Bird on a post
(Experimenting with overexposed background)
Back to Bits and Bobs
It’s been a while. Here are some photos from a foggy morning and then a sunny rest of the day. The fog and damp really made the spiderwebs stand out.
Here’s Goode Beach on a foggy morning:
A few more webs:
Sunset over Shoal Bay that day:
Experiment: A Tissue
I imagine that the common tissue has a pretty mundane, although useful existence. Let’s shine the light on one. . .
Sidetracked
I was supposed to be sorting out the LEGO collection as its still packed away from the move. Then I got as little sidetracked. The more I thought about this scenario the more confused I got. It’s also the first ever multi-panel attempt. Not that that is interesting at all really!
More from the Southwest of Western Australia
Some Feathered Friends.
Australian Pelicans taken at Rushy Point near Albany, WA. These are probably one of my favourite birds.
Australian White Ibis (or ‘Bin Chicken’ if using the slang). It has such a great judgmental expression.
A nearby wren.
Of course there’s always a Wagtail flittering around and keeping an eye on things.
A little social gathering.
THE LEGO MINIFIGURE ADVENTURE 6
BEARD CLUB
I’m not sure what was going on in my head with this one. I think it was something to do with sorting out LEGO pieces and noticing how many different beards there were. Background was an old velvet curtain with some LEGO trees stuck on.
BEE KEEPER
I remember this one. I went into a lot of effort setting up Beatrice’s garden. The grass was fake so things tended to fall over. I see that I used a native bottlebrush in the background. I also found the joke it quite funny. I had a wooden alphabet collection and had never used them. I was surprised that this often was one of the cards that would be last to sell. Maybe not as funny as I had thought!
BEHINDUSAURUS
A very early one here. Taken on the sandy ground outside (and trying to avoid the ants). I don’t have a lot of uses for a plastic dinosaur so putting it in a scene saved it from the bin. I was concerned it was rather an obvious ‘groan’ joke. It was fairly popular though. Weird.
BEST SPOT
Another very early one. Aimee was one of my first Minifigures. I wanted to use the flower in something but it was so big. Hence the idea. I wonder if I should have emphasised the height of the plant.
BIRTH CERTIFICATE
I love the 'gangster’ type characters that came with some of the Indiana Jones LEGO sets. This idea came when I was checking expiry dates for passports and other important documents. Taken outside on a brick. Real garden in background.
Some Locals.
On My Walk I Saw: Flowers, a bee, an ant, a bug, and a duck.
A duck on power lines? Do they do that? Is it even a duck? So many questions.
The LEGO Minifigure Adventure 5
BANANA
There’s always a Larry in the workplace. Shot outdoors on a table with some fake plastic grass for the first and I think the last time. I had to use blu-tak to stick them down and even then, they would start leaning if I wasn’t quick enough. Again making use of the multiple figures that came in the foil packets.
Barnaby Bread
I love this dude. He reminds me of the characters in the film The Blues Brothers. Maybe he’s supposed to. I can’t remember where he came from. The scene is supposed to be a backstage area and the hanging alligator clips are one of those soldering ‘helping hands’ things. I like the LEGO French loaf and wanted to use it in some way. This is probably one of the weirder titles.
Basil Brush
Another case of using duplicates. It has always been a bit difficult using the gingerbread men. My wife had been discussing some of the portrait commissions she had done and which ones were more fun than others. Shot inside with a single light and black background. Always the easy setup.
BASKET LADY
These two gangsters are from an Indiana Jones set. The Basket Lady is from elsewhere. This came from a conversation about why it tends to be ‘Bag man’. Should or could it be ‘Bag person’ or ‘Bag Woman’? ‘Basket Lady’ was the result of the discussion. Single light, black background and what looks like a road base was used.
BEAR
I still find this funny. I’m not sure why it’s one of my favourites. This was quite a difficult set up using polystyrene packing. The polystyrene would really look nothing like ice or snow unless the focusing was fiddled with. It works ok if one doesn’t look too hard. The LEGO polar bear is quite a nice figure. I can’t remember if it was used in any of the others.
Some Shells and a Flower
The LEGO Minifigure Adventure 4
ARRIVAL
I found this build for an older classic car and decided to mix it with something modern. I got the Stormtroopers involved. Simple indoor lighting was used but it does looks like it was too bright for the whites.
ARTISTIC IMPRESSION
This came from the thought that an artistic impression of a portrait could be a risky thing. I wonder how many subjects have just been polite when the finished art is shown to them. Taken outdoors is rather bright sun. His black eye is not as clear as I intended. Also, the drawing on the easel is my own effort.
BACKUP
This was a very early one. The cockroach was dead and since it was quite a good size I thought of the LEGO minifigures and a ‘monster’ attack scene, like the old B movies. Taken outside in the dirt. The breeze kept moving the cockroach and the policeman running was also difficult to pose.
