Professor Thaum Posted January 15, 2018 previously Doctor's Thaum diary Jameston, January 618, the 15th Celestia Superb Orchid Search, 10th day We left the shores of Celestia and we enter the inner island fives days ago. The rank vegetation drove the Garret twins to opt for water travel, they built two basics but strongs rafts and we continue the travel through this thick jungle by the easiest way... Indeed it seems that a travel on dry land could have huge impact on the untouch flore of Celestia. I have to scold Callaghan many times to avoid the scraping of some beautiful but fragile flowers like this beautiful one - thanks to the swampy area, no doubt that we have here another kind of Arum (Fig A). We could see, a beautiful colored snake (Fig B), but we don't have many information except Iauln drawing because Callaghan refuse to help us for scientific testing like knowing if it was poisonous or if its bite was painful or if it was a constrictor one. The highlights of this swamp travel was a wonderful giant carnivorous plant like we have never seen before, once again Callaghan refuse to take part to any scientific test. Iauln made some drawings while Sven and I were starstruck by such a beauty (Fig C.) We decided to call it "hungarius uncontrollibus drosera" as it certainly use snap traps to ensure prey catching. Fig A. Arum Bromeliaceae gigas Fig B. Fig C. Hungarius Uncontrollibus Drosera C&C welcome, this is sadly my last challenge 1 built, because of the dead of my PC and so the lose of many pics (not only those of the challenge ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darnok Posted January 15, 2018 What a great entry! The swamp/grassland looks very "alive" and works well with the tiled water. The story around the build is great too - you really love to abuse Calaghan, eh? Do you know where the the parts of the first flower ("Fig. A") come from? I have never seen them before. 4 hours ago, Professor Thaum said: this is sadly my last challenge 1 built, because of the dead of my PC and so the lose of many pics (not only those of the challenge ) Oh no! Can you not make new pictures of at least the missing challenge entries in time? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kwatchi Posted January 15, 2018 Those are some great imaginative plant designs. The style of presentation with B/W photos, annotations, and the underlying story have made it a great series to follow. 5 hours ago, Professor Thaum said: C&C welcome, this is sadly my last challenge 1 built, because of the dead of my PC and so the lose of many pics (not only those of the challenge ) Dang. This happened to me this past fall as well. Combined with the photobucket fiasco, I spent a month contemplating giving things up. Stay with us Prof.! We need your mercenary brand of science. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roadmonkeytj Posted January 16, 2018 Prof - I know its frustrating loosing work ... Take the computer to an actual computer repairman if your not capable yourself (not the best buy kind) unless it cooked the hard drive a lot of your data may be recoverable from your hard drive. The build: I have enjoyed the "sketches" of the encounters ... I find it clever and find myself going back and forth from the drawing to the color photo to see how it was executed. I love the "latin" species names as well. 12 hours ago, Kwatchi said: ... Combined with the photobucket fiasco ... I have several how to articles on the custom car forums (actual cars) that are ruined because of this ... Plus all of my linked custom builds (owned my own fab shop for a bit) all the links broken .... I never did migrate the 2000 photos anywhere else ... And im not paying that price ... I didn't mind paying the extra storage but that much to use my own photos? No thanks ... Lost customer forever even if they go back to free. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted January 16, 2018 (edited) Thanks for the kind words, I will be off delay for the cat C. built : I have to rebuild it whole to retake pics (and it was pretty huge) and I had planned one more cat. B entry (pics lost too) but I think I will rebuild them both and post them even if I am off challenge. 13 hours ago, Drunknok said: Do you know where the the parts of the first flower ("Fig. A") come from? I have never seen them before. From a Lego "bionicle" or "hero factory" set of my older son. I don't remind. 13 hours ago, Drunknok said: Can you not make new pictures of at least the missing challenge entries in time? No, because the builts were pretty old (I made them in september and so took the pics) I had a story arc planned in Celestia searching the orchid before the challenge was created, but my builts don't last long because my youngest son is a fierce lego raider and a rapid builder. I have to rebuilt, and I will be off delay, but I will rebuilt them however. 