Just fun photo stuff...

This week and weekend have me all messed up on days and things to get done. 

So, I thought I'd just toss in some photos from my toy photography that I've done in between hikes and 'farm' work.

No explanation, just some fun stuff.

I've been busy with the yard work, gardens, and of course raising a Princess. 

[Created with AI from Google Photos]

 

Huh

Well from the lack of noise today, it seems either the deer are not moving or everyone got what they wanted yesterday.

The sounds of shots in the forest where I walk rang out early yesterday from predawn to about 8am. Then.

Silence.

I played loud music so Charlie couldn't hear the distant shooting waaay off. We can feel the concussion of shots that are within half/quarter of a mile. But that pretty much dropped off by midday.
Sunday on that land is usually pretty quiet as the hunters are mostly hung over and tired from the first day out.

I actually LOVED a day in PJ's [I wear coveralls for chores]. Charlie and I hung out together and had a lazy day of building, 

Figured it out yet?? 😋

Practicing indoor photography, 

Reading,

and listening to music. 

I got the stare from Charlie when some happy and lovely music came on when I broke into a jig and sang along. I'm sure my singing was horrid as was my jig. But I thought. Why not? 

I moved about from one thing to another doing exactly what I felt like doing at any given moment.

Oddly enough, that felt incredibly wonderful. I'd walk into the kitchen to get a drink of water and pause at the Medieval Village and think of a brilliant idea.

It seems that the Ivar and his Barbarians were simply looking for some rooms!

Sadie, who runs the Inn with her husband Mack get busy in the kitchen. Feeding Barbarians can be quite the chore.

Late in the day, just before dusk, a stranger rides into town.

[I don't know about you, but I am sensing a Clint Eastwood sort of theme going on here. 

I keep hearing the theme song to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

And it feels pretty fun. I love it when the toys dictate the story.

November is also...

A time for cleaning. Like Spring Cleaning, but Fall Cleaning. 

Thursday was a get 'er done type of day. Now I am no fixer type person like Sandra is. But I'm in the same kind of mood for cleaning and organizing. I think many of the other Bloggers I follow [and some I just visit regularly when I can] are all doing the same sort of thing.

Sorting.
Cleaning.
Organizing.
Getting our indoor lives straightened out so when the frigid air comes, we can enjoy our comfy spaces.

I cleaned the walls, tore everything out of the closet of our bedroom and separated the clothes that would go to Bethel Buttik [they pronounce it Boutique!]. I donated the clothes in hopes that they will be used for those who need them.

So my mess looked something like this...

I took out the frame that was under our bed and replaced it with the original frame we've had for 30 years. The little frame was lower and easier for hubby to get in and out of until we swapped to a hospital bed.

And I flipped the bed position around. Hey, it makes sense for me and it feels right for now.

I had to prepare for the snow and rain event we are supposed to have tonight. So I cleaned Little Richard's stall and set things up for him.

Then I got with the program and finished the up with the chair. I sanded it and put the final coat of acrylic satin finish on it.
TA-DAH!

I'm sure someone could say that I mixed up all sorts of colors that may not really go together. However, the chair is full of whimsical colors. 

Whatever happened to make me happy at that moment was the color that went on the chair. I see that now...

I will have to work on those other two chairs! I won't know exactly what colors they will be until I start. The chair gives me an idea of what I should do.

You read that right. I don't plan, I just do what the chair seems to want. I imagine this one wants to be pretty. Don't you think?

I have begun to write a very detailed To Do List for each day so I can keep on track. I also make sure that I have adventure days. I have to equal adventures with work so I keep in balance.

My 'work' around the house and farm days do include an hour of walking the forest with Charlie. He needs to get out in the woods and so do I. 

How else would he be able to make sure that all creatures great and small know they are on his land???

I enjoyed the forest enough before it started raining to do some play time. My mind says that we are all on an epic journey of sorts. That journey is called Life.

We must give into it and live a life as we can and enjoy it.

I re-joined CrossFit --> Legends and am so happy for the movement and friendships I have in that class. I need to continue to work on my balance, strength, and friendships to continue to be healthy.

