Lego Photography, Saran Wrap, and Cotton Balls

Yipee! I finally got around to these wonderful space 'cadets' from Aurora! Since the theme for the gifts were about spring, I had to use the gift packet of Zinnias along with another seed packet for a background.

Just behind Bugsy and Charlene are Lego flowers from the Botanical Collection.

Flowers
the universal language of
love....

When I saw these two I knew immediately that they would fall for each other. After all, it is my social statement for these times. We don't have to look alike to like each other!

The cold and rain has descended on us Sunday with icy conditions overnight and then 45 degrees and sunny on Monday.

While doing medications for hubby, I had to pull out some long cotton wads from a script bottle I opened.

I walked over to where Rich was having coffee and grabbed the Green Lego Dragon off the shelf and proclaimed that the Dragon Will Breath Fire!

I dropped the cotton wads next to the Dragon.

Rich shook his head and said, "Your cr..aa... your not right.. and ... they said I was crazy!" He patted my hand and gave me that look that said he was so sorry for me.

I went back to sorting and replied. "Just wait! I'll make him breath fireballs with that cotton!"

[No, I did not light the cotton on fire!]

 Rich gave me the roll of the eyes and then stated: "The guys with the white coats, um...they will get straight coats for you...and take you away." He chuckled. He is always amused by the way my mind works.

When I get into a 'creative' mood with an idea in mind, I can close off the world around me. He went to take a nap. The rain came down in sheets outside and I proceeded to get into the 'zone'. 

Creating a project requires that I have everything else in the area cleaned up and prepped. So I vacuumed, dusted, and cleaned the downstairs so I wouldn't have any further distractions.

My little table is in a spot that also has the oxygen concentrator so I have to step around that and deal with the oxygen tubing. However... it is how things are in our tiny house, so I deal with it.

Just so you know. I don't have a 'studio' for doing my photography. My creations are done at our table...

Dragon drinking water in the forest....amazing what a laptop can do...and what some saran wrap can create for an illusion!

result:

 

or done in the living room....

This is what the set up looked like. Cotton wadding from medicine bottles stuck with sticky tack to the dragon and castle.

 

I put a Ulanzi Light behind the drawbridge door and pointed it with a snout at the cotton wadding.

 

I turned off the overhead light and used another small Ulanzi light to light up the dragon's face.

 

Both photos were shot with a Lensbaby Sweet 50 with an f stop of 4.

 

 

The cotton 'fire' was enhanced slightly with dynamic contrast in DxO labs.

 

How many times did I do this before getting a successful shot?

 

About 20!

 

I learned about using cotton balls while pursuing Lego photos in both Flickr, Instagram, and FB Lego photos.

 

The end result:

And off I go to face another week.

And the animals come in....

I believe this herder was supposed to be taking care of his small flock of critters. However, it looks like he had a bit too much wine and didn't properly put his farm animals away...

In the early morning, it seems they pushed open the door and decided to help themselves to whatever the herdsman had in the house.

This is a building was from FunHole Wood-Cabin set. It is a Lego like build with the same sort of bricks. It was the very first 'build' I did over a year ago. It has two floors and came with lighting that integrates with the bricks. 

It was a difficult build and the bricks don't fit as tightly as Lego bricks do, but I enjoy using its detailed inside once in a while to have some fun. It has a kitchen, a wood stove, and a bathroom complete with a tub, sink, and mirror. The upstairs has a bedroom and a desk. There is a ladder that goes from the first floor to the loft.

I've used the outside of the building and porch for other photo scenes and I've taken this room apart and rearranged it several times. My favorite part is the wood stove that actually lights up. Most of the wiring and the contacts do work on this build but to my dismay or ineptitude, not all the ones do.

I took the roof and the upstairs off. Under the first floor, there is a circuit board with wires that runs through the bricks and lights things up. The porch lights, stove and bathroom lights work in this shot. There is a battery box in the lower right side of this photo.

I used a warm light [which actually looks green in this shot] to shine on the partially open front door.

I used another tiny Ulanzi light in a warm color to light up the interior.

And lastly, I stuck the face mister and turned it on so it would make the open door glow like morning sunlight. It also made the wood stove light glow. [I put it in the bathroom and opened the door!]

The herder kept falling off the couch so I had to use a tiny piece of sticky tack to hold him in place.

I had several tries before I was partially satisfied with a shot. Contrary to popular belief, this isn't so easy and it takes a lot of adjustments!

