I’m so excited to be announcing our first LEGO toy photography contest!
As many of you know we have an ongoing relationship with the folks at Bricks Culture to write about toy photography and showcase the work of our amazing community. Our first article was a brief introduction to toy photography while our second article talked about the fun of taking toys on vacation with you. Our third article is on robots, a topic near and dear to all of us here at Stuck in Plastic.
“Awake” by Mike Stimpson
For each of our articles we need to submit awesome photos… and this is where you come in. We want to see your amazing photos of robots; LEGO robots come in many shapes and sizes; they run the gamut from mechs to Wall-E, from original MOCs to mini figures. We want to feature as many amazing photographs from this community as we can.
“Big shot robot” by Brett Wilson
You can submit photos that were taken in a studio or outdoors. We’re putting no limits on your creativity except one: no Star Wars figures. (We’ve made this one limitation only because the Star Wars universe deserves its own article!)
“To be a woman” by Kristina Alexanderson
Don’t worry, we won’t be judging you on your LEGO building skills. We would love to see a nice selection of awesome Legography that showcases the wide range of photos that showcase robots created by or in LEGO. We’re looking for photos that tell stories, unique photos, photos that create a reaction – basically the types of photos you already take every single day. 🙂
“Sunday Afternoon” by Shelly Corbett
The best of your submissions will be featured in issue #7 of Bricks Culture. We will also feature a few of our favorite submissions in a follow-up article here on the blog.
I hope you will consider joining this fun challenge. Its unlike anything we’ve done before, and I’m super excited to see what you come up with!
~ Shelly
The Rules:
- The deadline is Friday, August, 12th at midnight PST.
- The photo needs to include at least one figure recognizable as a robot. This can be a collectable mini figure, your own robot build, a mech, Wall-E, Mindstorms, vintage or modern design.
- Color or black & white, studio or outdoor photography are all accepted
- One email per person, no more than four images per e-mail.
- Please include your contact information with your e-mail submission.
- If your image is selected for inclusion with the article we will contact you for the final file.
- We are judging your photography skills; not your building skills.
- No Star Wars characters will be accepted (no BB-8, R2-D2, C3-PO, etc)
- You will receive no payment in exchange for publication of your image. Just bragging rights in the coolest LEGO magazine out there.
- New and old images are fine. Although, please don’t submit work that is not your own or more than one year old.
- Email submissions to corbett.sj@gmail.com
- Any questions, please leave them below in the comments and I will clarify them as best as I can.
“Project 2016” by Me2
Great Idea
Stay tuned, this is the first of many contests like this. So if Robots aren’t your thing, the next two will be just as fun!
What is the email that will be used to submit the photos?
Thanks for catching that omission! I have updated the post with the email address. 🙂
Aww man I’m gonna have to up my game! Amazing opportunity!!
If we don’t catch you for this one, here will be more in the future! 😀
Ooooh, I LOVE this! My mind is already racing with new ideas. I’ve been wanting to play around with more robots (both pre-made figs and MOCs) in my photography, so this will be a perfect opportunity. Thanks Shelly!
Yeah James! I look forward to seeing what you create! I think this is going to be so awesome!! 😀
Super awesome idea!
I’m so excited because I never did it before.
I don’t know what I’ll come up with but I’m so curious to join this!
Awesome! Im glad you’re excited, because we are too! What ever happens Im sure you will learn something along the way. 😀
What about cyborgs? Do cyborgs count?
Im going to give Cyborgs a pass. There are so many in LEGO CMF that it would be a shame to exclude them. But as always, good photography counts more than the subject. 🙂
Can I use Star Wars pieces? And can it be a Cyborg since that’s half robot half Lego guy?
All Star Wars and Star Wars related robots will be excluded automatically. This is a chance to explore the universe of LEGO beyond that franchise. Take it as a challenge! Cyborgs will be give a pass. 🙂
Another question! Will a mech work?
Yes. I clearly stated that Mechs where ok in rule #2.
Hy Shelly
Just to be sure:
1.) Is it ok or maybe even important to watermark my shots before sending them to you via mail?
