Still Life Challenges

Photography

I do enjoy Toy Photography as much as Still Life. I don't have to wait for perfect weather or perfect light. With a little effort and fun, one can create any world they wish too.

I took an on line class to learn and force myself to do Still Life years ago. I was pretty sure I'd hate it, but I also thought it would be an interesting way to spend time learning a new skill. 

I found out that I really did enjoy it. The class I took was in 2014.

I should do some more of this. Still Life is beautiful and always open to any interpretation. 

I don't want to be stuck in any one genre of photography.  I will say that I am not comfortable with Portrait Photography though. Weddings and portraits are tough and I am very uncomfortable with that genre. 

I have done portraits but mostly those just of my grand kids and a few other little ones. Kids are naturals and fun to follow around with a camera.

Maybe it is time to refocus during these cold, wet, and nasty days.  I might  put the toys aside for a little bit or just mix things up more.

My regret is that I didn't pick up any flowers at the store yesterday!

But I did have some time to make an effort at something much different anyway:

Glass Heart 
&
Pearls

Glass Heart
Pearls
Old Silk Rose

Below: Old Thank You Card I made when I was making all of my own cards to send out in the mail. Remember sending things in the mail???

Anyway. 

It is a good challenge on a dreary wet and nasty day!

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....

Snow, blowing snow, weather, play

We had some rather interesting wild weather on Friday with the winds. I walked to the ridge to see if the snowfall was drifting across the ridge roads.

It was.
I cancelled my CrossFit work out because. Well, because I could. I don't have to drive in poor weather anymore so I can relax and just watch the snow pile up and the winds create beautiful drifts.

Our road looked like this:

The winds were picking up the snow and blowing it into fantastic shapes in the roadside ditches.

I talked to a friend of mine who had said they'd gone to town and the roads on the ridges were drifting and visibility was not good.
I figured that because I could barely see across the cropland on top of the ridge.

The winds were whipping the snow like crazy. Video length about 20 seconds of snow-nadoes!

I walked off the ridge and just into the woods. 

It got quiet and peaceful without the roaring winds. Charlie and I walked down into the wild meadow where I picked up sticks, mosses, pieces of bark, and some grass. I felt that I'd probably be spending most of the rest of the day indoors and I felt like making something creative.

It sure looks like a mess, but I had ideas for a diorama of sorts.

I had some quiet time to myself so I got to work with my free materials from the woods.
Sorry, my cell phone takes awful photos in dim light. But I used and old cookie sheet to create a scene just for the camera.

 I thought it would be funny to have a Lego Robot and a Squirrel working in a garden together. 

Hey, IT could happen right???

And after all of their hard work, they decided to have a picnic.

An Acorn for the squirrel and a pizza for the robot. The Robot is the Nanny Droid, IG 11. He stars in Disney's Mandalorian episodes. I thought he was just weird enough to use in this scene.

The fork he is holding actually is an extra piece that was included in the Orchid build. 

It looks like the pair is happy with their work of planting and watering.

After I cleaned that up I wondered what to do with all the extra material I had from the woods.

I had clay, a glue gun, sticks, and moss...

And I heard that Acorn Guy was looking for a little place to live. He didn't like Lego Brick homes, he preferred more wild-like things....

...stay tuned....

We don't stop playing because we grow
old
We grow old because we stop 
playing.

George Bernard Shaw.

Play on!

Igloo and Creepy Zombie Clay snow people...

Sometimes I get a bit carried away with things. I touched up the igloo for my table with the little mini snow men [they are 1/2" tall] and Santa. I thought, hey why not make a tiny 'snow scene'? You know, that diorama thingy?

As kids, we didn't use big words like diorama. We just made 'set ups'. 
Setups included our plastic soldiers having an epic battle on the ping pong table in the basement.

We spent hours doing those activities.

I used cotton balls that were packed in a medication bottle to make white snow boulders. The tiny gift boxes are something I picked up so many years ago and have reused year after year. 

I should have left well enough alone. I went out in the yard and picked up some fallen branches and broke off tiny trees. I thought I'd make a couple of snow men/people. Why not? I had the tips of the branches to make arms. I found itty bitty seeds to make the eyes in the first snow man zombie. Well, the rest is history.

They look like zombies! Terrifying indeed! 

Yet, somehow I like them.
They look less scary in the daylight. I still used black and white for them and gave the little snowperson without the mouth an acorn hat.

The igloo is behind them. 

Do not fear. I am not all creepy and scary. I like cute also. 

Behold the arrival of the Polar Bears!

They are adorable!

Thanks ... giving

Nah, NO turkey for us! 

