Dinosaur Toy Forum Diorama Contest 2023 - Poll

[DinoToyForum]

i am the author of diorama No. 34 "instinctively".

i want to receive criticism of my work. the more the better.

I'm by no means an expert but the crop of your diorama seemed very tall with a lots of 'unused' space in the top upper third. So, maybe a tighter crop to focus more on the dinosaurs would make it more visually appealing. Compare:





I'd say the same thing about diorama 22, if the maker would permit me to provide unsolicited feedback, as the panorama was so wide I didn't even notice the T. rex hiding in the bushes until after I viewed it several times. Compare:





Obviously, crop or framing is down to personal preference and this is just mine, but I think it is a simple tweak that can make a big difference.

In my own diorama ( No.8 ) I had to crop the bottom off more than I would have liked, because the dinosaurs were standing on an ugly brick I had to chop off their feet! That's bad planning on my part. I was also disappointed that the dinosaur in the foreground of mine wasn't in focus, but I'm not a good enough photographer (or don't have the right equipment) to get everything in focus! I also notice this is the case in diorama 34, the dinosaur in the foreground is slightly out of focus.

Like I say, I'm no expert!

[BlueKrono]

The biggest stand out to me was #23. I didn't know prehistoric life could look so epic. That one will stay with me for a long time. I'd give another shoutout to 31. It may be simple, but it reminds me of some excellent wildlife photography.

I was on the fence between voting for #8 (I love the old school) and #3, but the law states that I'm not allowed not to vote for something with a Diplocaulus in it. Does anyone know which one this is?

[Brocc21]

I'd give another shoutout to 31. It may be simple, but it reminds me of some excellent wildlife photography.

Thanks for the shoutout! I had initially planned on a more complex scene with multiple animals all inhabiting a swamp. But I got hit with the deadline and had to rush it, and the sky was too beautiful in that photo to resist.

I hadn't expected to get even as many as 17 votes. Thanks for that everyone!

[Fembrogon]

I'm ashamed to admit that I forgot to vote before the deadline, but there were a lot of terrific choices this year! Congratulations to the winners!

[Halichoeres]

I personally voted only for dioramas in this contest. Though there are indeed quite a few good photos among all those entries, I see the diorama contest as what it is named: a diorama contest. So for me the photgraphed scene needs to be build up from a scratch, something more or less lasting - not a shot made with figures placed in the outdoor green. So that ruled my vote out for your shot in the first place. 

I am also a bit of a purist in this respect. There is obviously skill involved in getting an outdoor shot to look natural: angles, lighting, composition. But it is a different skill from diorama building, and I vote for the latter. I voted for your Gates of Hell, for example.

[Lanthanotus]

[...] I voted for your Gates of Hell, for example.

Thanks, Halichoeres. While I am happy how the build turned out (more or less like I had it in mind), due to its comprably wide dimensions and distribution of the figures it was hard to deceide which view would make the best out of it. Now my son claimed it for himself (without the figures expect for the attacking croc for obvious reasons) as I cannot place it on my desktop or in my cabinet

[Stunt_Kitty_Films]

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[Federreptil]

i am the author of diorama No. 34 "instinctively".

i want to receive criticism of my work. the more the better.

Some good advices are still given. A close up to the protagonists helps always and a visible social interaction also helps. In my mind, dinosaurs remain huge animals and to be able to convey that, the Pterodon view is rarely a helpful perspective. Also it makes the view clinical and less emotional. So the shooting point of view should be as low as possible. In my own pictures, I find myself going lower and lower at least two more times when taking pictures. I usually lose some figures in the background, but still the result is more coherent then. Here, unfortunately, I see very little of the interesting figures, they seem to fit decoratively to the wood structures. I would like to see more details here, and I wouldn't mind if one of the two figures were clearly in the foreground to draw me into the picture. Unfortunately, the wood structures seem more like firewood logs than the trunks in a redwood forest. So the whole scene is unfortunately too model-like in the end.

The issue of flat angles unfortunately also applies to the otherwise fascinating March of the Northmen (#23) I voted for it, but hope that there are still eye-level alternatives. Also because there's a herd of very interesting figures going on here that I'd like to admire more in detail.

[ceratopsian]

For me the stand-out entry was No. 27, Too Big for You.  I loved the unusual perspective, as it made me think hard about what I was looking at. It conveyed very effectively the huge size of the sauropods and added a great deal of drama and excitement to the scene. There were a real sense of intensity and capturing a moment in time. The image stuck in my head long after I'd closed the thread. I liked the visual effect of contrasting sharp focus / out of focus.  This contributed for me to emphasising the size of the beasts.

[postosuchus]

@Lanthanotus, @DinoToyForum, @Federreptil, thanks for you answers. i took note.

I personally voted only for dioramas in this contest. Though there are indeed quite a few good photos among all those entries, I see the diorama contest as what it is named: a diorama contest. So for me the photgraphed scene needs to be build up from a scratch, something more or less lasting - not a shot made with figures placed in the outdoor green. So that ruled my vote out for your shot in the first place.

either I misunderstood you (my English is very bad), or you mistook my diorama for a outdoor photo. or do you mean that a craft that uses natural materials (natural soil and tree bark) cannot be called a diorama?

[Lanthanotus]

Hello Postosuchus,
my apologies if I mistook your photo for an outdoor shot, but yes, that is what I ment. Using natural materials is completly legit in my eyes, they just often bring the difficulty of scaling correctly with the used figures.

[DinoToyForum]

A video to summarise all the entries in this year's contest:

Follow the DinoToyBlog channel here: https://makertube.net/a/dinotoyblog/video-channels

[irimali]

[...] I voted for your Gates of Hell, for example.

Thanks, Halichoeres. While I am happy how the build turned out (more or less like I had it in mind), due to its comprably wide dimensions and distribution of the figures it was hard to deceide which view would make the best out of it. Now my son claimed it for himself (without the figures expect for the attacking croc for obvious reasons) as I cannot place it on my desktop or in my cabinet

Out of curiosity, did you happen to take any other photos from different angles? I would love to see them if you did

[Lanthanotus]

[...] I voted for your Gates of Hell, for example.

Thanks, Halichoeres. While I am happy how the build turned out (more or less like I had it in mind), due to its comprably wide dimensions and distribution of the figures it was hard to deceide which view would make the best out of it. Now my son claimed it for himself (without the figures expect for the attacking croc for obvious reasons) as I cannot place it on my desktop or in my cabinet

Out of curiosity, did you happen to take any other photos from different angles? I would love to see them if you did

Hi irimali and thanks for your interest. These are some images I took (cut to be sure). Due to the comparably weird shape of the base any higher angel would have required a lot more photo editing or background creating. Also, the top layer of the water got milky, I guess cause of UV exposition.

[DefinitelyNOTDilo]

Looks amazing! Might I ask where that proterosuchid(?) in the background came from?

[Primeval12]

Hello, will we be doing another contest this year? I just got back into photography and would LOVE to submit something (good) finally!

[DinoToyForum]

Hello, will we be doing another contest this year? I just got back into photography and would LOVE to submit something (good) finally!

Yes, but it will be for fun only this year - no prizes. I'll officially announce it very soon.