Fun Stuff

Have you seen the size of the Skeeters in the woods lately?
Wow! 

Just kidding. It is a Tetradactyl Lego Dino, I tossed some Dinosaurs in my camera back on my early morning walk on Sunday. I was hoping to get around in the woods before the bugs woke up too much and while it was still cool outside.

I'd been working on my Lego Challenge for this month. I did some fun shots for the challenge. I really enjoyed working on doing it.
Seeing the work of other photographers really was interesting. Some shots were meh and some were just SO WOW that it took my breath away.

I have a hard time creating a backdrop out of Legos for my 'scenes'. However, I am working on it. I like to just dump some bricks in a bin and start building in no particular manner. Ideas come as I continue to build and often, I will redo one build several times before I am satisfied.

These were my latest space efforts.

This is George, he is a space Explorer who is hunting Power Crystals. In the Lego land of adventures, many of the space sets come with little 'power' crystals that are blue. I thought I'd pick up all the loose little clear red pieces and see if I could 'create' something in red.

This is what it looked like on the kitchen table. 

I wanted a more 'spacey' type scene so I suspended a girl astronaut with a blue crystal in her hand.  I wanted her to be floating.

It was another fun try at making a scene. It is okay and not spectacular. I don't consider it a flop nor a winner. But worth the time and effort to learn how to 'float' a minifig. I used floral wire to hold her up and simply erased it out of the shot.

Finally! It looks like Francine the Astronaut found the motherlode of blue power crystals!

Again, this was a practice build and not really worth submitting. Personally I had fun building the scene and making it so colorful.

I will keep trying to make something awesome even though the contest is over. I know I am much better at finding places in nature to take shots of Lego figures and it is so much easier.

I can combine it with my daily walks [while warding off monster bugs!].

I think these shots turned out much better than the above ones, but then...I am a person who loves putting the minifigures out in the woods!

The walk in the woods and the dry run where I took a shot of the Dinos:

I guess I like to struggle with making 'things' up because it is such a fun distraction of play. I have walked the same woods and trails for 28 years now and enjoy finding something new each time I am out there.

If that includes silly things like toys, then so be it.

I'm not the only one either that does this! There are a so many hobby photographers that carry a toy, a teddy bears, or rubber duckies around just to place them in interesting places! There are groups of photographers on Flickr that just photograph and collect teddy bears! Or dolls...or anything you can imagine.

I do it because it brings me joy and keeps me thinking in creative ways.

So off I go today to do my chores, check my fences, grocery shop, clean house, garden, and see if I can find some time to think of something to imagine.

I really should set aside my Legos and perhaps take a Teddy Bear for a walk.

Why not? Anything is possible with a good imagination.

It's been a while since Bear and I have been out together.

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.

Just moving along

The above 7 second video is from when I was doing chores Wednesday night. I thought it would be fun to use the time lapse 'movie' feature on my camera.

I had intended it to go on for a while but even with a weighted tripod, I was afraid there would be a wind gust and it would blow the whole works over.

The winds didn't happen until nearly 9pm, but it pays to be cautious. I sure didn't want to lose the camera and the lens.

A wee spot of color

The old hand made Teddy makes

his appearance on the chair

I made this jointed Teddy Bear 35 years ago. I can see that his one ear needs a bit of mending. He is in rather great shape as he only really comes out at Christmas time. He spends most of his time otherwise in the extra bedroom upstairs.

The green bear is a simple and easy 3 piece stuffed bear. I used to make so many of them and give them away as stocking stuffers. I made a very large one out of fur one time, it was really beautiful.

The other bear was a cast off I found at a Thrift Store. Its tag was ripped out and it is missing some roses, but I thought it was really quite beautiful. I guess I must like bears, right?

I'm not done with the log

homes yet, but

I figured I'd 

let the Polar Bears

Explore them with 

the Mad Snow People.

The roof comes off from each of the stick houses. I used Elderberry trees which generally grow almost perfectly straight and can be nipped with a hand nipper. 
They are perfectly Imperfect. A work in progress. I don't know if I'll add rooms or floors ... or make another strange looking house.

I may take clay and fill in the gaps like a 'real' log house would look. It is something that occupies my mind and hands. My husband says he sees no sense in it.

I quip that it cost nothing and when I am done, if I don't like it, I can toss it in the brush pile.

Logic will take you from A to
B.
Imagination will take you everywhere...
Albert Einstein

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!