Did you get a chance to watch the opening weekend of Solo: A Star Wars Story? If yes, what did you think of it? Just to stay inside the Star Wars Universe, let’s take a look at this very cool Lego Star Wars Photography by Vesa Lehtimäki. He is an illustrator, photographer and HUGO Award finalist 2017, he created a stunning photography book featuring LEGO® Star Wars® sets and minifigures. The book is titled: LEGO Star Wars: Small Scenes from a Big Galaxy, make sure to check it out on Amazon.

LEGO Star Wars Small Scenes from a Big Galaxy is a breathtaking new look at a timeless icon that allows fans to see their favorite minifigures from the classic saga in an exciting new way.

• Learn more about Vesa Lehtimäki
• Follow Vesa on Instagram
• Check out Vesa’s book: LEGO Star Wars: Small Scenes from a Big Galaxy on Amazon

LEGO Star Wars Photography

This was a week during which I had some time to get busy with the camera. I took a few photos and, as usual, some worked, some didn’t. I posted three, well, four, if you count this, and scrapped two. It’s a good percentage, I think. . I had a good time. . Have a great weekend! . #lego #starwars #snow #darthvader #tydirium #hoth #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #originality #avanaut #toyslagram #toyslagram_starwars

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on May 25, 2018 at 2:46pm PDT

Dust Storm Scavengers . Did you ever wonder what happened to that escape pod on Tatooine? The one with the droids in it? Well, wonder no more, it’s not there anymore, the jawas got it. . The gigantic jawa sandcrawlers were slow, it was not a problem at all, usually there was no rush anywhere, but if there was a good reason to believe something worthwhile was in the desert, a sand skiff was used. This time the jawas knew what they were after, C-3PO told them exactly what to look for, and where. The jawas got all the thrusters off the escape pod, it was a good catch. The moisture farmers use them to blow sand off their property. True story. . It’s been a good two years since I have photographed sand. It was so much fun today. I have tried to set up a shot with that skiff several times though, but nothing ever came of it. Not to mention that old escape pod, it never worked. Until today. . #starwars #tatooine #lego #minifigure #jawa #utinni #sand #binarysunset #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #toyslagram #toyslagram_starwars

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on May 23, 2018 at 2:58pm PDT

The Stomper . Patrolling Hoth wasn’t just sitting in a walker and watching the scenery go by. Sometimes you had to step down and scout the terrain by foot. . On Hoth the neverending glaciers were dangerous, there were deep chasms covered only by a thin sheet of ice or snow. On AT-AT’s the snowtroopers drew straws, the one who drew the shortest one got to be the ”stomper” for the day. If a chasm was found the trooper got a day off – if he survived. . I didn’t mean to post two photos today, by the way, but since The Empire Strikes Back premiered today 38 years ago, I shot another one just to celebrate that. . #theempirestrikesback #starwars #hoth #lego #minifigure #snowtrooper #stormtrooper #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #originality #avanaut #snow #toyslagram #toyslagram_starwars

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on May 21, 2018 at 12:32pm PDT

Catch Me if You Can. . The Y-wing was an efficient old bomber, but in a dogfight it wasn’t of much use. Especially the one seater version, without a gunner the canopy guns were pretty much useless. . Sometimes the agile and fast TIE fighters buzzed the Y-wings, they were all over them like hyenas around prey. Sometimes the Y-wings used this to their advantage though, it was never as simple as it looked, and always dangerous. . Oh, and May the Fourth (Moon of Yavin) Be With You! . The new Lego UCS Y-wing released today. I had an opportunity to take a closer look at it before the release and write some notes down for the @_toyphotographers_ blog. . #ywing #ywingstarfighter #starwars #tiefighter #lego #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #originality #avanaut #ucs #toyslagram #toyslagram_starwars

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on May 4, 2018 at 9:10am PDT

The Striker Ambush . Little known fact: The TIE Strikers were the worst! They weren’t the fastest, nor with the most firepower, it was how they were good at coming at you when you least expected it. The TIE Striker was mainly designed for atmospheric missions and you didn’t expect them to ambush you in space. Yet, sometimes they did. . I just love that TIE Striker design. I think the designs they did for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story really stand out. . #lego #starwars #rogueone #millenniumfalcon #tiefighter #tiestriker #toy#toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #avanaut #originality #toyslagram #toyslagram_starwars

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Apr 23, 2018 at 6:51am PDT

Cruising speed. . Today, after the trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story was released, I ended up having many conversations about the new Millennium Falcon in it, a somewhat wholesome Millennium Falcon day I would say. Inspired by it all, I looked up an old photo I have taken from a passenger jet somewhere over the Atlantic a few years ago and planted my Falcon on it. . I haven’t photographed that thing for a while and I forgot to switch the little red flight lights on. So, engine only. On direct sunlight the (sublight) engine was too weak to show bright enough however, I had to photoshop it a little. As if you wouldn’t know Photoshop was involved here… 😀 . #starwars #soloastarwarsstory #millenniumfalcon #scalemodel #miniature #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #avanaut #originality

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Apr 9, 2018 at 1:06pm PDT

These guys. Now I have to (mini)figure out how to deal with this circus. There’s about 200 of them, three variations. Yes, they are not identical. . There is something amusingly Gary Larsonesque about this crew. Or Monty Pythonesque. Like the scene from the Life of Brian where Brian says to a crowd of unwanted followers: ”You are all individuals. You are all different”, to which someone in the crowd responds: ”I’m not”. . #porg #lego #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #stuckinplastic #starwars #thelastjedi