I do lasagna. I have never actually cooked a turkey. I don't even like most poultry so it is a no brainer for me.

We used to gather as a large family long ago with cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents. Us kids ate in another room. I recall we got in trouble for creating a squash, corn, and cranberry mountain on a plate in the middle of our table. I think we all added the food we disliked to the mountain with the idea we'd give the big mess to the dogs. 
We got caught and chastised. 

We put on bright colored clothing and went sledding while the adults cleaned up. 

This holiday keeps changing over the years. There was the Thanksgiving I did hotdogs with the boys. That is what they wanted. There were gatherings of our generation. 

Things changed. People went their own ways.

We will spend time at home without company. I will start working on my Christmas Projects. I made a new one this past week. 

I took my handmade 'Fairy House' Stuff and thought it would be fun to set things up on a little table. I moved the old trunk  and set a white board on it...I'll address that later.
The little table with a drawer became my project. What to do?

Well, I gathered my moss house, my mossy tree, and just messed around a bit. I gutted the mossy tree of its lights and added a puck light I could turn on with a remote.
I replaced the batteries in the fairy lights and gathered up my tiny squirrels and Groot.
I found a use for the mini decorations that had been put away for so many years.

I found a chunk of plastic ivy left over from some long ago project and viola! The table became a setting I can admire while in the kitchen doing other projects. I can also move the squirrels around or make the dinosaurs or dragons visit...OH the endless possibilities!

And in the morning before dawn, I can enjoy the lights even more as they add fun and warmth to the kitchen area.

While putting other things away, I came across some brooches I'd ordered last year. I wanted to swap out a brooch on my 'go to town' baseball cap and had ordered a little packet of them. 

I have a tiny tree ... I had the bug brooches.
And I thought...why not?

Which led me to gathering some of my mother in laws brooches I inherited to decorate the tiny tree in the kitchen [no picture...sorry]. 

There is that old trunk with the white board on it just hanging around near the back door. I kept thinking about white and about what I could come up with.

Something snowy, something fun, something different.
This piece of cardboard packing came with a humidifier, I thought I might use it to make a little snow mountain.

I used some felt and some sticky two sided tape to hold it on the cardboard. The linen tea towel is one that came from my Grandmother and Aunt's things that I inherited. I thought it might make good snow.

The jury is still out on this small creation. I can see where I will be messing with this for a bit to get it right. 

I may even scrap the whole idea, time will tell. 

The new Christmas Chair is now in the living room. It is waiting. But I am holding off on that project. There is no rush.

I got out in the afternoon for doing some Girry Adventure photography. If anyone has ever worked with a dog underfoot, perhaps they can appreciate how helpful or unhelpful a pet can be...

Here is Charlie, inspecting the Teddy named Moose just before he pushed it over. I wish I had been quick enough to capture Charlie nosing the Girry Giraffe into the creek water.

Today will be more about chilling out, relaxing, and enjoying each other's company.

What am I thankful for?

My imagination which allows me to enjoy going in so many directions at once.
My husband who constantly brings me joy and frustrations. Our home and farm.

Charlie.

Friends and family.

Feeling Creative

Fall tends to bring about my creative side. I thought I'd make a Diorama type set up for ...um, whatever the reason. So I went out in the yard and grabbed some little sticks and brought them inside.

I had some extra Model Magic that was still pliable so I thought I'd make a mushroom and maybe some mini trees.

I used some medicine caps as the tree bases. I put a ball of the Model Magic in the cap with some Elmer's Glue and set it off to the side to dry.

This morning while waiting on my appointment follow up calls I got out an old pill bottle and filled it with tiny rocks for weight. It will be the base for the tree I am modeling to look like it is leaning way off to the side. 
I will  hot glue the bark to the pill bottle to make it look like a tree base.

Now the items have to dry. It will probably be about 2 days or so before I can add paint to the 'trees' I made. One method to make trees was to use foil and create a base to make a tree. That was fine, but I thought an actual branch would make more sense. And after all, I can just go pick one up in the yard.

Guess who was very happy with it so far? 

Groot! 

I love this character from Guardians of the Galaxy. I saw some of those movies while visiting this summer with my son Eddie. When I spotted this 'ornament' in the store, I grabbed it. It was on a new display and most of them were already gone. I knew his happy face would not be there next time I went in.

I set everything to the side to dry and then took the afternoon walk to check on fences, mules, and the colors of fall.

I was so surprised at a patch of Blewits???

There were so many on this old mule/deer trail between oak trees that I ended up spending a lot of time trying to photograph them.

Here is the one I brought home. It was pretty large.

Hubby said there was NO way he'd even try one. I'm not sure either quite yet. This one was nearly as large as my foot!