This Cadillac is no longer than 6.3 cm (or roughly 2 1/2 inches), and the white wall was cut from a cardboard box. I added a wooden roof and paper flagstones … and the miniature dog.
If this picture works the way it’s supposed to, it made you hesitate, questioning what kind of reality you were looking at for a split second. In order to “trick” you into looking twice (or into the willing suspension of disbelief), I payed extra attention to perspective: If you ever wish to make a toy photo look real, make sure to set the camera to your toy‘s (imagined) eye level. It what I also did with the following photo.
And then there is lighting. In both these pictures, a simple desk lamp did the job. No tricks here, no post-processing with respect to the light, just very careful lighting from the start.
This is my entry for this week‘s Lens-Artists Challenge: “It’s tricky!
empire of lights 
Great Car 😊
I agree! Thanks!
Very clever Tobias! The car is amazing – the dog was the icing on the cake!
Thank you, Tina. The dog was literally the icing since I was going for the white car in front of the white wall. Then I put a dog inside the car but could not get it to look right – and then I remembered how animals often like to lie in the shade of a car.
Wow. You are right Tobias, this is right up your alley. I looked closer at both as they certainly could be real. The lucky dog was a nice touch in the first photo. The details in the second photo are fantastic. It truly looks like a city block with a train in the back and the perspective with the car is impressive. Thank you for this! Love it!
You’re too kind! Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
Welcome…