2.) Is it ok or am I “alloud” to post these shots before or after also on IG and Twitter?
Sacha
Sacha,
1) if your image is picked for the magazine, I will ask you to send me a file that has no watermark. For the first round a watermark is fine.
2) you are more than welcome to post your shot to social media after we choose the winners. You may want to withhold posting until after the contest ends, but Im not going to disqualify anyone if they pst before winners are announced as well as before publication.
I hope that helps. This is our first contest, so we are going to have a few bumps in the road. 🙂
Shelly
I have again another question 😛 Can I use custom lego weapons (Brickarms, brick forge, minifigcat, etc) or is this strictly Lego brand weapons only.
You’re welcome to use third party parts. This is a contest between us and Bricks Culture. The LEGO Group is not involved in this event in any way. But just so you know while I’m one of five judges. With that said, I don’t like violence in toy photography. 🙂
I think I found a compromise 😉
I second that last comment 😀
Robots can be so cute and remember the first law of A.
Oh what’s the sound? It’s me with another question! XD Will I be able to add a caption with the photo or in the photo. A caption would really help explain the photo especially with the mixed vibes my photo could give. I can send a sample of a caption in a photo to the email.
In the past we have included the image title, the artist’s name and their IG (or Flickr) handle. You know what they say: a picture is worth a thousand words!
Arg I knew I should have taken a photo of Zane while I was in Norway >_< It's been weeks I wanted to do it but have been unable to find a good outdoor location. Norway could have worked but I was too busy playing with other minifigs.
I really want to submit an outdoor photo but I have doubts I'll be able to come up with something good before the deadline. Maybe I'll try something indoor with another figure.
I’m sure whatever you come up with be wonderful! Outdoor photography is always full of miss opportunities – I’m sure Ive written about that before 🙂 Try a studio shot – it could be a nice change of pace. And don’t worry, this isn’t our last contest. The next two will be equally fun!
I have two questions:
– are Photoshop additions allowed? (I mean something like the tablet interfaces I put in some of my pictures)
– are custom printed pieces (or stickers) allowed?
Thank you.
Cheers,
Luigi
Luigi,
1) Yes, absolutely! Tablet interfaces, special effects, fake planets, alternative environments, laser blasts…whatever it is you crazy toy photographers can think of! 😀
2) Yes! Third party custom parts, accessories, stickers, etc are definitely allowed. Whatever gets your imagination going!
We are judging on creativity, photography skills, originality and the ability to tell a story or elicit an emotional response.
I hope this helps!
Shelly
Oh yes, Shelly! Everything is clear now! Thank you!
One last question: is there a minimum pixels size for the images we’ll send you? I’m asking because I could have connection problems during my vacation.
For this first round you can send small files. After we choose our finalists I will be asking for larger files. But that won’t be until mid to Late August. 9/1 is our deadline for all images and copy turned into Bricks Culture. I hope this helps!
Thank you Shelly!
I´m wondering about colors, is someone fixing the colors before printing? A pic could look fine on my screen (colors, contrast,sharpness) but not in print, too dark, bright or something.
/Vera
Vera, To date I have not messed with anyones photos, only sent them in ‘as is”. Personally I’ve taken the time to print my images before I send them in to make sure they look good on paper, because as you so correctly point out, they often look great on a screen and too dark on paper. To give some credit to the magazine and the layout designer – all of our spreads have looked awesome so far. I haven’t seen the last issue and that had the most mobile photography / hobby level work in it. If one of your images is chosen and you have specific concerns, I can most likely help you out. – Shelly
Thank you Shelly =)
Excited to see the first contest Shelly
I really hope I can come up with stg.
Cheers ☺️
I’m glad you’re as excited as I am! I hope to see an entry from you. You still have two weeks to come up with an image. Cheers my friend! 🙂
I love this contest Shelly! Thanks for the clarity, the enthusiasm, and the fun.
I’m loving your site! I love LEGO and enjoy photography and while I’m not accomplished at either, it is sure fun to play around. Thanks for the inspiration!