Despite having my head buried in my thesis, I've been relaxing with one my hobbies - modelling.
A tiny boat on a Venetian canal:
A tiny boat on a Venetian canal:
...and a painstaking version of the Summer Palace:
Do please enlarge them by clicking on the photos before we go on...
Of course, these models were a wee bit unorthodox, being the product of tilt-shift. It's a very easy way of tricking the eye into thinking that an object is very small, because it has a blurred foreground and background. Combined with accentuated model-like colours and lighting, the results can be startling. For further reading, and much more accomplished examples than my crude first efforts, more can be found at Flickr.
The originals are below, for your reference.
The originals are below, for your reference.
30 comments:
very kool
The pictre on the very bottom (Summer Palace) still looks rather unreal to me.
Is the tilt-shift you mention a function of the imaging software...or are you referring to the use of view cameras and/or tilt-shift lenses?
Dear Phyll,
The photo at the bottom was a quick snap with my trusty travel camera, a little Nikon "Coolpix". Truth is stranger that fiction. :)
I started with the two plain images at the bottom; proper tilt-shift technique uses lenses to produce an unreal photograph by giving very unusual depth-of-field (making one part look in-focus, while the rest are blurred). This is contrary to normal photography, where everything is usually in focus for big photos (such as the Venetian canal and the Summer Palace). However, tilt-shift lenses are extremely expensive.
A similar(ish) effect can be obtained by adding the blur in software (to fool the eye into thinking that it is a small object), changing the colours to look more "plastic" (to further the illusion of being a model), and changing the lighting so that it is flat (because little models are lit differently to large-scale features).
You'd be amazed what you can do with a little software wizardry - follow the Flickr link from the main article and look at some of the interesting things people have achieved. It's a lovely way of making something very familiar seem model-like and strange (perhaps a photo of your family home, etc.).
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Hobbes, you're a lowdown dirty deceiver!!!
Cue maniacal laughter :)
Thanks for the explanation, Hobbes. Those pics on Flickr are interesting.
I used to play around with a 4x5" Toyo view camera when photography was a more passionate hobby of mine than tea and wine were. Nowadays, I just use my little trusty Canon SD500 point-and-shoot digital camera. I still have a collection of analog cameras and lenses that are collecting dust. I need to look into them and auction some off on Ebay or somewhere.
My skills in digital photo manipulation is very limited.
In the market for a Pentax 6x7cm system in near mint condition, Hobbes? :)
Your attention to detail is magnificent! I am so glad I found your blog.
chill work. that's awesome.
Nice pictures. Congrats on being mentioned as one of the blogs o note.
Those are nice pictures :D
Hey, cool blog! Gonna bookmark it.
This was so neat and a little surreal. Caught me a little bit offguard. Had to have been a lot of work. I would have never had that kind of patience, so I was completely impressed with all the work that you did... KC
You've fooled a few, Hobbes.
Those pics are totally cool. Really got me fooled. XD
Btw, all the other pics in your blog are great as well. =) And i love tea too!
Wow! This is very impressive work! I couldn't tell the difference until I zoomed in an went back and forth a few times.
I happened upon your blog and was pleasantly reminded of years of tedious work by my dad...he had a thing for model trains, N scale, which means really small for my purposes here. He worked for years on a model layout, but diabetes took most of his eyesight and abilities. The most I've ever managed to build is bad credit. Kudos to you and your handi-craft!
Dear Phyll,
Much as I would love to be in the market for a Pentax 6x7, I'm afraid that dare not. :)
Thanks all for the kind words ;)
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Your photos fooled me. I kept trying to figure out what you could have been making the models out of. Kudos, though, this is a really cool blog!
Hi Hobbes
What amazing models. I had to have a second look - truely fantastic attention to detail. Thanks for sharing
:-)
I must admit, it took me a while to figure out that they weren't models; reading these comments is still entertaining, though. :)
Brent
I must admit, those are some detailed models. Keep it up I wish I had that ability.
Those are FANTASTIC, I wish I had enough patience to do that.
Lovely.
Great models. The photography is great but the models are truly spectacular. Always wanted to do an outdoor G Gauge train but still on my bucket list. As a teenager, back before you could get ready-mades in HO, I made a bunch of trains, buildings, scenery. Can appreciate your work. Well done.
very strange...very good work!!!
Cool !!
I find it fascinating to see the real and the unreal. What is funny is that it is all in numbers/characters in the first place to see any of this. I think it is between numbers and the authentic visual experience that finds our world jumping back and forth between the two. When was the last time you looked at a magazine and really trusted that the image was complete just as it was shot?
Then there are us players who like to have fun with the real and "unreal".
Beautiful images, regardless.
Amazing, really ... I have a photo of the "orignal" Summer palace, or what's left of it on my blog.
Good luck with your thesis,
Marcus
oh my! very very cool. they both were smashingly wicked <33
I have declared an M.I.A.
VERY COOL MODELS!
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