Summer holidays.
What a great moment of the year. I really hope you are enjoying yours.
Like every year, the summer season is one of the busiest time of the year at work, for me. This June/July did not fail to be so.
And since I don’t have any child, I tend to take my summer holidays in June or September. What a delight to be on vacation when everyone is back at the office. :-)
This time, in September, there is the Edinburgh toy safari planned followed by a trip to Denmark (but more on that later on the blog).
Don’t get me wrong, I will have a short break this August during which I will drive to the South of France, to visit my parents.
But what about the project for this holiday?
If you remember one of the previous article from Boris, we have to produce a book for the next toy safari in Scotland, in 30 something days. The book should tell a story, but a story needs preparation, and preparation takes time.
Preparing a story
So, to prepare such a project, I started with a synopsis: a short text to describe the content of said story.
I do have several ideas that would make for good photographic stories (or at least it does in my mind).
Not to spoil anything but here are the synopsis (try to fill in the blanks):
- A story about space.
- A tale about a team of treasures .
- A plot about a world, .
The next step is to develop the story. A story/book needs several pictures and for this project, I am writing/doodling a story board to have more detailed ideas for each picture: what is the set-up, what accessories do I need, what type of shot (wide angle, close-up…), what type of scenery, where to put the focus (this word for this month),…
That’s where I am right now.
I need some time to think the pictures through and while I am thinking of each picture, I am also thinking of location. And for one of this story, I have a good idea for location. But this one should be available during my next vacation in October (so well after the deadline for this project).
To be honest, I am not sure, if I will be on time for this project. Eventually, I could make a book based on already published pictures. I have always seen my “Exploration” series as an adventure story. So why not create a book based on that.
But this is another story…

Julien / Ballou34
Aeronautics engineer by day, toy photographer by night.
Exploring the world with his plastic figures.
Maybe we can change the rules of the game a little and empower you with making an adventure book of Scotland instead?
An alternate challenge :)
It will definitely make the game more difficult, since there is no preparation. We’ll see in the end what happens.
No one said it was easy ;)
It’s definitely easier to make one with what’s already available than one in an unscouted location in a very limited amount of time :D