I’ve spent a lot of time in the swamps and bayous of the southern United States fishing, hunting, photographing wildlife and generally avoiding venomous snakes and hungry alligators. The bottoms – as we affectionally call them down here – are also one of my favorite sources of inspiration for LEGO building. I recently completed this bayou-related build, my dream house set in the swamps:

Perhaps the scene feels a little lifeless but I purposefully chose not to include minifigs in this creation as I thought they would detract from the overall aesthetics. Using a fog machine and some LED lights I was able to create a creepy though strangely alluring atmosphere in this shot:

A fog machine can be a lot of fun to create mood in a LEGO scene, as can well-placed lighting. For outdoor scenes like this, I find it helpful to shoot outside at dusk with a single artificial light angled above the build to mimic moonlight. A tripod, fresh memory card and a lot of patience are also musts!