poses it's challenges in photography, just take your time and experiment and you'll be surprised how great your pictures can be. Take a look at this simple setup by SuckMyBrick, and then go take a peek at their pictures...nuff said.

A1 Assassin Drone

It's been a while since we've had a cool little mech-type MOC, and this one caught my eye this morning. It's got a cool squat design and proportions, and of course a really big gun. But I think it's the pose, photography and editing that really grabbed my attention, well done.

Merry Christmas From Hoth

This is a delightful holiday surprise. One of the most celebrated alternative LEGO photographers, Avanaut, is back from his hiatus. And what a lovely return it is. This tells the story of TK-24/7 on a lonely, but quite agreeable patrol mission on Hoth. Who would have thought a AT-ST could be so tranquil?

Yummy

Foodcember is 2/3 over, but that's not slowing down builder KOS brick. For weeks he's been tempting us with treats delicious enough to eat, but with decidedly little nutritional value (it turns out ABS isn't a food, who knew?) There's still some time to get in on the fun, break out the bricks and start "cooking".

Emerald Star...In Glorious 3D!

I got a kick out of this MOC. One of my jobs not related to LEGO is supervising stereoscopic (3D) aspects of movies and visual effects. Yes, I get paid to wreck my vision and make artists cry, but it's for the better good and to save your eyes (you're welcome). So to see a really well composed 3D picture of a MOC is quite a treat. To see the 3D here, just cross your eyes to merge the images. Nice work infrapinklizzard!

Forced Perspective FTW

This shot tickles my visual effects fancy. Not that it's not a pretty excellent build, but the shot itself is a classic VFX trick of forced perspective, carefully arranging models of varying scale to imply distance (it's Star Wars related too, double trouble). Yes, it's a bit of a spoiler to see how it was done, but that sort of thing has always revved my engine since an early age. Nice shot Brickwielder.

Batcave

Scale lighting is a crucial component for a properly displayed and lit large model. Especially an interior and even more so when it's cinematically inspired. This Batcave by Brent Waller is a fantastic example of scale lighting, with super dramatic results. Notice how a sense of depth and scale is accomplished by using numerous small sources of light and how there's a good balance of darkness in the image ( Batman would approve). Sometime what you don't light is just as important as what you do.

Spooky

The timing of series 12 and particularly this Minifig is perfect for Halloween. I spent a happy few minutes manhandling all the packages at Wal-Mart looking for this one (to no avail, I did score a gamer and pizza guy though). This shot by DigiNik13 is superb, with perfect composition, excellent lighting and an interesting but non-intrusive background. Well done!

Vampire's Castle

It's an amazing thing when phenomenal building, great photography and serious Photoshop chops all come together. I've been watching the progress on this piece by CASTOR-TROY for months, and I'm so excited to see it's not only done, but mindblowingly great.

It's All In The Reflections And Highlights

This MOC by Moko is really cool, but not as cool as the presentation of it. It was a risky move shooting a dark green and black MOC against a very dark background, but this is how it's done. What makes it work is careful lighting. It's the reflections and specular highlights that you're mostly looking at here, and that's the secret of dark model photography. Beautifully done.

Hungry Radio

I have no idea why this little radio by LegoJalex would be hungry, nor why it would find little sandwiches or whatever those are appealing. All I know is this is the cutest vintage radio I've ever seen. I love everything about this, the color, composition, building techniques and photography, it's all so very well done.

Sweet!

A hallmark of a really great MOC is when you can make a member of the general public go "wow, that's LEGO?" A Hallmark of an incredible MOC is when you can get me to go "holy crap, that's LEGO?" Mike Doyle has revealed the cover of his upcoming sequel to Beautiful LEGO, and it's absolutely, positively jaw-dropping.

Golden Gear

Lisqr is back with another fantastic MOC on a fantastic base. This is the third in the series and each is more splendid than the last. While I like all the tanks, it's the display bases that I really dig. I think more builders should dedicate more time to the proper presentation of MOCs, be it on a shelf or in photography. Why do all that work and not show it off properly?

Hot Rod

This is a perfect example of how MOCs don't need to be complex or large to be awesome. Sometimes a simple model, well designed and properly photographed, can totally grab your attention too. This hot rod by builder byKNAP is just that, clean lines, nice part use and photographed well. It's even on a pull-back chassis so it has play value, nicely done.

*Cough*

Time for another story. Way back when I used to work in creature effects, doing make-up and animatronics. And if you didn't know, it's a really toxic business. Combine that with the awesome air in Los Angeles in the late 80's/early 90's and my poor lungs wanted to leap out of my chest and retreat back to the central coast. I ended up really sick, like close to pulmonary shutdown, and a doctor said "you want to live to be 30? Change your industry and leave this town". This hauntingly beautiful MOC by Kosmas Santosa sorta reminds me of a few lovely spots in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Update: I switched to digital visual effects, moved to Lompoc CA and got much better pretty quick.

Magnificent Desolation

My first childhood memory is sitting on my dad's lap watching a NASA mission unfold on TV. I've always had a fondness of the brave men and women of space exploration, and I'm also fond of this picture by tiler. The MOC isn't particularly fancy or spectacular, but it's clean, well designed and evocative of the lunar rover. But this is all about the excellent photo. The composition, lighting and editing are great, but the subtle touches like the registration marks and the reflection of the astronaut in the helmet truly make it.

Beautiful Abandonment

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, like that time some guy no one had heard of came out of his dark ages and BOOM, we get this. I believe my original response to this jaw-dropping MOC was "whhaaaaaaaaaa?". Mike Doyle has since established himself as a brick artist of the first calibre, and his book Beautiful LEGO has been a big hit. I'm honored to have been included in it.