The magic of a child...

This was originally published in 2008. 

I was curious as to when exactly I started messing around with Toy Photography. This may have been the first time I picked up my Point and Shoot camera to take my dog's toys and create a story for my Grandchildren.

It eventually morphed into 5 books that I wrote and photographed for the kids. When Morris died I  put his story away and looked for other things.

If there is a toy....it can have a story in it.

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My father always impressed upon me the fact that having an imagination was a very important thing...he said, *Don't ever lose your imagination.*
Of course at the time I had no idea what he was talking about. I was a kid, of course I had an imagination.
Probably one that was a bit large anyway.

I recall laying in bed at night and wondering what my collection of stuffed animals did during the day while I was at school.
Of course any adult in their right minds would tell you that stuffed animals didn't do anything, after all they were stuffed right?
Well not in my imagination.
Stuffed animals could talk, walk, and have adventures.
I mean I knew that for a fact because sometimes I'd come home from school and go change into my 'everyday' clothes and notice that the six foot long orange snake on my bed wasn't in the exact place I'd left it.
Kanga and Roo were a bit lopsided.
I swear Winnie the Pooh had a smirk on his face.
My sister's stuffed horse looked wind blown, as if it had been running.
Sure, I knew it.
Stuffed animals led an adventurous life while I was at school or sleeping.
I tried often to pretend to be asleep and catch them in the act.
No such luck.

So then I began to *imagine* what they were doing while I was unaware. That was fun. The animals [stuffed] could go on grand adventures and never leave my bedroom. And I could go with them.

Now I am a grown up.
When my husband caught me outside with a camera and my dog's stuffed animals, he raised a brow.
I said, *Gosh, wouldn't it be such fun to create some books with a story for our grandkids?*
He guessed so.
I held the stuffed animals and tried to explain how they could go on 'farm adventures' and that I could write about it and make it into a little story book the grandkids could relate to~~~ using things they were familiar with to make it fun.
He guessed so.

So I put a photo-story book together and read it out loud to him.
He gave me a huge smile and said the grandkids would love it.

See, I'm not so crazy after all.

I recall one more thing Dad told me about writing and his characters he used. He said sometimes they took on a life of their own. Yeah, I see that.
Crazy Squirrel and Happy HedgeHog take on a life of their own while I'm writing about them.
Sometimes their story takes an unexpected turn when I'm not expecting it.

I guess that is the Magic. I still have the magic of a child, an imagination.
Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Day Dreamer

I spent my rest up time reading and when I was bored with that, I watched some YouTube stuff. You'd think I'd do something smart like watch how to make delicious meals. Well. I did look up a recipe on how to make beef stew from scratch over the weekend, so does that count?

I watched interesting videos regarding photography. Toy photography and perspective. 

Years ago I created stories with photographs of my dog Morris and his stuffed squeaky toys. I know my husband thought it a bit odd, but once I presented the ideas in a little book form that the grand kids could enjoy, it wasn't so weird after all. 

Years before that I wrote short stories about a mule named Billy Bob who pined after a beautiful sorrel mare who lived on our property. Billy Bob often wrote about the shortcomings of riders and funny things they did and how to properly train a human. Those stories became articles in a small magazine called Mules and More. Billy Bob was a huge hit and at shows I'd have people come up to me and ask if I was Billy Bob's mom. I had a few moments of 'fame'.

Billy Bob passed over the Rainbow Bridge and I couldn't write about him any longer when he wasn't in our pastures.

So I guess I am saying that my mind doesn't generally wander over the subject of cooking. 

I'm that person that can walk by a tree and imagine what story it could tell. 

I was that kid in school who would stare out the window and dream up story in my head. The teacher would notice and my parents would be notified that I was NOT paying attention in school. Those teachers were boring, they droned on and on. My dreams were more interesting.

By 6th grade there was a teacher that actually held my attention and made learning interesting. My grades jumped and my parents must have breathed a sigh of relief. For a while, I stopped daydreaming. After all, Life gets in the Way. 

My father was big on kid imagination. He didn't want us kids to have any toys that had batteries. He'd say let the kids imagination power their toys.

My brother was a genius who would take our little plastic soldiers and make up a war games. I never won against him. I bet to this day I'd still lose in chess to him. Heck, I lose in chess to my young friend Briar.

I've let my imagination come back out to play in full force. Maybe it is a waste of time, but I can say it keeps me from going bat sh-t crazy some days.

So in honor of International Woman Day there is this shot of some of my 'can' do Lego Gals.

Where is this leading to? 

