One of my favorite tricks for photographing small builds is using a plain black mouse pad as a background. The somewhat bigger gaming mousepads are usually very good for doing this. The soft and matte surface absorbs light really well, which makes it look like the scene is in complete darkness. It’s a simple way to create a nighttime effect without needing a fancy backdrop.
This method works especially well for close-up shots. Small builds, minifigures, or scene details look like they’re surrounded by deep shadow, which is perfect if you want to capture a darker mood or simulate night. That said, it doesn’t hold up as well for larger builds. Since you need more light to show off bigger models and the background absorbs a lot of it. The mouse pad starts looking less like endless black and more like, well, a mouse pad.
Still, for small-scale photography, this is a quick, inexpensive, and surprisingly effective way to give your scenes a nighttime look.
Below are some photos where I myself used this trick:
