The other day I went for the most beautiful time of the year (that is beside Christmas and toy photo safaris): holidays!
Preparations had been made:
a house had been rented on a small island;
tickets for the ferry had been booked;
the annual torture of picking a small selection of minifigures (who had been extra good all year in order to be traveling along) had been overcome.
When the time had come we hopped in our family car and went to our desired destination. Unlike the several holidays before this year I had made some plans on sticky notes for what plastic/where to shoot. I was familiar with the local conditions and knew exactly where I wanted my models to pose.
The camera gear had been packed.
Nothing could go wrong, right?
Well, almost…
There´s always at least one unknown variable that may come in your way.
A variable that has not only been brought to the awareness of many by Douglas Adams since writing about Rob McKenna:
The diverse manifestations of weather.
It is a commonly known fact that there is no such thing as bad weather.
An entire industry for situations like these has emerged long ago. You can get raincoats, gumboots, umbrellas, windbreakers, woolen caps and rainproof hats…you name it. There are even special covers to protect your camera from the not-so-nice weather conditions.
Unfortunately, those were not on my sticky notes.
And then: BluTack may protect your mini friends from being gone with the wind– but not when it´s wet and/or sandy.
So just when I thought I had seen most combinations of “grey” and “rain” from days one to five I finally wanted to turn the tables and thought I might as well use the roofed part of the terrace and make a first practical approach to the word of March. Besides learning again about my own preparations (“Get a shell camera cover!”) at least most of the minifigures seemed to be happy to get some fresh air.
And oh, had I seriously NOT noticed that Blue had a crush on LadySilver??
Whatever may appear to be an obstacle having come in your way of shooting plastic may easily be included in your ideas.
You may just have to adjust your viewpoint.
The last day of our stay finally spoiled us with almost blue skies and sunshine from morning to night. But that´s another story.
Happy snapping,
Stefan
A Non-Belgian living in Hamburg, Germany. Curiosity-driven and mostly to be found on tiny adventures and great journeys.
Speaking of weather, I have notice that the Swedish grey weather can give great light to toyphoto! More than once it had given me that “umppfff” that made the image good :)
BTW..blue is looking for the ice cream
Thank you, Stefan, for reassuring me that Blue is just keen on some ice cream ;-)
It’s true: sometimes a rather grey sky is better for photography than a clear blue one with bright sunshine (causing reflections on our favourite shiny faces). We simply have to try and find out what works best. Happy snapping!
A story told with much ease. I enjoy that! It appears you just had to casually shake it out of your sleeve, as we say in German (and here is another idiom to go into my notebook).
Tobias, good to see you´re sharing your thoughts on this one. “Etwas aus dem Ärmel schütteln” is a fine idiom indeed (and there are so many more to fill your book with, aren´t there?). I agree with you: It´s always right there, isn´t it? Whatever comes in your way or confuses you may as well be turned into an advantage (or to quote Sun Tzu: “If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him”). But let´s not be too philosophical here ;) In the end I learned another lesson and am hoping that some of those who read… Read more »
what a refreshing post i must say..i feel so relaxed …i really liked the lady silver among all..waiting for your next one