2017 DTF Diorama Contest Alternate (Unused) Photos

[Simon]

I'd like to invite all of the 2017 contest entrants to submit some of their unused photos on this single thread so they can all be seen together in one place. 

My entry was #16 "Mayhem in Laramidia".  I shot it on a rocky hillside overlooking a beach on the Adriatic Sea.  The subjects were:

1.  Customized TRex "kitbash" I created from a Griffon "Master Fossil" TRex and the Shinzen SEGA "Prize TRex".
2.  Trcic Triceratops
3.  PNSO Hadrosaur (whose name escapes me)

The trouble with the location was that there was no way that I could actually look through the lens while taking the shot, due to the terrain.  I had to basically put the camera on the ground, point it towards the models, and shoot a series of shots, hoping one might turn out.  It was a hazy afternoon and my submission photo captured some of that haze.  I did have to photoshop a few distant homes from the left side of the photo.  I think it is my best contest entry so far, because I think it captured the "fake natural look" better than my prior entries did.  Plus the strange vegetation that only thrives near the salty shores of the sea also helped in that regard.

Below is my submission, followed by a couple of test shots...

[Lanthanotus]

Good idea to offer a single thread for the alternate photos, guess I'll post some too, though they are on a different computer, so I need some time.

To be honest, I like your alternate shot way more than the entry, I think it is more dynamic and also gives a much better view to the figures and their details aswell as to the surrounding vegetation, which was a great choice for the theme.

[Simon]

Good idea to offer a single thread for the alternate photos, guess I'll post some too, though they are on a different computer, so I need some time.

To be honest, I like your alternate shot way more than the entry, I think it is more dynamic and also gives a much better view to the figures and their details aswell as to the surrounding vegetation, which was a great choice for the theme.

Thanks - Its very, very hard to predict how others will view the photos when you are choosing which one to submit.  In retrospect, I too would have chosen one showing more close-up detail, but the contrast between the "cliffside", the sky and the somewhat muted lighting on the models is what made me choose the one that I did.  I thought it looked more "real" than the closeup shots did ...

[Lanthanotus]

Seems my computer didn't load the images correctly in the first place... just to clarify, the middle photo is the one I was talking about. However those figures look great

Sorry for that question, but do you always carry so many figures with you on vacations ( Iguess it was vacations bringing you to the Adria) or did you bring them because you had planned in advance to shoot the pics there? (I do take one or two with me on some of my trips/vacations sometimes, .. cause I like looking at them and just in case I find a nice spot for a diorama photo)

[Simon]

Seems my computer didn't load the images correctly in the first place... just to clarify, the middle photo is the one I was talking about. However those figures look great

Sorry for that question, but do you always carry so many figures with you on vacations ( Iguess it was vacations bringing you to the Adria) or did you bring them because you had planned in advance to shoot the pics there? (I do take one or two with me on some of my trips/vacations sometimes, .. cause I like looking at them and just in case I find a nice spot for a diorama photo)

Every year I bring some figures to work on during my vacation - we have an old family home there, so once I customize them and paint them up they stay there...

PS I just added a closeup TRex vs Triceratops shot that I now realize I SHOULD have used in the contest ... see my first post above... 

[Jose S.M.]

The ones of the T-rex attacking the Triceratops are great! and that's a lovely landscape btw.

[Simon]

The ones of the T-rex attacking the Triceratops are great! and that's a lovely landscape btw.

Thanks!  If knew how to digitally insert a little blur and dust I would probably have chosen one of those for the contest, but unfortunately I did not have time to try to figure out how to do that.  Still they were fun to do so I wanted to share them here.

BTW, thanks to Tyrantqueen for the Trcic Triceratops - I had always wanted that piece, and had a chance to acquire it from her about 5 years ago.  It was partly cracked and broken in the foot and tail, so it required some puttying and repainting. The galloping pose is probably no longer accurate according to what we now understand regarding how the front legs and feet of the Trike were orientated, but the dynamism of the pose can't be beat from a purely aesthetic standpoint....

[Lanthanotus]

Out of several ideas for this year's contest I deceided to go with a mundane, "family" themed one, using the - in my opinion - best figure of Safari's 2017 lineup - though without doubt not the most awe inspiring. The original idea was to show a hypothetical nesting site of a pair of Psittacosaurus at the edge of a tree fern forest next to a small creek. Through the trees an arid plain could be seen and in the far background some arid mountain range. However, the final result lacks the arid background because of the impossibility to line up the original photos into a realistic perspective.

The diorama is build from cardboard, white glue, sand, cocos peat, pebbles, acrylic varnish and several other things. The tree fern stems are Australian araucaria, mushrooms and eggs are made from fixit. In the 1st shot the male carries a load of ferns for food and nesting material.



So... the following are not unused, but unprocessed....

In the process of shooting the photos (there were way more than shown here) I deceided to give the scene a more interesting perspective and spice things up with a camouflaged enemy - hence the snake in the final shot (yeah, I know its a recent animal figure, but hey, it's not a good anaconda, isn't it, looks more like a file snake).


Tree fern and eucalyptus forest in Tarra Bulga NP, Victoria.


Evening sky above Bombala, NSW.

[Simon]

Incredibly intricate and detailed work, Lathanotus (and all others who created similar built-from-scratch dioramas.)  Amazing, and time consuming - my hat's off to you!

[Jose S.M.]

I really loved this one too! and the 2017 Psittacosaurus is an amazing figure I agree.

[tyrantqueen]

I'd like to invite all of the 2017 contest entrants to submit some of their unused photos on this single thread so they can all be seen together in one place. 

My entry was #16 "Mayhem in Laramidia".  I shot it on a rocky hillside overlooking a beach on the Adriatic Sea.  The subjects were:

*snip*

Sweet, glad to see my old Trike getting some appreciation