Cheap Toy Photography Lighting with a Phone Flashlight

How to use your phone's flashlight and a cheap desktop lamp to create dramatic toy photos
If you're just starting out with lighting, one of the best pieces of gear out there is probably something you already own. I'll show you 4 different photos I took using the LED on the back of my phone as a key light and a common LED lamp as a fill light.
0:00 LEGO photography with a phone LED
0:16 Phone LED is hard light
0:34 LEGO photo in front of a facade
2:40 Lighting in an official LEGO set
3:48 Lighting a MOC
4:52 Backlighting through a door
5:06 When to upgrade lighting

[@BrotherhoodWorkshop]

Inspiring work! I'm on the fence about getting that probe lens...seeing stuff like this pushes me towards yes.

[@FourBricksTall]

Well, if it isn't my co-AFOL preshow presenter! Thanks Kevin! Yeah that probe lens is amazing and I'd love to see what you could do with it.

[@ShutterJunkie]

10/10 Four Bricks Tall is the Queen of photography video explainers in the macro world.

[@FourBricksTall]

Wow that's quite the compliment! Thanks!

[@derkoenigvonbayern]

Im a beginner and broke 😅, but these videos and your blog really help to get a grip on photo techniques. This keeps amateur photography interesting. Thanks

[@FourBricksTall]

A B&B! I'm glad this stuff is helping you out. I'm thinking about ways I can see your work as a community. And no, not on Instagram 😂

[@joelrolston8736]

This is cool! Thanks for sharing.

[@Fuzzy_Barbarian]

Great tutorial, thanks! I'm not really big into Lego, but I like to do action figure toy photography, so all of this is still really useful for me. Love how you explain each step of the process 👍

[@FourBricksTall]

Thanks for watching! The great thing about LEGO is that it can be anything-- I have a bunch of robots, mechs, vehicles, and buildings which I like to shoot as well. I'm glad these photography lessons translate to other toys. A lot of what I teach is learned from product, portrait, macro, and editorial photography so it's all pretty universal.

[@chrismintoff]

Immensly beautiful explanation and resultant photos!

[@FourBricksTall]

Thank you so much for the compliment and watching!

[@MB-gg6rr]

Such a great video. Thank you so so much. I really admire your work

[@FourBricksTall]

That's really nice of you to let me know. Thanks!

[@supersonic79]

Looks great! Good vid 👍🏻

[@FourBricksTall]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@bricksandwheels]

geat video as always!

[@FourBricksTall]

Thanks!

[@MarkSkater]

very cool

[@FourBricksTall]

Thanks for watching! Let me know if something wasn't clear or if I need to do a follow up video/assignment.

[@MarkSkater]

@@FourBricksTall what app do u use for ur phone camera ? or does it comes w the phone

[@FourBricksTall]

@@MarkSkater I'm not shooting with a phone in this video. I'm just using the flashlight that's built in.

[@MCnightchannel]

What lens did you used? I mean i have a default 16-50mm on my a5100 and i can go super close to my lego character. What lens should i get? I mean the mm

[@FourBricksTall]

I use two lenses here with info cards setup so you can check out those videos. If you're still on the kit lens (16-50mm f/3.5-5.6) you can definitely take good photos with that. I had that as my first lens. Standby for a video about leveling up that lens for very cheap!

[@MCnightchannel]

@@FourBricksTall thanks! 😊

[@MCnightchannel]

​@@FourBricksTallbtw i cant go super close tonmy legos that was a misspell

[@FourBricksTall]

@@MCnightchannel No worries, I understood you.

[@MCnightchannel]

@@FourBricksTall ohh thanks 😊