mccoyed

Wonderful build and I can't really add anything new to the comments on it, but I did want to say that I share your feelings about photography. Actually taking pictures makes me pretty anxious and I often take way too many and they still turn out not to be the right ones. I haven't quite mastered the art of building things with photography in mind, so I often find that my angles are poorly set up for photos by showing interiors or bits that break the "illusion" of a tableau. I do think I've gotten yards better at taking clear photos and sprucing them up in GIMP and Photoshop, but I still don't love doing it. It's time consuming and I often feel like my pictures don't capture the best things about my builds, particularly small details I hide here and there. Always working on it, though. Just want to show you some solidarity!

Very nice fig here. I do think the presentation could be a bit better with the dark blue plate lacking any detail. I like what you did with the "fig base" section and I think you could have actually just shot that against white and left out the blue plate. You should also look into GIMP (free) or Photoshop to brighten your images or even go the extra step of cutting out background and replacing it with something neutral. Blue would have worked nicely for this one because it would give that watery effect and you wouldn't need the base plate. For fun: That just shows what I mean. Lots more small touch-ups would be needed (blurring the edges for example) to really whip it into shape, but I think the effect is better than sticking a really great little build on a flat blue plate.

Haha. There may be a lot of gnomes sprinkled throughout this storyline. Thanks for the kind words. I would definitely say this is a build with a lot of standard techniques, largely because I was so impatient to get this done. What do you think would work for the path? I always struggle with stuff like that. Thanks, Bas. I wish I could have thought of more to do with the door. I pictured it almost like a submarine hatch or something like that -- hermetic kind of thing. It's hard to decide where gnomes should be at with their technology so I'm trying to stay on the right side of that. I tend to agree about the foliage. I think there's some good stuff in there but I was definitely just throwing ideas and trying to make it look overgrown and untidy in the way real flora is (but this doesn't always translate nicely to Lego). I also think the incoherence is partly down to the poor photography. I should probably have gotten a better shot of the pond and foliage but oh well, I'd rather move on haha!

Yeah, that example is literally just figs on a plate. Anyway, I think goatman makes a strong point that the idea is to develop your skills. Like, I wasn't always a "great builder" and would argue I'm not one now. I'm like mid-tier at best. I started out pretty rough but have tried to experiment, copy the greats, and learn new skills as I go. I don't have the patience some great builders have. Others don't have the bricks or the time. We just work with what we're given and try not to be too lazy to change what we can. That can mean presentation (photography), story, and then actual LEGO moccing skills.

Yeah, makes sense. I have followers but not that many and I don't use Flickr as a platform for Lego stuff very much. That makes it easier for me to let go of it, I guess.

I'm cautiously interested in this. AG2 being effectively dead before arrival means there's a scifi RBG void and while I know SONE fulfilled some of those requirements. Factions feels more open and inviting. Just wanted to state my interest and congratulate you guys on the hard work it must have took to put this together. Can't wait to see what you have planned for the factions.

Great, clean looking build. I think my favorite thing about your MOCs is your command of color. I always lean on the core Lego shades because that's what I have the most of, but I'm also a little afraid to branch out and try to think about color more. Your builds are inspiring for that. I do wish you'd do some interiors. This one especially looks like it could fit a nice one.

I don't think I understand why anyone would want to go to all that trouble. Seems a lot easier to just cap your Flickr account around 1000 pics and migrate all new photos elsewhere. Is it the community aspect of Flickr? I have to admit that doesn't impact me much since I'm not that active socially on Flickr. Anyway, finally shook off the cobwebs. Here's a new entry to the Lion's Eye story:

Previously... The Highridge Foothills, Eastern Varlyrio The journey from Illyrian was long and Fel was in a hurry, setting a quick pace that set Fizzum to grumbling the whole way. When he finally took over, far outside of the city and away from any road that Fel knew, his pace was no less relentless. She expected the Lady Tisha to complain, but she never did. Every time Arrea offered to carry her pack or help her in any way, Tisha happily ignored her and walked a little quicker. She prattled and questioned in an endless wave, wanting to know everything about everything. It seemed that she was stopping every few feet by the time they reached the end of their path. Fizzum had led them down a what was once a busy road, now returned to the land by time and disuse. "Fah! We'll never get there if you don't pick up that child and drag her along!" "I'll do no such thing. My lady, please ignore that fool." "Fool is it? Fool? Look before you, we've finally arrived and it's pretty flowers and insects that you're concerned with." "I hate to admit it, but he's right. That's got to be some kind of door." "It doesn't look much like any door I've ever seen." "On account of it being a gnome door!" "It's got no latch or hinges, Fizzum." "Fah! Of course it has. You just can't see 'em with your baby eyes. Door operates by steamworks. You just got to know how to talks to it." "Well, let's not keep our guide waiting you two. It'll be dark soon and we don't know what awaits us inside." "You don't, but I do." "I'll bet it's not so bad." "If you're lucky, you won't have nightmares the rest of your days." "I'll ask you again not to speak to the Lady that way, Master Gnome." "I was talking to all of yous!" "Well, that's ominous." "More like exciting!" "Fah! Fah, I say! Let's us just get on with it."