1 hour ago, Roadmonkeytj said: Take the computer to an actual computer repairman For the computer, no way to have the pics back, it is really dead. one of the hard drive is "cooked" also seems to be the motherboard. I hope the second hard drive is not as knackered. Edited January 16, 2018 by Professor Thaum Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tezclatipoca Posted January 16, 2018 A great jungle entry ! I always like jungle stuff... I like all those carnivorous plants ! Great design ! May your computer rest in peace... Je compatis... A great job from you for all this challenge ! Congrats ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted January 16, 2018 3 minutes ago, Faladrin said: A great jungle entry ! I always like jungle stuff... I like all those carnivorous plants ! Great design ! May your computer rest in peace... Je compatis... A great job from you for all this challenge ! Congrats ! Merci Faladrin, j'avoue être bien plus embêté par la perte de nombreux fichiers lego que par la mort de l'ordi. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roadmonkeytj Posted January 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Professor Thaum said: For the computer, no way to have the pics back, it is really dead. one of the hard drive is "cooked" also seems to be the motherboard. I hope the second hard drive is not as knackered. Ahh quite unfortunate ... I would look forward to the completion of the story none the less even if not within the proper challenge timeframe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Wolf Posted January 16, 2018 Great job with the raft on the river and all the vegetation. You've done a wonderful job with the subjects of the detail pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elostirion Posted January 21, 2018 Probably the best one of your whole series, fantastic flowers and overall atmosphere to it. Amazingly wonderful work. With all the creative and unique plants and creatures you have depicted for CatB I think you definitely deserve to be among the winners. The one thing which is left for you to improve on to make a major improvement in quality is picture quality. I'd suggest two things: 1) Try to take photos in perfect lighting conditions. LED light may help if daylight is not sufficient. Hold the camera stable, take multiple pics of the same thing, and select the best. Your angles are already great, lighting can be improved. 2) Use some editing tool to do some small postproduction. It does not have to be 100% like taking hours to cut out all background etc. Just increase contrast and saturation a bit to lift the "gray veil" from the images. Just a quick example (probably a bit exaggerated): Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted January 21, 2018 A nice entry with tons of laughs! I liked the inclusion of the tiled river and the carnivorous plant! I'm sad to hear that your pc exploded or something Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted February 19, 2018 On 21/01/2018 at 12:53 PM, Elostirion said: Probably the best one of your whole series, fantastic flowers and overall atmosphere to it. Amazingly wonderful work. With all the creative and unique plants and creatures you have depicted for CatB I think you definitely deserve to be among the winners. The one thing which is left for you to improve on to make a major improvement in quality is picture quality. I'd suggest two things: 1) Try to take photos in perfect lighting conditions. LED light may help if daylight is not sufficient. Hold the camera stable, take multiple pics of the same thing, and select the best. Your angles are already great, lighting can be improved. 2) Use some editing tool to do some small postproduction. It does not have to be 100% like taking hours to cut out all background etc. Just increase contrast and saturation a bit to lift the "gray veil" from the images. Just a quick example (probably a bit exaggerated): Sorry to have not replied about this (I missed it ) : the photoshoping job you made is handsome but I'm unable to do so, I'm very bad with a PC (very very bad)... I'm just able to use LDD, a forum and some wordslike document, except this I'm quite an incapable with a computer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bodi Posted February 19, 2018 Nice scene! The carnivorous plant looks terrifying, reminds me of some adventure movies in the 80's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elostirion Posted February 20, 2018 19 minutes ago, Professor Thaum said: Sorry to have not replied about this (I missed it ) : the photoshoping job you made is handsome but I'm unable to do so, I'm very bad with a PC (very very bad)... I'm just able to use LDD, a forum and some wordslike document, except this I'm quite an incapable with a computer. https://www169.lunapic.com/editor/ Upload your image (or copy-paste the URL). In the navigation under "Adjust" select "Color Saturation", "Brightness" and "Contrast". Whoever is able to MOC in LDD will be able to use this for sure. :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted February 20, 2018 16 minutes ago, Elostirion said: Upload your image (or copy-paste the URL). In the navigation under "Adjust" select "Color Saturation", "Brightness" and "Contrast". I will have a look, thanks for the hint ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