BAD DAY
This was taken on the birdbath. The weed was easily placed but trying to pose both shark and Jim was a nightmare. There is wire attached to two stones and placed at the bottom of the birdbath. The other end of the wire was then stuck to the bottom of the shark and surf board with blu-tak. I then had to catch the light just right to hide the wire.
BAD HAIR DAY
Although I don’t have much hair these days I think we have all been in this sort of situation. I also wanted to put to use the colourful house from the LEGO Friends series. I love how large the hairbrush is and in hindsight should have put it in her hand. This would have been taken indoors with some blue card in the background.
Some Bits and Bobs.
Just a few random shots.
Close-up of a flower growing in moss:
Urchin Shell:
Patterns made by rain in the sand. The grey is from past fires which is slightly ironic judging by the shape of the pattern:
A shell that looks like a shark:
The LEGO Minifigure Adventure 3
ANSWER
The idea for this one came from the night before while sitting around a fire and watching some ‘shooting stars’. It was taken just by our fire pit.
ANTI GRAVITY
This idea was from the old joke. I had difficulties in designing the front of the book. The white blobs are supposed to be clouds. I used a laminated shelf on its side as the wall background. Two lights would have been used for this.
Antique Engagement
Right, a bit going on here. First of all, the engagement ring does not stand out at all. I should have added a small spotlight on it. There’s also a bit too much yellow going on I think. Taken on the ground was also a mistake in hindsight. A picnic in the mud?
The ring actually is the engagement ring I bought (after selling my motorbike) and proposed with 30 years ago.
THE APOLOGY
I had watched a film the evening before this was taken. The term ‘Redneck’ was counted as quite offensive it in it and the lead female role was quite a powerful figure. The mix of western plus French waiter vibe was an interesting choice. I’m not sure why there is an empty table there. Taken outside on brick.
APPROPRIATE APPLAUSE
This is me if we have tradesmen around. I don’t actually clap but I do say things like ‘That looks great!’ even if I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking at. After saying it a few times I always feel like I should do something else. That’s where this idea came from. LEGO always loves the workman/woman trades worker, so I have a few. I’m not sure about the background and also why there is, what looks like, cauliflower sprouting from the roof. I think it’s supposed to be smoke.
The LEGO Minifigure Adventure 2
Here are the next five in alphabetical order.
Alphabet Soup
Ah yes. I remember this one. It was a silly idea I had had for a while however they didn’t sell Alphabetti Spaghetti (as I knew it) here in Australia. It was only on request that a friend went through the trouble to get it to me. I also remember a comment asking what was wrong with his haircut. Fair enough.
Andy’s Costume
Whenever there was a new series of Minifigures from LEGO they would be sold in individual foil packets. This way it was pure luck (and sometime some lengthy minutes feeling the packaging) if you got what you wanted. Often there would be a double up as with this yetti costume. This would often lead to ideas of duplication scenarios. I always enjoyed the simplicity of these scenes.
Annoyed English Teacher
My wife is an English teacher and we were discussing the pros and cons of computers and spellcheck etc in learning. I wondered how I would have behaved if such aids were around in my school days. This was taken indoors with a table setup I had made and some lights on bendy stalks. This was probably a later one as the highlights are more under control. Also I would often get my wife to check the grammar or help say what I meant in many of these. 80% of the time the grammar, wording, sentences had to be corrected or improved!
Annoyed Lone Ranger
Another annoyed character here. I’m not sure what’s going on with the background, or the composition. Using the themed characters was always interesting, unless they were owned by Disney in which case a lot of the time they would warn you about the copyright.
Another Bad Day
I’m not sure why I called it Another Bad Day. Poor Keith. Utilizing some of the LEGO housing here along with the road base. Having any walking motion on the Lego base bumps was always tricky. They are designed to click the feet in place but that would always look odd. Posing the way Keith has them would often involve some hidden blue tack to keep him from falling over.
In hindsight I think I should have added a workman figure looking on in panic at the crane load to emphasize impending danger. Also, I always have loved the LEGO fish for some reason.
The LEGO Minifigure Adventure.
While sorting through my photographs I often come across various LEGO minifigure photos. I started taking these ten years ago for a bit of a laugh, a bit of experimentation, a few cards for friends and so on.
Looking at them now occasionally makes me cringe. Highlights are blown out, focusing is sometimes incorrect for the story and colours can merge the subjects. I desperately want to edit them, delete them or do them again. However, it is all part of the journey and hindsight is a wonderful thing. I then thought I might as well post them to the site. I will post the originals along with what memories (if any) I have when I took them.
I will upload five at a time via the blog. They will be uploaded in alphabetical order although I might find some missing ones along the way. This is the link to a page that will have all of them on as they are uploaded.