Yeah, actually, I did have over 1000 photos. But definitely not as many as you or many others, not that it really matters. Last weekend I had to whittle that down to below 1000 so I can avoid whatever Flickr is going to do to accounts that are over the limit on their deadline. If you have any tips on what stuff you got rid of, I'd be interested. I took down all non-Lego pics, got rid of alternate shots and redundant shots, and still only just got below 1000. I am going to try Bricksafe for future stuff, with Flickr being left as a kind of archive so my old posts don't have broken links. If anyone has anything better than Bricksafe, I'm all ears, but it looks pretty good.

Cool idea and a really solid build but I'm really interested in the sets those pieces came from!

I've been sick lately and busy with work (for once). Also, RDR2 and Fallout 76 coming out within weeks of each other has taken a toll on my free time. So has a new casual writing gig for an upcoming site. I just did a big clean and sort, though, so I should have something new soon. This Flickr business has kind of put a bad taste in my mouth. I have to decide where I'm going to be putting my new stuff before I can really get a complete build up again.

Unusual to see an untextured roof in a Mitgardian build but I like what you've done here.The interior features some nice parts usage, but my favorite detail is the golden snitch. Inspired use of that part!

Merpeople is a great idea to add to Varlyrio. I have some fish fig pieces too so I'll try to include a cameo from finvolk!

Great work here. I feel a lot of kinship with this MOC because it features elements I like to do as well, including the busy feel and huge diversity of custom-assembled minifigs.

Changing a policy this drastically without concern for the actual users on the service is anti-consumer, even if you have a generally pro-business attitude. Clawing back service to boost revenue is a desperation move likely brought upon by Flickr's fierce competition from Instagram. Look at the records of user numbers for either service over the last five years. Flickr seems to want to stay alive by becoming a boutique service with a premium fee. That's not only a raw deal for just about everyone who uses Flickr, it's not a vote of confidence for the company's long-term sustainability. I think it's pertinent to wonder why there isn't a tiered service plan, for example, instead of a single tier and comparatively steep $50/year price tag. That so many of us are stuck and will have to essentially support this policy change with their dollars is disheartening to me because I believe Flickr knows that they'll make enough money to balance out the loss of entire swaths of their current user base and they're going to be rewarded essentially for making this change, rather than being abandoned like they deserve. Flickr has users beyond the AFOL community that rely on the free service, so it isn't going to be just us who will see a massive shift as a result of this. Moreover, AFOLs and RBGs seem to have been on a recent downward trend in general and I don't think this loss of a cornerstone platform is going to do us any favors. Some of us have economic circumstances that allow us to treat this as a cost/benefit decision but others cannot and will not be able to pay $50/year to post pictures of Lego. Others will ditch Flickr on principle. I would also caution people from migrating to Instagram. Instagram is owned by Facebook, a company that has been massively co-opted by their own business and political interest (or lack thereof) and has been hit by major scandals for who they've been selling data to. I got rid of Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica stuff came to light and I personally won't be using any products owned by them, which includes Instagram. I know I have little chance of convincing people to rethink Instagram or Facebook as most of us are even more entrenched on those platforms than we are on Flickr. I just think this needs to be said.

Awesome build. Love the base particularly. One thing that was odd is when I looked at the photo at first, I was confused and alarmed by the horse because the angle and perspective make it look like it ended in a fleshy head (of the fig right in front) and I was briefly horrified by this pastoral scene undone by a moment of cosmic wrongness. Then I realized what was happening and relaxed. Haha. :P

Love this idea. Could be improved by just going straight to having some kind of outrigger sand-boat.

Still a pretty dang good digital build. I respect LDD builders because though there are some easier things (piece limitations being way different), it still takes patience and vision and talent.

My favorite bit here is the background. I know that sounds weird, but I really like the sense of scale achieved by the out of focus architecture. It really gives the impression of a tiny piece of a larger, more complex layout.

Great interior. The best detail, which I haven't seen before, is those hanging pots and items. That's just a great idea and parts use that really makes this build stand out from similar scenes. I also disagree with Henj about this. I don't think the build is too small or the proportions obscure the photography. I think the closeness of all the details makes the "overview" shot look appropriately dense and busy. Then those detail shots really go to show both your photography skills and the way your layouts make it possible to take good photos up close with so many densely packed details. As always, your builds are an example to us all.

Agree with the others about the spices and parts use there. Definitely what stands out.

Nice work and I especially enjoy seeing the full build as it reminds me of film sets where you often are convinced you're looking at a room in a house but it's really a very contrived cutaway. The illusion is what matters!

Love this style of micro. A lot of micros are heavy on details and there's an art to that. I like this clean, simple look a lot more. It's so clean and well-photographed that I thought it was an LDD build!

Not much to add again, since others have already pointed out all my favorite things... but it's been a pleasure looking at this run of high quality mocs from you!