It is snowing now and we are expecting to have almost an inch of snow on the grasses by morning. I can't wait to wake up to a new day.

And to those that wonder. 

Yes. 

I miss HIM every single day. I still ask him questions and opinions on what I am doing. I see him laughing at me in a gentle way and telling me to 'Go ahead. Your going to do it anyway, no matter what I say!'

Cookie sheets and other stuff....

I'm always searching around for new ideas to use in Photography. I found a Lego photographer on IG that used an old cookie sheet to 'make' a pond for his Legos to go swimming in. He set it in his wife's garden and shot some amazing photos that I swore were shot in a real pond.

My old sheets have been abused and marked up for years. I purchased new nice cookie sheets for the gal that loves to make hubby cookies on her Respite days.

I took the old ones and spray painted them black glossy. I would have preferred flat black, but I didn't have that.

I picked some Lily of the Valley flowers and Bleeding Hearts and stuck them in a tiny vase. I used one cookie sheet for the background. The second sheet was put flat underneath.

This is how the set up looked before I brought out the Lensbaby SOL 22 lens and shot the photo above. I actually was surprised at how much I liked the extra reflections brought about by the glossy paint.

The 3 days of cold rain, I was stuck inside which allowed me to do some indoor work. 

So. Hmmm. What if I tried to make a pond indoors for my toys to play in?

It ended up being easy to 'make' the pond and set it up. Photographing it so their were 'water reflections' was a bit harder.

But....

And of course, with the black background it seems a bit dark...but it worked!!! Now I know I can take this 'pond' out on the porch or into a flower garden to do the same thing.

But just one 'pond' shot is not enough. I had to get Glenda out in her Kayak and see if she'd like a spin through the pond.

I had to dry out the moss afterward, but gosh, it sure was a fun experiment. I could have worked harder with the lighting but I didn't do anything but use what was coming through the windows. 

I like to find the simplest way to photograph my projects. I didn't use the Lensbaby lens for these shots as I wanted most of the scenes clear and concise.

The day before it started to rain Charlie and I took a walk through my favorite forest 'next' door to see what the loggers had been up to.

I won't lie. I actually shed a tear when I saw this.

The loggers take the straight tree trunks and leave the tops lay where they fall. This particular spot is a place where I started my quest for local wildflowers in 2009. At the base of an ancient oak I found my very first Blood Root and the search began for wildflowers from March to first frost that year. All the flowers were photographed on my land or this 600 acres. 

I carefully logged the date and place I found each wild plant and flower. I spent hours studying the Wildflowers of Wisconsin and Great Lakes Region.  I did this without Google Lens and without the internet. 

That was the second year I worked as a Security Officer at an old Nuclear Facility  as it was being decommissioned.

It kept me busy on those overnight shifts and weekends when there was not much traffic in and out of the plant.

I made a photobook with notes for myself at the end of the year. It was one of the most satisfying projects I've ever done. I walked the land surrounding my cottage each day and learned to recognize places by the trees.

And now? My trees [not really my trees] have been taken down and the landscape has changed drastically.

I thought to myself, how can I use this? 

Of course, I can work it into my Princess Sara Saga. After all, most all the photos for this on and off again story occur in this forest.

Remember the Rock Monsters who stole the Magical Dragon Egg and hid it? They were going to open the egg and kill the Legendary baby dragon and steal the magic for themselves.

Princess Sara and the Forest People along with others had been assembling an army to save the Egg ....

Of course the Rock Monsters want to make things harder. So they are blowing up Trees and terrorizing the Forest to ward off Princess Sara's army.

[Well, that's how I imagine things anyway.]

The beauty of the forest may be diminished for now but with all the fallen logs and branches, I imagine new worlds of moss and fungi will grow and be out there to explore.

Even with all of the mess, I was able to find wildflowers blossoming and defying the ruin of the trees.

I'll be home for the Holiday Weekend, we don't generally go anywhere on bit holidays. We'll leave that to everyone else.

Just make it up as I go...

With the news that is overwhelming and concerning each day, I do try to find something...anything to take my mind off from it and also ease my whirling brain from both the news and the difficulty of being a Caregiver.

