woolie

I enjoy sorting. I also recently moved my build table across the room to be next to my record player, so I hope to enjoy this natural complement soon. If my wife and/or sister are building with me, we might put on a movie or a recorded TV show, since we have somewhat divergent tastes in music It's alot of fun to work together, whether it's building a new set, MOCing, or sorting.

Hi everyone, I'm starting to collect some awesome sets, but I'm also starting to feel a bit of tension between the desire to leave my store-bought sets on display and breaking them down to rebuild as MOCs. Do people just buy multiples, and keep one built and use the others for parts? Or build and display for a certain amount of time before disassembling and sorting out? And do you treat "special and collectible" sets differently from everyday stuff you can buy at any retail store? For instance, I have the GE, PS, and FB modulars, and they are so rich with wonderful bricks... but they are also works of art that I want to keep on display. Just curious to hear everyone's systems. I'm sure there are many responses -- what someone with a $10k year Lego budget does might be different than the casual user's

I have about 40 from current city sets, about 100 from classic 80s and 90s themes on display, and maybe 40 more that are too torn up or incomplete to display. I spent the evening putting them all together and displayed on baseplates, so convenient topic timing. <3 Classic Pirates by wools, on Flickr

Really great execution :) I have a similar idea for my future layout... need to find a big boat hull on eBay.

Well, sometimes it gets down into the 40s...

I am continuing to believe the GG never existed. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

Great contest, everyone! Competition does sharpen the mind :) The next contest should be a MOC; I don't have enough pieces to compete there yet :)

What's missing is Metroliner 3.0

Thanks :) It also makes me chuckle when someone says "HDR!" to which I reply "correct exposure!" I've been doing low-light photography for nearly 10 years now, so I've had alot of time to experiment with different lighting techniques. I first started playing around with flashlight painting while photographing the big electron microscopes in our lab... I wanted very dramatic lighting on the instrument columns, with black backgrounds to hide all the clutter and associated equipment. There are many great Lego photographers on Flickr whose work I have been admiring over the past couple months :) I am still acquiring sets and building up my collection before I start on MOCs, but photographing my dioramas as dramatic scenes is a major part of my plan. Edit: as you can see in my avatar, the key elements of my sig-fig are: 1) Camera! 2) Backpack and travel shirt 3) Suitably scenic location 4) Beard and shaggy hair

Hrmn... the system doesn't want to accept the new version of my avatar image; it says it's uploaded, but keeps reverting back to the old version. Edit: nevermind. It has to do with the server's cache settings. Fixed. The gifs in your sig are mightier than any special tag. I wanted the Metroliner *this* much when I was a kid. Maybe for Christmas this year...

Hmm.. It's down to all the sets, or all the other sets :P

This is on Caroline, right? It's on the bike path to my office :) I've never been inside, but now I have a good reason. I really like your use of wedge pieces for the difficult angles of the Gulf Coast.

Hi everyone; thanks for the kind comments :)

Glorious. I will have more comments later.

It seems to be very wide; how are you going to access/manipulate objects in the middle?

I'm trying to imagine how the train tracks can shift unexpectedly to end in a driveway :) Very cute :) Fortunately, this is Lego Town. People being smuggled across borders in real shipping containers and trucks often does not end well..... Took me several looks at this image to realize what was going on :) Well, I guess this is an 18+ forum :P :P (ps. no apology required.) It doesn't snow here, so it's left to my imagination. Do they just have a snow plow at the front of the train? Are there heating elements, or is the friction enough to melt the ice? Great work everyone!

<3 <3 <3 <3 wind turbines!! I had the opportunity to climb to the top of one once (without trespassing, for a change :) -- swooosh!) I have frequently seen the real-life version of 7747 Wind Turbine Transport on the freeway -- although the blades are so huge that it's just one blade per extra-long trailer. I believe they are shipped into the port here before being trucked to West Texas. You should modify one of your cars to be a wind turbine transport.

I really like yours as well. The beach scene and roasting pig reminded me of Hawaii... which was a bit more spectacular than the beaches near where I live :) The water along this stretch of the Gulf Coast is brown. Although, I did cringe quite a bit thinking of the sand getting into my shiny Maersk engine and scratching everything. At first I was hoping, thinking -- surely it must be some kind of sawdust!

