When did you first feel like, “This is it. This is the work I want to be known for”?

I came from a background in commercial photography, working across different genres while always creating personal projects on the side. During one of those personal experiments, I started playing with a scale model car and built a simple miniature scene to tell a story. When I photographed it, something clicked. I loved the result — and the fact that I could create entire worlds in a small space, completely on my own. That was my aha moment. It felt like being a kid again, playing with toys — but now with a camera in my hands.

Are there any creative rules you swear by, or break just for fun?

It may sound crazy, but in post-production I often adjust sliders to 73 or 74 percent, the years my wife and I were born. And if a slider lands on 13 percent, I’ll always change it to 12 or 14. Never 13.More seriously, I don’t follow the rule of thirds. I tend to center my characters and let the story lead the composition. And the most important rule of all? A cup of coffee before I start any project… wine if it’s late.

Which part of the creative process is your favorite, and why?

I love the moment when everything comes together, but I enjoy the entire journey. I especially value the time spent creating with my hands — building, crafting, and experimenting with materials. Then, in post-production, when I bring all the pieces into Affinity and everything starts to blend, align, and make sense, the image truly comes alive. That balance between hands-on craftsmanship and digital refinement is where the magic happens for me.

Name the unsung hero in your Affinity workflow.

The Focus Merge tool is an unsung hero in my workflow. Focus stacking is essential when working with miniature scenes, where depth of field is extremely limited. Affinity’s Focus Merge allows me to efficiently combine multiple images, producing natural, sharp results. I’ve tested other software; some are dedicated solely to focus stacking and can be quite expensive, while others simply don’t deliver the same quality. Having such a powerful focus merge tool built directly into Affinity makes a huge difference in my process.

What’s something Affinity just gets right?

What Affinity really gets right is giving me everything I need in one place, without unnecessary complexity. It’s powerful, fast, and incredibly capable. Beyond that, I truly appreciate that the Affinity team listens to their users. You can feel that the software is built with real creatives in mind, evolving based on feedback and real-world workflows. That combination of performance, accessibility, and responsiveness is what makes Affinity stand out for me.

Felix Hernandez

Photographer

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Digital artist

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Mexico

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Pro Panel

Felix Hernandez is a photographer, miniature artist, and creative director. Working from his studio, Hernandez Dreamphography, he creates highly detailed miniature worlds that blur the line between reality and imagination. He has collaborated with brands across entertainment, automotive, fashion, and technology, translating concepts into meticulously built scenes photographed as if they were full scale. Rooted in a hands-on, craft-driven process, his work blends handcrafted scale models, practical effects, photography, and digital post-production to create visual narratives that feel cinematic, believable, and emotionally resonant.

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"Affinity allows me to blend multiple images, control light, refine details, and bring miniature worlds to life with precision and freedom. For me, it is where craftsmanship, imagination, and technology meet — the place where all the pieces finally come together."

Q&A

I came from a background in commercial photography, working across different genres while always creating personal projects on the side. During one of those personal experiments, I started playing with a scale model car and built a simple miniature scene to tell a story. When I photographed it, something clicked. I loved the result — and the fact that I could create entire worlds in a small space, completely on my own. That was my aha moment. It felt like being a kid again, playing with toys — but now with a camera in my hands.
It may sound crazy, but in post-production I often adjust sliders to 73 or 74 percent, the years my wife and I were born. And if a slider lands on 13 percent, I’ll always change it to 12 or 14. Never 13.
More seriously, I don’t follow the rule of thirds. I tend to center my characters and let the story lead the composition. And the most important rule of all? A cup of coffee before I start any project… wine if it’s late.
I love the moment when everything comes together, but I enjoy the entire journey. I especially value the time spent creating with my hands — building, crafting, and experimenting with materials. Then, in post-production, when I bring all the pieces into Affinity and everything starts to blend, align, and make sense, the image truly comes alive. That balance between hands-on craftsmanship and digital refinement is where the magic happens for me.
The Focus Merge tool is an unsung hero in my workflow. Focus stacking is essential when working with miniature scenes, where depth of field is extremely limited. Affinity’s Focus Merge allows me to efficiently combine multiple images, producing natural, sharp results. I’ve tested other software; some are dedicated solely to focus stacking and can be quite expensive, while others simply don’t deliver the same quality. Having such a powerful focus merge tool built directly into Affinity makes a huge difference in my process.
What Affinity really gets right is giving me everything I need in one place, without unnecessary complexity. It’s powerful, fast, and incredibly capable. Beyond that, I truly appreciate that the Affinity team listens to their users. You can feel that the software is built with real creatives in mind, evolving based on feedback and real-world workflows. That combination of performance, accessibility, and responsiveness is what makes Affinity stand out for me.