Y is for...

Y is for..., a photo by s.kosoris on Flickr.

Here we are, at the second last letter for the Minifigure Alphabet. I had Y narrowed down to two different minifigures early on, Yoda and the Yeti. But it took me a long time to decide between the two. The Yeti would have been fun because there's still a lot of snow on the ground. But it's also been really cold outside, making a picture outside not really ideal. Yoda was a good choice because I could shoot him anywhere. I think I actually decided to use him for Y when I remembered that I have his house (and have never taken a picture of him near it).

I have a newer Yoda that I could have used (I think he's from the Clone Wars), but instead opted for the old one. While his eyes are all the same colour (unlike the Clone Wars Yoda), there's something about this Yoda's face which just seems more fitting; his face denotes wisdom and peace in a way the Clone Wars Yoda's does not.

So stay tuned tomorrow for the end of my month-long minifigure project!

X is for...

X is for..., a photo by s.kosoris on Flickr.

Today's letter was one of the harder ones. Pretty much the only minifigure I could think of was an X-Wing Pilot. And really, that's kind of pushing things - he's technically a pilot, which would be good for P. But it was all I could come up with. Luckily I was telling a friend about this project before it began, and he suggested that I have the X-Wing pilot having an X-Ray taken, covering a couple of X words (even if neither word is technically a minifigure).

The frame was made with paper, glue, and toothpicks to hold it up; it's taped to a base made up of the black bricks you get with the Collectible Minifigures.

R is for...

R is for..., a photo by s.kosoris on Flickr.

Today was the first day this month where I opted for a plain black background. I was originally trying to think of something more exciting for this picture. But try as I might, nothing else seemed right. And many of the robots I have look rather striking on the plain black background, so in the end I feel it was well chosen. I have to admit, I'm rather proud of the fact that I've gotten all the way to R (the 18th letter!) before having to use it though. :)

Thanks!!!!

And yet another thank you must go out, this time to whomever bought a print of "Climbing."  Thank you so much for your support!

Thank You!

Thanks to whomever just bought a print of "Darth Maul;" you really made my night!  :)

Death Star Throne Room

Death Star Throne Room, a photo by s.kosoris on Flickr.

I found this picture quite awhile ago and absolutely loved it. I also love the Emperor minifig, so I've been toying with attempting to recreate it with Lego for quite some time now. I acquired the pieces to build the Emperor's chair from Final Duel 1. Once all the pieces were here, I realized I only really needed the window for this but that's okay (now the Emperor has his chair).
I finally sat down yesterday and made the backdrop. I think it turned out reasonably well. I decided to use blue legos to kind of mimic the lighting behind the stairs. I originally wanted to use gray but I didn't have nearly enough bricks so blue it was. To get the stars in the window, I used a friend's suggestion: I took a black piece of construction paper and poked a bunch of holes into it. I then placed my flashlight behind the paper to light the holes up.
Lighting the actual picture was pretty tricky, especially now that I was using my normal flashlight for the stars. I tried a second flashlight, but the light it threw wasn't right. I then switched to a book light which I covered with a kleenex. The result was this subdued lighting, which I thought was perfect.
Of course, now that the set up was finished, I then had to experiment with where to cast the light. I ended up taking over 40 pictures before being able to decide on a couple I really liked. I ended up posting this one because everything just seemed to work: the window was clear, the lighting was good, and you can see the backdrop reasonably well. I really liked three of the others as well but none of them worked the way this version did.
If you know who the artist is for the original picture, please let me know so I can give proper credit!

Barriss Offee

Barriss Offee, a photo by s.kosoris on Flickr.

I originally got a Barriss Offee minifig for another project. I had never heard of her before and so had no qualms about taking the minifigure apart. But then somewhere along the way, I discovered this picture, which really intrigued me. A jedi using the force to heal? This is the type of thing I imagined Master Yoda doing (before his lightsaber duel sort of ruined that image of him for me). I liked the idea of a jedi who doesn't fight (and doesn't have a lightsaber), but instead can heal and do other mysterious things with the Force. I realize that in Star Wars, the real Barriss Offee does have a lightsaber, but I've refused to get one for my minifig.

