Story Times...

Meet Glenda...she runs
a Lego animal 
sanctuary...

in my Succulent Garden!

 

You can probably guess that she stays pretty busy.

Let's not forget to check in on Joe and Dog. They are still wandering about exploring this wonderful world that is not The End of All Time. I don't think Dog is too impressed with the pond they are going to cross.

Nor do they know what else they may find.

Ailie and Rabbit... transported from a Starship in the somewhat distant future.

There is a Lego Photo Challenge this month, that I will be participating in. Wouldn't it be fun to get the project??? I can only try. 

So you could see some fun Lego shots here as I work through that 'assignment'.

Submit photos of LEGO subjects in interesting environments to apply for this On Assignment project. The selected photographer will receive the Space Construction Mech 60428 to create a series of at least 5 photos.

A little more fun with Droids

Play on the cheap. A week or so ago I made another diorama out of some CPAP trash and used it for my Legos which are tiny. I have a 4" droid made by Kenner that I thought would be fun to make a diorama for also.

What better time to do it when it is 100+ degrees out? 

I gathered a chunk of cardboard that wrapped around some meds in a box and spray painted it slightly, then I glued a hose washer, bottle cap, hair tie, and bit and pieces of random things together. I made a box of of cardboard and pipes out of straws. The mesh in front is from a potato bag that was destined for the trash.

The base was the top of a cardboard box and then I just ripped pieces to make them ragged looking.

As it is presented here on the table, it really doesn't look like much. So I closed the curtains in a way to let in light as I wanted it ....

and took some shots...

this was the result.

I think the process of 'creating' the scene was most of the fun. I just went at it, adding bits and pieces and shading it with colors. I wanted a textured background but not so textured as to take away what was happening in the photo.

One of the things I like about this method is that fact that it is simple and it doesn't have to be Perfect to give one a sense of mood. The other thing that tickled me is that it cost nothing as I had all the items on hand in the trash pile. 

What is also very important here is paying attention to the depth of focus. The items behind the droid and slightly in front shouldn't be in clear focus unless the intent is on highlighting those items.

I lucked out with good light simply by moving curtains. No magic there! The photo was shot for highlight drama. That means it was exposed to bring out the lighter areas and leave the other areas a bit dark.

Of course Peazy can't do all of her work alone. She needs to have her deliveries....

NED-B apparently has volunteered to help.

And there is generally some time during the day for tea...

Even Droids get a break. 

Now if I can get a Droid to do my cooking. 

The weather is finally breaking so I leave my droids and toys and head outside to chase insects and find hiking adventures.

Thank goodness! Oh wait, the Droids will probably come along....

Rainy day fun with Still Life

 

Teddy Bear Garden Club
Meeting

With two days of darkness and dreariness filled with rain and well, gloom...I decided to mess around with --- toys of all things! Surprise!

I had to be quiet because the other half was Mr. Sleepy Head. I did chores of course along with transplanting Bee Balm plants that were emerging. They are so hardy and tough. I knew with the rain, it might be a good time to move things [in between showers].

I decided to clean up my old camera and hired a crew to do that while I swept the house for Charlie hair.

Kidding of course. I decided to take advantage of the low light coming in from the east and south windows. It wasn't harsh, but perfect for Still Life.

You don't need much room to 'make' a scene.

Clean up Crew

What it looked like before I put up a tea towel...

"Oh no Chuck, we need some eye drops! Can

you get the top off?"

These are HO Scale pieces and they don't like to stand up on their own very well. Viola! Some Elmer's Glue works very well. This wipes off easily and works wonders! It goes on purple and fades to clear.

It is amazing what happens to a creative person when she gets bored from being quiet around the house. 

I got out the kid blocks and a little light and set them up on my 'play' table.  For special effects I put the camera on a timer and simply used a face mister for fog and water in a spray bottle for rain.

With almost no edits, I got these photos of this little Lego figure:

Pre-edit. 

Upped the blacks and....decreased

the color...

I even tried making Frank the Trooper float, and that failed miserably. I used a fishing line to suspend him and tried the following. He kept swinging around and nothing worked out for me.

I went back to what worked before and added a filter to the light.

Original:

Final:

I added some contrast and a used brush that comes with ON1. It is supposed to be a comet, but I thought it looked like a blast from a blast. The 'rain' is from the spritzer.

Friday morning we had sunlight! It was cold and windy...but Charlie and I adventured down into the valley to the Big Spring.

More about that...

later.

Today it is snowing again.

thhhhppptttptptp...ffffttt.

Wicked Weather!

You can Dance in a Hurricane

But only if you

are standing

in the

Eye.

I heard the above words when I was listening to my Pandora Station with earbuds while sorting out medications for Hubby. Doing meds for half the month or the full month takes quite a bit of time. I generally listen to music to blot out any distractions.

I just loved the lyrics to this song and sadly I don't know what the song was!

The winds whistled and roared above our little hollow and once more, I was grateful for not living on the ridge. We'd had over an inch of rain during the night with a lot of lightening and thunder. 

A few times when the thunder shook the house, Charlie was sure that the world was about to end.

Since it was soooo gloomy out, I decided to do some lightbox photography.

The ambient light was a little easier to control. Pictured above is the lightbox with a black background and a little Ulanzi cube light, a balloon light, a face mister, and tacky stuff. 

The tacky stuff is great for keeping the feet of the taller figure in place.

The little light comes with filters to change the color of the light. I'm still experimenting and learning all about light. I never thought I'd ever do anything other than outdoor photography.

