The Life of Toys

Percy to Chance.
*Who do you suppose tossed Guardy down the hill during that last rain storm?*

*Easy, Percy...look to my left. The dolls, it is always the dolls that cause trouble. You know, if a crime is committed, look to the dolls.*

*Hmmm, I thought we got rid of that really creepy one during the last flood. It was tricky and hard to make her let go of me when I got hung up on those saplings. She was just plain mean!*

*I know Percy, when we were in the Thrift Store she kept pushing me to the bottom of the pile so no one would buy me.*

*Despicable.*

*Indeed.*

The Doll stays silent but closes one eye in a wink.

*Hey guys?* Guardy sits up slowly. *Some help here?*

Percy and Chance:
*Shhhh! We hear footsteps! It is her and that dog! She'll pick you up!*

.......


*She did indeed! That's much better! I can watch over the creek again. But keep that Doll away from me!*

*We're going to hang out in the creek for a bit and wash off some mud. You keep an eye on her.*

The Doll remains silent but keeps one eye on the Bears.

Still Life on the Cheap

I just started a class in Still Life and this is week two.  At first I thought I was an idiot for trying something out of my comfort zone.

I like hiking, I like nature, I like outdoors so that is usually what my subjects are. I learned something from my father, as long as you had some light coming in from the outside, you could take photos on the inside of the house.

So I decided I'd go ahead and try 'Still Life'.  What could it hurt?  I could learn something and it is never bad to learn something new.

First here is my really expensive set up for my 'table top' shot I wanted to do last week.

Please note the helper in the photo.  Hedgehogs are common missiles when I am sometimes working this close to the floor.

However it was an overcast day and I was trying to make the best use of the light. I set up a white foam board behind the basket, which Morris promptly nosed down.
But eventually we worked it out and I came up with this.

I used an old lace curtain on top of a box.  I tossed in some carnations along with a card someone had given me. I put some coffee in the coffee cup and gave Morris a very stern look.  I set the camera to manual and used a tripod and remote to get the shot.  
I did use Topaz Glow to pretty it up a bit.

Not satisfied with just that as a shot, I set some other things up.  Barbed wire, a rusted clip and some brass bells on a ribbon.

I used more of a limited color in this shot and a narrow depth of focus.

Week two asks that we shoot a photo with negative space and the rule of thirds.

Here is how I set this week's shots up.  

Yes, a dresser, a white sheet, and a white board next to a window.

And I decided to go with a Valentine's Day theme so I added candy.

Oh darn.  That funny stuffed donkey just wouldn't leave my thoughts.  So I decided to photograph it too.

However the donkey turned out okay but the photo really seemed quite lacking. I wasn't that impressed at all, even if the idea was fun.
Well, simply put.  It had too much empty space!

Exactly what it was supposed to have.
So I changed it like this:

It sort of has a vintage feel to it yet doesn't feel so empty.

I stopped right here.  Too much messing around would probably ruin this.

So you can do some pretty impressive Still Life work without a whole lot of investment.
I just did and found out that I really enjoyed it.

Just make sure your photography assistant isn't going to grab your toy Donkey and run off with it.  Or decide that tossing a hedgehog into the works would make it look so much better.


I used AfterShotPro by Corel for the RAW files, I used Topaz Adjust for making the donkey look 'vintage', and PSPX7 [PaintShopPro] for the editing. CS2 for any additional work.

Texture added to the first shot from mercurycode at deviantart.