Here is a 3:4 (640x480) aspect ratio crop. LEGO Maersk Train 10219 (alternate crop) by wools, on Flickr If possible, you can set this version as my official entry. You can also click through to view it full size. Since a couple people asked, here is how I set up the shot. Warning, obsessive photo nerd level of detail ahead :) I had a couple different train crossings in mind. I used Google Street View to check each one out. I needed a clear view of both the train tracks and signals, the downtown skyline, few obstructions in the background, and low traffic. It also had to be a relatively safe area -- that excluded several spots that were otherwise excellent. Anyway, this is the intersection I ended up using, in a very yuppie area: http://g.co/maps/h7n5x (street view link to basically the same framing I used) I brought a cardboard box about 2x4x2 ft. I used a 12 pack of Cokes to weight it down so the wind wouldn't knock it over. I setup the base plates and track (I haven't ballasted any of my track yet -- I actually don't have enough to make a full circuit yet...) on top of the cardboard box. I then moved around a bit with my camera to find the right framing... crawling on my knees :P I used a *very* wide angle lens (17mm, full frame) that can also focus quite close to get the forced perspective I wanted. Finally, I found the right spot, moved the box, and setup my tripod down on the ground (the legs splay out to get really low.) I initially wanted to do the shot with the sunset, but it took about 30 minutes to find the right framing and exposure. Anyway, I settled on 30s, f/16, ISO 400, at almost minimal focus distance -- the front element of the lens was only about 6 inches from the Maersk locomotive at these settings. I tried some with a smaller aperture, but in the end felt the slightly out of focus background made it look more realistic. It is hard to translate "normal" depth-of-field to what you want when you're shooting models at very odd perspectives. I used live-view to get the focus correct (using the flashlight to as an AF illuminator). At the start of each exposure, I would flash the light for about 1 second to simulate the train's headlights. Then, I would quickly scan across the length of the engine to get enough exposure (it was very much in the shadow, compared to the brighter street and skyline in the background.) I made sure to hold the flashlight pointing upwards to minimize exposure to the baseplates. Anyway, it did unfortunately give some streaking effect on the side of the train because the flat sides of bricks are quite reflective. Normally, I would have post-processed to burn down these highlights, but that was not allowed in this contest. Anyway, this contest was a great idea. I hope there are similar ones in the future :) It put two of my favorite things together.

I've been going to the PaB wall on a pretty regular basis now, as I said in my previous message in this thread. Well, I got two cups on Friday that I forgot to take a picture of before I had them parted out into storage. So I made an excuse to stop by again today :) Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr Tile 1x4 Green: 33 Brown: 43 Tile 1x2 light green (?) 45 Plate 1x2 Trans-clear: 41 Plate 1x2 Trans-clear: 41 Chair Brown: 7 Slope 2x2 45 Black: 31 Slope 1x3 33 Black: 33 Plate 2x8 Red: 6 Plate 4x8 Black: 27 Plate: 4x4 Light bley: 6 Plate 6x16 Light bley: 6 Brick 1x4 Brown: 20 Plate 1x1 round Trans-blue: 224 Plate 1x1 Trans-green: 179

My image is not photoshopped; I can send you the raw camera file if you like. You just have to be brave enough to sit on the side of the road with a cardboard box, flashlight, Lego train, tripod and camera while everyone stares as they drive by. Edit: I did crop it slightly, because I like wider format (16:9 or higher) format photos when I shoot at 17mm, and the native aspect ratio of the camera is 3:2 anyway, which is different than the 3:4 of 640x480. But the image is not composited, selectively edited, or significantly altered in any way, which is the usual meaning of photoshopped in the photography community. If you want me to provide a 4:3 640x480 crop instead of my 16:9 image, just let me know and I'll attach one.

Thanks :) I used very long exposures and a flashlight as foreground fill light on just the areas I wanted, and also the train headlights.

Hi everyone! Here is my entry: Maersk Train 10219 by wools, on Flickr I've been exiting the "dark ages" over the past year, and my lovely wife bought the Maersk Train for me as a Christmas present :) It is the first train I've had in 20 years -- since the Airport Shuttle when I was a kid. I was excited when I saw the contest -- photography is my other hobby! Especially night scenes. And trains, and buildings, and all the wonderful gritty things that make a city work. I had a scene in mind, but it took a bit of scouting using Google Street View to locate the right crossing. I went out tonight a little before dusk to setup, and it took a little bit of experimenting and adjusting the exposure before I was happy. I wanted to use some forced perspective to make the train integrate into a real life scene. And the best part about this shoot is that no one called the police -- over the past decade, I've come to expect that as a routine part of my night shots. Anyway, I can't wait to see all the other entries!

I am going to enter; I have an idea for the photo. We'll see how it turns out tonight.

There is an offshore oil museum in Galveston; they have dozens of small scale models of various support ships and rigs on display. It would be cool to have some LEGO models on display.