However, here I am, learning something new.

I am really happy how this turned out. I used the lightbox with the lowest light setting and a diffuser over the light.

I used the Ulanzi cube with a slightly orange filter at the foot of the toy pointing up.

I used the face mister to produce...well, mist!

I learned a lot about mist. It can confuse the camera and it can also make things rather grainy. 

Finding the right balance takes a bit of work and quite a few shots.

Dark Trooper leaving his

charging station with 

a mini Dark Trooper

I found these non-Lego Legos a while ago when searching for knights.

[Pointing below at the photo---->]

If you are a fan of Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings series, these guys would be identified as Uruk-Hai Orcs. One Orc from Lego would be nearly $26.00. 
In a photo like this, you cannot tell if it is a real Lego or a knock off. I was able to get 7 Orcs and 7 Elf like knights in one package for less than one Orc.

These guys look pretty fierce. And now I am laughing because this Orc is holding his shield upside down!

A few days ago, I did make it down to the creek to enjoy some quiet time with Charlie. I had Squatch and Hobby in my bag. I went to my favorite spot and did this:

It's nice that they too can get out and enjoy some peaceful times.

This morning the moonlight woke me up and the skies were clear and bright!

Whew! Mother Nature has decided to give us another break from the Wicked Weather.

It'll still be a little windy, but at least I can get out today and enjoy the weather.

When I grow up...

 Maybe I'll be a landscape photographer. 

And go to cool places.
Literally.

Perhaps I'll even start photographing wildlife.

Or I can try to hide in places with my lens hoping to see exotic birds...

Or seek exotic creatures in ice caves....

Here kitty, kitty!
I like Wild Life. I mean life that is Wild. 
I mean....well, you know what I mean.

Sometimes, Wildlife even likes me!

Have a great weekend. 

I'm heading out to Explore some forests and bluffs tomorrow.

And then...

How about some fun and silliness instead of anything important?

Like a little Squatch and Hobby?

Hobby purchased a Kayak, she was tired of trying to find bark all the time to float down Little Creek to search for Squatch's relatives.

Squatch was concerned, it felt wobbly. Bark was so much more un-wobbly.

So peaceful!

Wild Bill was out gathering Golden Oyster Mushrooms to take back to the Lego Home.

Yeti and Husky gathered Cottonwood Fluff for his winter bedding.

After a few dunks in the creek Hobby announced she was going to do an experiment. 
The experiment was called Baking.

She was going to make Strawberry Shortcake and promised not to burn the Lego House down.

Squatch was not sure....

So he supervised....

and hoped that Hobby had taken a bath after their creek adventure.

 

Squatch and Hobby

Squatch to Hobby.
Do you suppose I'll ever find another one like me?

Hobby:
Oh sure, we just need to keep looking.

Squatch:

I'm sure getting discouraged.

Hobby:
Let's not get discouraged. Let's be persistent. You never know when we could bump into a relative of yours!

 

Meanwhile

 ~~~~~
Who ordered snow and rain stuff? April showers/snow squalls bring May flowers.

Mother Nature has her own mind. However the moisture is welcomed.

Yesterday was one of those days of rain then fog, then mist, then rain and then winds. I started to clean up the upstairs rooms and got totally sidetracked.

I came downstairs with an old wooden box. This old wood box used to be some sort of box for apples that were shipped from a company called Yakima Valley.

The box after so many years looks like this:

The original label would look like this:

I inherited this wooden box from my Aunt's house, it was filled with rolls of fabric that I intended to crochet into a rag rug.

I repurposed it for my hand me down toys and figures. Basically it is a Toy Box. What on earth am I doing with toys?

I thought it would be a fun day to try some more photography using my laptop monitor to make a suitable backround. Last year I fretted about getting one of those fancy little tabletop backround sets that click together and provide you with a beautiful backround for still life photography.

Ouch. The prices range from $79 to $99 just for the boards. I got some craft paper last year and taped it to some wooden boards and set it on the old trunk. It works well enough for tiny things but not for larger items. 

I thought I'd look in the toy box and see what I could do. Surely it would only distract me for a few minutes from the pressing chores of cleaning out 'stuff' from the bedroom upstairs.

First I set things up on the old trunk and messed around with different arrangements.

I intended to remove the white backround and replace it with some sort of cosmic scene. That was a failure. tea cups, monsters, Jack Daniels, and space dudes. I found it rather amusing. I love mixing up the characters from different genres. 

I moved to the laptop and set up a Predator on a box. He kept falling down 

It became a game of being able to make him stand on his own and balance. Here is the original shot:

He is standing on the box he came in. The day was overcast so the light coming in from the window highlighted his face.

I edited it to this:

I did a closer shot here in a slightly different pose.

The picture on the laptop is a fractal I created in Mandelbulb 3D. 

I did a couple of more figures. Storm Trooper:

Mandalorian. I just looked this guy up and I guess I should watch the show on Disney+.  I'm not perfectly happy with this shot, but that is the fun of being able to create a scene rather easily.

How it is done.
Get a box an set your character next to the screen then simply shoot a closeup and be aware of your light and shadows.

And finally I got the room picked up and tidied. But on the way, I ended up taking something to the bathroom and remembered to pick up something from the living room and then thought I should vacuum, and ... Charlie's blanket needed washing...

and then....

well, you get it.

Sometimes I can be so scattered. I tell my husband it is the result of a creative mind.