This shot was a long time in the making. After I saw the aforementioned picture, I thought that Yoda's Hut would be the perfect backdrop! I acquired Yoda's Hut a long time ago from ebay, but haven't had a chance to use it before now (again, it was purchased for another project, different from the one I wanted Barriss Offee for. I just haven't had time to shoot it yet). I also wanted a large chunk of time to shoot this picture, knowing I would need time to get everything posed right (and I'd probably need to take multiple shots). I was planning on shooting something else tonight (one of my minifigure portraits for my Faces of Lego set) when I found the picture sitting with my Lego collection. Having the needed time, I decided that now was the perfect time to attempt this.

I originally had a larger trans blue piece for Barriss to hold (as the force magic), but it was too large and looked funny. Luckily the end of Mr. Freeze's gun worked perfectly!
I took over 30 shots with my Canon. I had it narrowed down to four before ultimately choosing this one. I originally had a shot uploaded where I had the trans blue piece really sparkling (thanks to multiple flashlights!), which looked really neat. But I ended up going with this one because I liked the lighting way better on the rest of the shot.
If you know who the artist of the original picture is, please let me know so I can give proper credit!

Another Thank You!

I just wanted to say thank you to the two people who bought some of my photos this past week from my Red Bubble site! Someone bought a copy of "Lego Boba Fett Macro," and then a few days later someone else bought a copy of "Yoda on the Dock." Thank you both so much!

Thank You!!!

A big thank you to whomever purchased a greeting card of "Yoda on the Dock" from my Red Bubble site! Your support is greatly appreciated!!!

Another Big Thank You!

...to whomever just purchased a greeting card of "Yoda on the Dock"! Your support is very much appreciated! I hope you enjoy! :D

Home From a Weekend at Camp

This weekend I went out to camp. As usual, I had my camera with me. And while I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do, I managed to snap a few really pretty ones. All of the pictures were taken during my random adventures on Saturday. From a trip down to the lake for a swim (which resulted in my first Yoda picture) to the evening fishing trip, I had a fantastic day! Want to see for yourself? Check out my Flickr photostream, or the Camping 2011 set which has all of my camping adventures from this year.

I even updated Red Bubble with select images from this weekend. Feel free to have a look there as well!

"So Be It, Jedi" Now Available on Red Bubble!

So Be It, Jedi
Originally uploaded by s.kosoris

When I first looked at this picture, I knew there was something special about it. I took about 10 different shots, most of which had the Emperor's face in sharp focus, not the lightning. But I kept coming back to this version. I'm not sure what exactly I like best about it - how his face is clear enough so you know who this is, or how the background looks like a forest (it's a single lilac tree). Altogether, this is one of my favourite Lego shots that I have snapped since I first started about a year ago. "So Be It, Jedi" has had a great reception on Flickr (it's even been added to a gallery!), so I decided to include it in my portfolio on Red Bubble as well. If you're interested, feel free to stop by and have a look! :)

Another Pic Added to a Gallery!

My Chewbacca portrait was added to someone's gallery! This gallery isn't very big, but it has a few really awesome pictures! Thanks Der Grantler!

Lego Space Police

lol, I've been eyeing this Lego set up for a while now, but I had a hard time justifying buying it. And then today, I wandered to the store and decided that I really, really wanted it. I have an idea for a shot (lol, when don't I have an idea for a shot nowadays with Lego?) and I wanted some of the pieces for it. Unfortunately I'll need to wait for something to come in from Ebay (of which I'm excited about!) before I can put this shot together. But in the mean time, I have a couple of cool-looking space vehicles too!

I also really liked the alien guy (I think his name is Kranxx according to the box) and thought he looks fitting for some shots with my Star Wars Lego.

Flickr Galleries!!!!!

A few days ago, I discovered Flickr Galleries! Galleries are collections of up to 18 pictures taken by other people that you put together however you'd like. I started making them out of the Your Best Shot 2009 group. The first gallery that I made has some of the big cat (lions, tigers, leopards, etc) pictures from the group. The second gallery I made has some of the fantastic house cat shots from the group. I think this second gallery is better than the first one, just bcause I have a better idea of what I'm doing. The third gallery I made has nothing to do with the Your Best Shot group. Instead, I decided to make a Star Wars gallery. But after I had brought about 8 pictures together and realized that 7 of them were Stormtrooper pictures, I switched it to a Stormtrooper gallery. Please check all three galleries out, ands stay tuned for more! And thanks to everyone featured in the galleries (and those who didn't make the cut - it was tough!) for sharing their fantastic shots!

Here's a link to all the galleries that I make. Enjoy!