Motion is one of the greatest challenges faced by minifigures in the amazing world of LEGO photography. LEGO sportsmen, superheroes, explorers—all colorful characters—inspire us to take bright and interesting photos of them, wanting to give them a distinct impression of movement.

The desire to get the perfect shot of a seemingly uncatchable moment mid-motion is a thrilling goal. Sometimes we experience this in everyday life watching sports. It's common knowledge that "sports" is one of the most popular shooting photography subjects in both the point-and-shoot and digital single-lens reflex cameras.

But today we are going to focus on "surf photography" to show off the countless shapes and unbridled energy of moving water. The perfect pair of the surfer catching a wild wave can be reflected in LEGO art too. In honor of the beginning of summer (for the top half of the world at least), it's time to catch a special wave. Here is a refreshing DIY ocean wave of a tube rider that you can recreate for your tiny LEGO sportsmen. And all it takes is some water, paper and the right angle.

Crafting the Water

Normally I’d say you should not combine plastic and water, but this is the exception. Can you guess the additional advantage of using a blue garbage bag? It's certainly not for garbage but for adding color and water protection. You need to put a sheet of flexible cardboard in the blue garbage bag and set in place the round shape of the arriving wave. Just fasten the edges of paper together with paperclip or glue, it is as simple as that.

Installation

Now, let's create an ocean in the bathroom! Put an improvised stand (for example, a simple plastic chair or an upside-down bucket) in the bath under the shower and cover the stand with another blue garbage bag like it is a table-cloth—this is now the "ocean" base for your future wave. Then firmly connect the paper tube wave with the stand so that the real water won't destroy the paper construction.

Just Add Water

Now you can take a shower (not literally!) and start surfing! If your shower head is fixed to the wall, all you have to do is start the water running and move the scene to match where the water hits. If your shower head is movable on a flexible pipe, it's possible to influence the shape of your wave, turning the water jet in different directions. You may have to take many different photos to get the desired effect. Also remember to firmly secure your minifigure in a great pose, showing how he is using his weight to ride the tube of water.

Unlike most LEGO photography, these shots were taken with the use of a flash to capture the water drops mid-air. As you can see, even the test photos from this gallery look pretty good. You may have to take a few until you find the show that doesn’t block the minifigures face or convey the movement of the photo you are going for.

Surf's Up!

With your final choice of photo you can even add a blurry background to make the scene as dynamic a as possible. Needless to say, water is a great way to photograph LEGO to add movement and life. Keep experimenting with motion and natural elements like water, grass, snow, sand. These materials have few limits and go a long way to conveying a real-world setting.

But be warned, you will take a lot of photos! It is very difficult to choose the final shot because in each the water formed unpredictable shapes and colors under the effect of a flash. Each looked cool in its own way.) I hope you enjoyed this surfing minifigure catching a wave as much as I did making it! I wish you a memorable beach season with your minifigures and beautiful photos from the ocean, whether they are brick-built or made of paper with a little magic water added.

Will you get your minifigures wet? Let us know in the comments below!

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