When it is nasty out....

I turn to Toy Photography which is a great way to explore and challenge yourself with a camera. 

It also works great if you need a distraction or something to do when the weather is really quite horrible. 

Or the news is horrible, or the winds are blowing dust like it is the dust bowl era.

Hubby grounded me anyway, so I'm stuck indoors for a couple of days.

I purchased these cake toppers at a Dollar Store over a year ago and like my other Lego minifigs, they get stored away and then for whatever reason, I bring them out. One of the things I really love about them, is that they aren't moveable. Which may not make sense except that their expressions are so fun!

The MiniBot in the center here has become my favorite character of the Minis. He looks like he is yelling. So indeed, he must be the Leader of the MiniBots. 

Below it seems he is dressing down the Droids in front of the other MiniBots. The Droids do look a bit sheepish.

He even has a name.
Steve.

I created the 'scenes' with junk. I've explained before that I enjoy taking trash and turning it into a diorama. I use pieces and parts so I can reassemble them at will into different scenes. 

Most of what went into the above scene was an old humidifier that went kaput. I took it apart and used my craft paints to make the parts look rusty and old. There is even a soup can in the picture.

Moss that is spread about is part of a cardboard box I painted black.

I've also taken some plastic soda tops and straws and glued them together, along with those pesky medicine tops that you have to push down and rotate. They make great little bits for background. Toilet paper rolls always have endless possibilities. Old rusty bolts provide a great scene for ... 

when the Minibots find a Worm Hole to travel through.

I started my interest in toys because I simply wasn't very good with regular items in Still Life. I tried to make beautiful arrangements of cups, sauces, flowers, and other items but I generally ended up inserting something odd.

I once put a Lego minifig into a cup of tea I was shooting. I was trying to do serious Still LIfe, but ended up doing silly stuff instead. 

Once I went there, I was hooked. Silly Still Life is much more amusing.

My favorite toys to photograph are those that aren't Licensed. You know, ..not... Disney, Marvel, and others. I feel obligated to make licensed toys do the things that they were made for. But isn't it more amusing to put them in other situations? 

For whatever the reason is, I've had some fun with these little cheap cake toppers. I mean, what kid would want these ugly little robots on their cake?

I have to admit, they used to look cleaner before I got after them with a paint brush to 'distress' their looks.

One of the easiest things to do is shoot them with a background I made in Deep Dream Generator using my laptop.

I simply typed in something like *wet dark alley, gloomy, with trash laying all around*. Viola. I had a digital set for my MiniBots.

I almost felt guilty for having such an easy set up for these guys. Usually it takes quite a bit of work to set up a diorama and then position things over and over and try to get things lit up just right.

I did a couple more grungy scenes with them then cleaned everything up and put it away. I have another project that caught my attention. I'm like that.

I can be on my way from one room to another and take a detour in the middle of what I am doing to ... do something else. I can have 3 things half finished by the time I get back to what I should have been doing in the first place.

Seriously though, I am much more single minded while doing the chores. 

We have ferocious winds here today. I cannot imagine how awful they will be on the ridge. I'm happy we live in a hollow.

And here we go...on towards the middle of the week.

What next???