This was another idea I had just pop into my head Sunday morning while I was waiting for our company to show up. I couldn't go out in the heavy rain and winds to work on Princess Sara's story, so I had to fill my 'waiting' time with something else.

I ended up using a 30mm lens with a smaller aperture to try and get all of the animals in focus. 

It was not a one and done. I had to really experiment with settings and lights because I kept getting things too dark, too light, or too many harsh shadows. I had to be careful with the mister also especially when I let it run too long and everything in one photo had droplets on it!

And then! Yesterday the sunshine in the morning was brilliant and beautiful. So I could take Princess Sara out....

and begin another part of her wandering story...

Princess Sara and the Frog's Quest

Ideas sort of start out randomly. I had this partial building that the grandkids had left me and wanted to try and do something with it.

I took out Princess Sara and her stick horse and set her in the building. I added another character and then just messed with ideas that bounced around in my head. [My husband says it is an echo chamber inside my brain!]

Some time ago, while bored, I watched a video about how you can extend a building for photography by using a mirror. I thought I'd try it. 

To create an optical illusion, I added flowers to the back where I took the wall down. If seen 'in' camera and slightly out of focus, the flowers and bricks seem to be part of the set.

The kids had left some holes in the walls of their build so I thought I'd try putting lights through them to make the scene a bit more interesting. These are some Ulanzi lights I purchased on the cheap for some other still life work.

What it looks like from above.

What it looks like from behind the camera.

I wanted to add a bit of atmosphere to the scene. There are all sorts of ways to add atmosphere. Photographer's Atmosphere [very pricey atmosphere in a spray can], fog machines [very pricey, but now they make hand held ones], and a simple battery operated face mister. The face mister has an arrow pointing to it....

To add the mist, I simply turned it on and lay it on its side next to the open space that the light was shining through.

The scene as it looked in camera.👆

I kept moving minifigs around and finally decided to have Princess Sara talking to a tiny frog. I mean all good stories have a Princess and a Frog right?

I swapped out the Acorn person for a Knight. Not just any Knight, I chose one female knight I call Joan. 
In this scene Joan holds Princess Sara's stick horse while she meets in the castle garden at night to speak to the Magical Frog.

I mean, why not? 

The mirror did its trick the castle garden seems to extend in the background forever. The lights and mist add mystery and Joan's eyes are watching over her Princess carefully.

The final shot:

For me, it was important to see Joan's eyes through her helmet. It seems silly that she is holding both an weapon and a stick horse, but that is the fun of toy photography. Anything you desire can happen.

After shooting this photo, I decided that perhaps Sara and Joan should go on the Quest that the Frog sent them on.

Do I know what their Quest is yet? Nope. I imagine if I follow them, I may figure it out eventually.

Messing around

 

In the mean time, I've been busy with experimenting with lights indoors. I used a technique called Black Background ... it uses no background but a setting on the camera that makes the scene black and then the photographer uses a flashlight, flash, or something to light up the subject.

It was a pain to do, but I think if I practice a LOT more I can get it to work pretty easily. I'm studying how to do this outdoors while photographing a flower. I didn't take a 'how to' shot. 

I did it on the kitchen table with light coming in through a curtain. There is a coffee cup about 6 inches from the Lego Bird.

While the camera thought the scene was black, I used a bright flashlight to light up the Lego Bird and this was the result. I still have some work to do to figure out the best settings for this type of photography.

I tried a new method of lighting up a subject from underneath. I found a large piece of broken glass and put it on some old play blocks.
I stuck a flat light under the critters and a weak light shining on them from the front.

That is how I did the Shark Duckie shot which you already saw last week:

I then stood a tiny soldier right on top of the light with a black plastic background.

The soldier standing on the light with a black reflective
background behind him.

Cropped version...

A Calico Critter ~
She stood on the light and I took a flashlight and
lit her up from the top.

The shots turn out quite moody and interesting. I'd guess this method would work with some still life like an apple or forks or utensils? Perhaps a salt shaker with salt spilled on the glass and a small measuring spoon alongside it?

I just have to face it. There is not a lot out in the woodlands right now to get excited about. 

However. Things are starting to happen!

I saw Robins again today, along with Bluebirds, Sandhill Cranes have been flying overhead...and this morning I heard my first red winged black bird.

Seems like I need to start looking for neat signs of spring.

I guess a mission to look for Skunk Cabbage should be in order!

PS-- I did find skunk cabbage when I went out on Tuesday for my walk.

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.