In the HowTo thread I posted a Youtube video that shows the process. Maybe it can help a bitAthos wrote: I wonder if there is a way to get similar pictures without resort to photo-editing. I've never been able to edit photos well.
Also keep in mind that since the lighting in both photos is the same (and the original) and the blurred background of the minifig and the landscape is the same, the editing is much easier and the final result looks natural. Good pre-production preparation can make your life easier in post-production. On the other hand, compact cameras often don't have manual settings. This means that the light measurements in the two photos might differ a bit causing small light differences between the two photos - the more you go in night scenes the more you'll probably notice this.
I am not a photograph-guru, someone else might be more appropriate to give a final answer, but I think it's hard* to find a lens that can focus on an object 40cm away from the lens and show sharp and clear a landscape that's 200m away. With an object 5-8m away and a landscape 200m away, it works fine - you can even do it with compact cameras.
*hard or not possible with a lens that costs less than 300 euro