I have no idea.

However I did get to try out some methods for making toys look like they are in the midst of some sort of action. I took two figures from the Predator movies and photographed this:

The concept was simple. I set the two toys in a mud puddle in the driveway and set the camera on a delayed timer [on a mini tripod]. When the camera was shooting, I scooped water with my hand towards and slightly behind the creatures. The water droplets gave off a nice glow and slight sense of motion.

What it looked like when I was shooting it:

I tried this again in the machine shed with some cast off toys. I used dirt instead.

The late afternoon light was so fun with the blast of dirt and hay chaff I threw. I just had to try it from another angle.

...and again. Until I realized that I better wrap things up and get back in the house to get supper on the table.

Half of the fun is getting things set up and imagining just how to present it.
The process is the fun part.

Thinking it through, and the presentation.

Well, soon enough spring will be here and I'll have more exploring to do as the wild flowers, skunk cabbages, and marsh marigolds begin to appear.

And tomorrow?

We have a Winter Storm Warning!

Whew!

At least our furnace is back up and running.

I think I'll spend the storm cleaning, organizing, and thinking up new scenarios for my enjoyment.

Training Dragons and other things

What I do when I feel like messing around.

Boar Predator meets The Skeleton Dragon who is pretty fierce himself.

The Scout Predator has a more simplified approach to taming Dragons.

I like to mix and match my toys which generally are cast offs. 

My Lego dudes got in on the action with harvesting Hickory nuts. 

"I get by with a little help from my friends!"

Teaching others a skillset. 

Stopping to smell the flowers.

And then there is this. I have NO idea what 'she' is but I got her dropped off by a neighbor kid who thought I'd like her.

She is a character from the Internet game Roblox?

She's wild, has red hair, and is posing with a skull from the Predator series.

Why not?

And yes, that is a mini fire behind her. I thought it would be interesting as a background. 

This guy said he'd EAT this mushroom. Not sure if that is wise.

Wow. I checked out the price of some really cool action figures since I was having so much fun with these. Did you know how pricey they are? 

The 7 inch toys can run over $70 or $80!

Lego people are expensive so I am happy I had some cast offs.

I'd love the ideas I see of Toy Photography. That might be something I explore by making my own sets this winter.

Stranger things have happened.

Fun and Silly

 Mushroom Hunting

Training the pony

Silly Hats

Silly Dinosaur

Brass Ashtray with Hen and Chicks in a mini garden made out of an old pie tin.

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Hunting

And I leave it at that.

Toys and toys

I took this shot of this tiny tiny rabbit [it is for Fairy Gardens and Terrariums] while out counting broken fence insulators. I was going to toss it, but the light was neat and it was next to a tree with mossy roots. I let it simmer for a bit on my hard drive...and then this morning I 'felt' it.

I'll admit it. I like hiking with toys in my pocket. Did you know that Toy Photography is a Thing?

I would love to be like Mitchel Wu, but he uses a studio. He is creative and his toys are always doing something fantastic. I could look at his stuff forever. I want to run out and purchase Lego People. But, I don't ... yet. They are pricey!

I like to take my items out hiking with me. Or fixing fence. Or riding. Or keep something in my pocket at all times. Of course Spidey is taking on a yard thistle.

I'm sometimes like a child and take delight in finding 'things' for my toys to do. My favorite toys are the mini soldiers. I carry them in my back pack all of the time.

Years ago, my neighbor chopped off a Barbie Doll's hair and made her a set of coveralls and a skunk hat. I started finding ways to pose and photograph the doll for entertainment.

I had such a blast.

[Note to self, get out Val Barbie again!]

A childhood friend sent me her tiny wooden animals to join my menagerie of toys.

The squirrel is my favorite.

A friend I've made on Flickr sent me a huge box of Superheroes! Yes, that is where the Spiderman came from. 

And of course there are the dragons and dinosaurs.

And...

some of my other favorites?

Teddy Bears. 

Lil' Bear who is the CrossFit Mascot. Our coach would set him up after workouts and I'd do a little blurb for our CF site. Now Lil' Bear is just waiting to get back to the gym after a year!

He does look a bit lonely doesn't he?

And then there are the Teddy Bears that I picked up for a quarter at a Thrift Shop. 

I had a notion and tossed the bears into a canvas sack.

You know these Teddy's if left unchecked can do some interesting things.

I think they were brewing a spell!

Grow up?

Rabbit to Bear:

It's hard, I know. But together we can get through these tough spots.

