I photographed the amazing story of Shackleton's Arctic expedition using Lego bricks and a Nikon DSLR camera

(Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

Sir Ernest Shackleton and his ship, the Endurance, have a truly captivating story from 1915. Interestingly, it’s not because the planned expedition was successful, but because despite failure and minimal chances of survival, Shackleton and his crew managed to escape the grip of the ice. Their perseverance and struggle remain inspiring to this day, and this is what captured my attention and motivated me to create a photo series in tribute.

Since this is a true story, it was clear that I needed to think in terms of a series, as just one image wouldn’t suffice. It was also important to preserve the atmosphere and make the images resemble the original archival photos as closely as possible, which I kept in mind during post-production. I also paid attention to real moments in the story, such as when the crew actually played football on the ice.

The challenge in toy photography is that you need to analyse what makes reality appear real. What is usually self-evident and natural must be simulated here. So, I used lighting to create the feeling that the viewer was standing on an endless ice field.

For the series, I used a Nikon D750 camera body and two lenses: a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 and a Laowa 15mm wide macro lens.

The ship is tracked, a snowstorm rolls in and the crew tries to keep warm. (Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

Shackleton and the crew set off across the frozen landscape. (Image credit: Bendek Lampert)

1. Creating ice and ocean

Photographing the ship set in foam — An XPS foam board was used to represent the ice. (Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

Simulating water is particularly challenging and, under indoor conditions, real water isn’t always the best solution. Here, I used cellophane to represent the water and powdered sugar for the icy surface. I used an XPS foam board for the huge icebergs that I painted white. Lighting is a key factor so I used a strong flashlight as the sun.

2. Real fire and lantern light

Practical effects to make the scene more realistic. (Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

In my photos it is important to try creating the effects for real, without fake elements. After I put some sugar on the ship with the brush, I ignited some matches as a campfire, and used small LEDs for the lantern. After all this, I blew smoke in the scene to create some haze.

3. Wide macro perspective

Using a wide angle lens to capture the full scene. (Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

Even though the ship is not in the picture (after it sank) it is still meaningful. The real survival challenge had just begun and, also, I wanted to make a memorial for the dogs who died for the crew. This time I used a Laowa wide macro lens and used a Dutch angle for the intense dynamism.

Figure positioning and emotions

Position the figures on the ice to tell the story. (Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

Even though they are miniature, the figures must create emotions and movement (c) Benedek Lampert (Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

Toy photography is not just about capturing a product shot with well-arranged lighting. Emotions and movements are just as important as when photographing real people. Mini-figures make great actors because they allow us to use a wide range of facial expressions. In this shot, which captures the crew passing time by playing football, this is the most important element. I even had to slightly adjust one figure’s arm to create a more lifelike movement. This way, the storytelling becomes clearer, and the entire image feels much more alive.

Photo editing tips

Use gritty overlay to make the image more realistic. (Image credit: Benedek Lampert)

With some authentic black and white archaic overlays you can make the viewer feel like they were actually there, they can almost smell the history itself. Also it’s a great tool to mask that it’s actually Lego. Usually I use only one overlay, but here I combined three of them, using the simple masking technique.