4 Out of 5
Star Wars theme. Shot inside. As you can tell I have quite a few Stormtrooper Minifigures so I had to put them to work. This was supposed to have the ambience of a cargo deck on a space ship. I used the grey LEGO road bases as a wall and floor and a single light source. The ‘joke’ came from a minifigure that happened to have flesh coloured trousers.
Aged Fun
This was taken outdoors. Backgrounds were always a problem, specifically background scenery. This would have been set up on a table on our back verandah. I had read this quote from somewhere (or heard it) and this is what I thought of. The City Pizza LEGO building was used very little as there wasn’t much to it. The chef is holding onto a Pizza tray although it looks more like a shield at this angle. The customer in the back left is taking a photo but the black of the camera makes this hard to work out.
Ailurophobia
I think this came from a conversation about what the word was for having a fear of cats. Then the ironic idea of someone stuck in a tree suffering from it rather than the usual cat stuck in a tree came up. It was shot outside with rocks and a tree twig as scenery. Having a minifigure that had a tattoo helped the ‘tough man’ description.
Aimee Blossom
I definitely remember this one as it was one of the very first. Taken on the ground and using the size of the blossom (rather out of focus) to emphasize a big smell. I’ve always thought that a good smell makes you want to stick your face in nice and close. Like a loaf of bread for example.
Shooting outside meant it was almost always sunny (this was in Alice Springs, Australia) and the harsh light caused havoc with highlights and so on. I hadn’t thought of any makeshift shading at that time.
Airbag
This is from the joke ‘I had a dream that I was eating a giant marshmallow and in the morning, I discovered my pillow had vanished’.
This was taken in the later years as while it was still outside, there was makeshift shade. The dirt/sand was on a table and the twigs and bits of bush were stuck in for scenery. Tweezers were used to place items so as not to make finger ‘smooth’ marks on the sand. I remember this was a breezy day and the trees kept blowing over. The sand then got stuck to the marshmallow. The question, ‘Why am I doing this?’ also came up.
A Bit of This and That and a Shoe.
Apparently individual shoes are found washed up on beaches because their shape (left and right) determines which way they will float. That’s almost an interesting fact.
Here’s one that was visiting Goode Beach:
Next we have a Red Wattlebird snacking on bugs:
Returning to the beach and washed up items we have some driftwood covered in Goose Barnacles:
These then became snacks for the (we think) Wedge-tailed Shearwaters:
Meanwhile the cargo ships carry on doing their thing:
Even on the gloomier days the activities continue:
Finally I came across this thing. It was about the size of a cat. It could be a Southern Brown Bandicoot (Quenda), or maybe a Brush-tailed Bettong (Woylie). I don’t think it’s a Possum and it certainly isn’t a Numbat. It didn’t hang around so I couldn’t ask it.
Same Locality. More Bits.
I finally got a shot of a kookaburra in flight. This is the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo Novaeguineae) and it was introduced to Western Australia in the late 1800s. They first appeared in Albany in 1960. Unfortunately, they do like chomping on smaller birds and native frogs. (They are a large Kingfisher after all). This one and his group live nearby, and we call him ‘Keith’. They usually make a racket first thing in the morning with a ‘laugh’ that sounds like a loud monkey having a bad day. Weird.
I also managed to get my first shot of a Western Rosella (Platycercus icterotis), also wonderfully known as a ‘Moyadong’.
Meanwhile down on the beach we have a little blue crab hiding. After taking a photo a pretended not to notice him/her/it.
Then we move up a few kilometers to Stony Hill where I attempt a landscape shot.
Here we find a couple of Australian Western Magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis). The paler one is the female (please correct me if I’m wrong).
Update: I received helpful information that they are both females. The male has a much brighter white marking on his back.
During this time, I was aware that I was being watched:
I only recently found out that the Mature Male Western Grey Kangaroo has been nicknamed ‘Stinker” due to it smelling of curry. I’m not too sure of this though and he wouldn’t let me sniff him to see if it’s true.
More Local Bits
Goode Beach appears to throw up little surprises every now and then.
First there’s some sort of tiny blueish crab:
Next there’s a dragonfly that I thought had died after getting stuck in the sand. It turned out it was still alive so after a careful extraction and some drying off it took to the skies.
Scenery. There’s always the scenery. This is part of Flinders Peninsula.
Another New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) … expecting something from above? A dragonfly maybe?
A bird that is under investigation (as in the name not for what it might have done).
Update: It is a Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus). Not sure if it is a youngish one.
Lake Seppings Visit.
I finally managed to have a walk around Lake Seppings which is located in the heart of Albany.
A few shots of some of the local residents along with what I hope are their correct names.
First up an Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra):
Next a wonderfully named Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio):
The quite common Black Swan (Cygnus atratus):
Then there’s the Blue Billed Duck (Oxyura australis):
This one is still unknown to me - a small brown bird (Sbb).
UPDATE: Apparently it’s a Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa). Thanks to my father for passing on that information.
Finally, a very shy Long Necked Turtle (Chelodina colliei):