Unicorns, dragons, teddy bears, and dinosaurs. I really enjoy them. If they are really small, I like them even better. They are easier to carry in a pocket or section of a backpack.

Toys sent to me by
a childhood friend

Some of my garden
'toys'

I mean come on, don't we adults need to play once in a while too?

I did have toys as a kid and I wasn't a disadvantaged kid at all. I think we did pretty well. We had those funky hard plastic and brittle legos. We had little soldiers, we had erasers that we used as toys instead of erasers. I had a dragon, my sister had a pink kitty, and I don't recall what my brother had. We always were 'setting' up battles on the ping pong table in the basement with the soldiers. We made the Kitty Motel out of legos. 

We did horrible things to our Barbie Dolls and once hung our GI Joes from the iron beams in the basement with clothesline rope. 

In the summer at the cottage we had wooden blocks that had come from construction of the tiny place we lived in. 

We had marbles we had decks of cards.
We had the outdoors. My sister and I had trolls.

Summers were spent with no phones and no TV. Play time was what we could make of it when not working in the garden with our grandparents or helping with the processing of vegetables.

Oh well, I digress. 
I like toys. I like to take them out and use them for Still Life or stories. I used to do that with Morris and his collection of toys. 

I asked my childhood friend if she thought I was nuts and she said "No, I just love that you still find time to play and keep your mind creative."

As a kid I always made up stories to go with the things I was playing with. We'd set up toys be it the rubber erasers or perhaps our stuffed animals and we'd dictate what we imagined they were saying.

Bones to Unicorn...

Wow I thought you all 

were extinct too!

I love unicorns and mythical creatures. I have forest critters too and for a couple of years, my neighbor kids adored the adventures of The Doe Story. I took photos of a deer figurine I had and she had wonderful adventures in my woodlands with unlikely characters.

Dino to Doe: No worries!

I'm a vegetarian now!

I shared those online for her kids. 

It morphed into other stories too.

I'm glad to know that that kid that is still inside likes to come out to play once in a while.

After all, who can resist neat little toys? 

So many of those toys were donated.

Cast off soldiers find their way often into my pockets:

Halt!

The Creek Bears

at the Desk

The toys entertain me when I am at loss as to what I might want to photograph. I like taking them out into the forest and finding places to pose them.

Rabbit to Bear:

I'll sit with you.

Maybe I will never fully grow up. I guess that is okay too. 

Wait until you see my new Dragons!

Humming Bird Fight and other things

I'd love the live action at the feeders while cooking or eating a meal. This year the humming birds and Orioles are arguing over the red feeder.

I purchased a hummingbird feeder and an Oriole feeder last spring just for curiousity.

It ended up being an excellent choice as I find Rich watching and commenting on the birds constantly.

There was a time when the birds didn't interest him. Well now they do and he is enjoying the show.

Charlie and I took a walk to re-hide the toys for the next kid Treasure Hunt. We generally let about 4 days pass. The toys are out in the weather. Rain/dew/sunlight/heat/ and the chill of the night should take care of any lingering virus. Both my household and their household have been isolated since the schools shut down on March 11th. The kids have not gone in to town at all. They are living a life of home schooling and having to play with their own siblings.

The soccer games are not happening so mom isn't on the run all of the time. The kids come down to the little area their dad cleared for them and do play soccer. I can watch from across the field and sit on my porch.

It is pleasant to listen to children playing. Such a welcome sound.

Here Charlie sits next to the clue:

The skull points the way to the next clue. The Zombie Doll!

Yes, we have a creepy looking Zombie doll!

And so it went. Look for the Teddy Bear near an Ash Tree that is losing all of its bark.

There is a blue stegosaurus guarding the big mossy rock!

I hid the rest of the toys and turned around.

What a delightful surprise:

Charlie never smelled the fawn and it was as still as a statue. I used the zoom lens and then backed away and left it alone.

That pretty much made my whole day.

Mother Nature has a way of making a person feel better.

And once more I reminded myself as to how lucky I am to be able to live in this place.

Other hidden toys:

I got an assignment today for my workout. The WOD of the day was deadlifts. A rest and recover day before the Murphy WOD tomorrow. I don't think I will be doing that however I may do it unofficially here at home in a modified version.

My Coach asked me to go around the farm and find items that I could dead lift. He knows I don't have the proper bars so he suggested that I find the odd things a farm person has to contend with lifting and post them.

Here are some:

And how I did it...

And no, I am not crazy really. I just want to stay in shape and maintain my mobility, balance, and stamina.

I want to keep my body moving.

And that helps both my mental well being as well as my physical well being.