I was stuck inside [during that last cold spell] so I decided to do something interesting 3D printed character I acquired. It has no face, no name, but has the number 13 on its chest. It is a color I would never have chosen, but there it is. 

Pink.

Pink must have a story behind her. She is a she, correct? She came with a faithful robot dog. Everyone needs a faithful sidekick, right? So I call them Pink and Pip. I don't know why but just because I felt like it.

They live somewhere in the future I suppose in a warehouse. 

She dreams of a beautiful place a dreamy place. The sort of place her handlers have talked about in the distant past. Beauty, flowers, tranquility.

Pink and Pip play fetch on their down time as Pink explains about this wonderful world she has never seen but has only heard about.

Pip rejoices with her master and plays fetch. They talk about dreams and possibilities. Why is it that their handlers are the only ones allowed to have dreams?

Robots don't really sleep. But they do have down time. One night...Pip pulls Pink out of her downtime. Pip squeaks and squawks.  

This is no imaginary dream. She awakens to ...

to what? She is not programmed for this.

She goes outside to stare at the unbelievable...

What would happen next? I got stuck here for a long time. Actually for a few weeks. I didn't know what Pink should do.

And I left her in a desperate situation... like a cliff hanger on a mystery show...

But then I recalled my MiniBots from last year. I used them for a while and then gave them a storyline with Donder regarding the fact that they found Worm Holes and Rips in the Fabric of Time to travel through.

Maybe ... maybe Pink should find the MiniBots to help transport her away from this awful future world?

All of the above photos were set up indoors using a digital backgrounds. I made the backgrounds using Deep Dream Generator. I simply create a scene I can imagine [which takes many tries] and then either use my laptop for the background as I do for smaller things, or the old smart TV for the larger items. 

It is like making a movie as you have to build 'a set' for the characters that work. It is like producing a Hollywood scene and is quite fun.

I have learned so much from a site called Toy Photographers. I often go back and read their articles. The tips and tricks are fun to experiment with and I think it helps my regular photography also.

Anyway. If my attention remains focused, I'll see if I can figure out Pink and Pip's next steps.

I got distracted again...

I've been fascinated by posable figures. I got this wooden figure in the art and drawing section of a store a few years ago. He was only about 5 inches tall and I thought it would be fun to pose him. 

I have enjoyed using him as a model, but not for drawing. The challenge is, he is super difficult to pose and he falls over quite a bit. I could use wire I suppose, but I am lazy. I want my subject to do it on his own.

[He came attached to a wire stuck up his bum so he would stand on a base. I used cutters and clipped it off. Darn, I bet that was uncomfortable!]

Balance and posing is something we used to do with our 12" GI Joes back when I was a kid. We often spent hours it seemed just posing them in active looking stances.

No matter. Even though this was a difficult thing to do, I seemed to find a way to make him look as though something was happening.

Going on adventures was trickier with this guy. A slight breeze would knock him over. However, the little wooden Dachshund was a hoot. 

And...sometimes the little dog would get in trouble....

It seemed to always work out in the end though. I generally take this duo out during the dull days of winter and mess with them.

However, I found a new very posable figure that is amazing to pose.

It is called Titan 13. A robot and a dog. 

It is a 3D printed and articulated poseable toy.

I actually ordered two of them and they were pretty darned cheap. The fact that these characters are blank slates so to speak make them great for visual stories. No preconceived notions like super heroes or licenses action figures.

I took a hike yesterday to see if I could find anything worth while seeing. The forest is dull and dry. We need moisture badly. I took this Titan 13 along.

A toy photographer friend of mine posted the other day that you can take a Toy photo anywhere. He showed the photo and then the parking lot he took the photo in. Proof is in the pudding!

So ... I did.

These guys are balanced on their own. No sticks or wires to hold them up or edit out. 

This next shot may be my favorite shot of the day.

To prove my friend's point, here is where I shot it... Charlie is patiently waiting for me to get going. He has become a very patient little dog.

I am distracted by these guys. So I will be enjoying them while the rest of the landscape stays dull and brown. Though I will be looking for interesting things in the forest to find.