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Apr 2, 2018 at 2:06am PDT

Little known fact: after leaving Hoth and escaping the Empire in the asteroid field, the Millennium Falcon made a stop before heading for Bespin. Chewie was still wet from all the snow from Hoth on his fur, he needed to air it out. Or, rather, the crew needed the air. A wet wookiee smells to high heaven. . Actually this comes from realizing I never see the effects of changing airpressure when traveling from planet to planet in a SciFi movie. The pressure on any given planet is always a perfect match to whatever it is inside an arriving spaceship. They just open the door and off they go. . I mean, planets differ in size and gravity, the density of atmosphere also varies a lot, just think about Venus, Earth and Mars. You have to get accustomed to local pressure before you pop the hatch open on your spaceship, otherwise you’re in trouble. Altitude sickness, you know, things like that. . You can also use a pressure suit. Some movies take that route. . #lego #millenniumfalcon #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #starwars #hansolo #c3po #leia #princessleia #minifigure #avanaut #originality #ucs

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Mar 26, 2018 at 2:49pm PDT

You know those ”special modifications” Han Solo made to the Millennium Falcon? They improved the ship’s performance for sure, but there was a price. Just think what happens when you remove protective covers and expose all those delicate mechanics to the elements… . #starwars #chewie #chewbacca #hansolo #millenniumfalcon #lego #minifigure #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #originality #avanaut #theempirestrikesback

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Mar 22, 2018 at 8:04am PDT

My latest acquisition; a Koensayr BTL-A4-Y-wing Starfighter. This particular unit appears to be in rather good a shape. There is some corrosion here and there but overall it’s nothing to worry about, everything works and it has a good recorded history. It has seen some serious action during its heyday at service but there are no direct hits in record, the body and fuselage are straight. That is very rare with these old warbirds. . Sorry about the truck in front of the Y-wing. I need new scaffolding, the bed of the truck isn’t a very good substitute, it’s a little awkward. The work lights suck too. . Anyway, looking forward to taking the Y-wing out for a good spin after some routine maintenance. It needs new gaskets and filters for the engines, new pneumatic fluids for all systems, new oxygen tanks & hoses, just the basic stuff everyone does when buying one of these. It’ll be a fine addition to my modest collection. . Btw, did you know it’s pretty easy to get museum registration for these? Saves a lot of money with insurance. . #ywing #starwars #garage #xwing #miniature #scalemodel #toy #toyphotography #avanaut #originality . [EDIT: I made this to match a series of photos I made a few years ago with the X-wing. Now that I think of it, I guess they should have all been included in this post. But since I didn’t do that, you need to scroll down a little if you wish to check them out.]

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Mar 11, 2018 at 2:24pm PDT

Chewie contemplating whether to stick his tongue on the cold steel. The freezing desolation of Hoth makes your mind wander… . Little known fact: Hoth is merciless to technology. Well, it’s actually a well known fact, come to think of it. But, you know, it is a lot of work to make technology work in the extremes of the Hoth climate. For example, if you land a craft in the open and stay the night, you need to manually remove all the snow and ice accumulated overnight on critical spots, such as landing gear. The gear won’t retract properly if covered in ice. That could spell trouble in outer space. . With the Millennium Falcon, de-icing was Chewie’s job. He was the one with fur after all. Chewie wasn’t happy about it, despite the fur, nocturnal Hoth was too cold for comfort. . #cold #snow #blizzard #hoth #starwars #theempirestrikesback #chewie #chewbacca #lego #millenniumfalcon #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic #originality

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Mar 9, 2018 at 1:51am PST

How do the people who really know how to build miniatures do their thing? I don’t get it. I can build a model that is good enough for my photographs, I’m cool with that, but the real masters… they are something else. I’ve been doing some research on this recently, you see, and there is some seriously fantastic stuff out there. But with these particular models, the quality of paint pigments and weathering isn’t what puzzles me the most, even though the pigments alone are a long story, but really it’s the way the designs are unpredictable when put in front of the camera. Without building one, you can’t tell how it works. . The Millennium Falcon I have (1/72nd scale) works surprisingly well for its scale, the X-wing (1/24th scale) is just sublime. There is something very camera friendly in those designs. I figured this 1/24th scale Y-wing would be brilliant as well and invested a lot of time and effort to building it, but so far it remains a bit of a conundrum. What works great with the X-wing, doesn’t work at all with the Y. It has a language of its own and I haven’t figured it out yet. . Of all the photos I’ve taken of the Y-wing so far, this is the only one that works well enough to post. It’s a couple of weeks old. . #scalemodel #miniature #toy #toyphotography #starwars #ywing #helsinki #snow #winter

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Mar 6, 2018 at 12:59pm PST

Still a few tiny details to attend to, but basically this thing is done. It’s a big monster, by far the most complicated scale model I’ve ever built. . I’m not sure if the effort was really worth it, it took four years after all. But, you know, it’s one of those things… I need to know. There is no other way to find out. . #scalemodel #miniature #ywing #starwars #toy #toyphotography #studioscale

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Feb 15, 2018 at 3:27pm PST

TK-24/7 likes cross-country skiing. Looking at this photograph, it’s hard to tell whether he is actually skiing or frozen solid. . There’s nothing to worry though. There may be snow and ice accumulation on the exterior surfaces of the snowtrooper armor, but inside it’s always nice and warm. He could be having a nap, come to think of it. Impossible to tell, really. . An old photo from two olympiads ago, 2010, when the winter games were in Vancouver. . I am avoiding the last critical paint session of the model I’ve had on the workbench for months now. I should do it tonight and get over with it, but… well, it’s not easy. So, I edited an oldie to get my mind off the project for a moment. . #lego #stormtrooper #snowtrooper #minifigure #starwars #theempirestrikesback #hoth #snow #blizzard #cold #toy #toyphotography #toyphotographers #toptoyphotos #stuckinplastic

A post shared by Vesa Lehtimäki (@avanaut) on Feb 10, 2018 at 6:44am PST