Why

A most hectic week is coming to an end.

From crazy staff meetings with Darth on the latest flavor of the marshmallows being served in the Canteen on the Death Star to visiting other big Inc. headquarters near the origin of mankind in Europe in the surroundings of Heidelberg.

One question has been brewing in my mind since our epic journey came to an end and new adventures are kicking in.

A very simple question™.

A question™ that goes back to the old philosophers in the ancient world and beyond.

A question™ Simon (re)introduced and made easy in the corporate world when he spoke at TED a while back when he talked about the golden hour circle.

A question™ that we should all ask ourselves.

A question™ Shelly and I do talk often about in our posts and in our talks.

Why ?

Why are we shooting little plastic pieces most people call toys ?
Why are we going to great lengths in getting that right piece of brick ?
Why do we put our friends and family in awkward situations when we go to great lengths to get that fantastic shot ?
Why do we give selfies to our close friends and believe our pictures should be stuck to a wall.

We are not the first to shoot plastic.
We are not unique in our photography.
We are not the rich and famous.

Yet, both Shelly and I believe that being stuck in plastic here with you is the right thing, even if we don't have all the answers yet.

Why ?

That is indeed the question™.

A question™ we will be exploring in more details the coming weeks.

From neocortex to art statement.
From limbic to printing big.
From IG to RL.

Stay Tuned.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Recently my life speeded up and I feel like I am moving at light speed. There is so much to do and so little time!

No matter how fast life is moving it is always good to take stock of where you are and how far you have come. I know I have talked about my first lego photo. I'm not shy about how bad it was. But somewhere in the last 2 1/2 years and thousands of photos, I improved. I don't know where or how, but it happened.

Last spring I was asked by friends to do a series of photos that would substitute for their engagement photos. One thing led to another and these photographs ended up in The Huffington Post. I had my 15 minutes of fame and it was fun.

I promised my friends that I would take one of the images and create a framed piece as they're wedding gift. Unfortunately the image they chose I had grown dissatisfied with and decided to re shoot it. This ended up being a great way to bench mark how much I have grown and learned in the past year.

Personally I was surprised by how different the photo came out. I do feel it represents my current style, which make me wonder what it will look like if I retake it a year from now?

Next time you have a moment, stop and compare the photos you have taken recently with the photos you took a year ago. And while you are at it, give yourself a pat on the back because I'm sure you have made some significant improvements along the way.

~ xxsjc

Do you ever look back at your photos and notice how much you have learned? 
Do you have a photo you can re-shoot for a side by side comparison?
If so, would you share it with us?

Winning the Lottery

I'm sure for most people winning the lottery conjures up images of piles of money but for a fan of Lego it means scoring a rare set at regular price.

A few weeks ago I tried to purchase set #21110 The Research Institute and set #21109 The Exo Suit and found out that they were either "Sold Out" or "temporarily out of stock" on the Lego web site. They were not to be found at either of my local Lego stores; in fact they were going for double and triple their original asking price on the secondary market.

Aggggghhhhhh

Well, who should come to my rescue but my daughter, Sierra. My daughter is amazing. While I have coped with the excess of Lego in my house by photographing it, she went and got a job at our local Lego Store. This has both it's pluses and minuses, trust me.

First she found set #21110 at our local toy store Math 'n Stuff. I love Math 'n Stuff because they sell Lego, they have an amazing set-up at our local BrickCon and they often have older sets at regular price. The staff is always friendly and did I mention they are only two blocks away? Sierra happened to be in Math n' Stuff last week to get a new puzzle and spied a case of #21110 behind the counter. One thing led to another and before I knew it I had purchased The Research Institute. It seemed there was hope after all!

Yesterday Sierra came to me and told me that her store was getting in a big Lego shipment and that the Exo Suit was listed on the manifest. The hunt was on! I wasn't taking any chances on this one. We arrived at the store at opening but alas they had not had a chance to unpack the shipment. We decided not to hover and wandered around the mall. Before we knew it Sierra received a text from Sean, back at the store, that he had found the sets and they were waiting for us.

Woooooo hooooo

Seriously I felt like I had just won the lottery. I'm pretty sure buying Lego shouldn't engender this kind of emotional response in an adult. But that is my reality.

~ xxsjc

How far have you gone to score that hard to find set?
What set did you miss that you still regret?

My apologies for not having an image that is more appropriate. But life is moving pretty fast right now. Hopefully I will be more on point in future posts. 

Moving Beyond the Instagram Toy Community

I love the fact that the toy photography community on Instagram is so incredibly supportive. Most people are generous with their "likes" and comments and it's a wonderful place to play. But occasionally it feels a little insular and it's nice to branch out into other communities. It's always fun to make new friends and expand peoples understanding of toy photography along the way.

When I joined the photo sharing site Streamzoo (RIP), I was introduced to the wonderful world of macro photographers. Now that Streamzoo has ceased to exist, many of those same photographers have migrated to Instagram and I have continued my relationship with them. Sure this community has a penchant for bugs, flowers and water droplets, but they also recognize and support toy photography.

If you are interested in branching out beyond the regular toy community tags, here is a list of the macro communities on Instagram that I am aware of. Feel free to check them out and see if there might be a good fit for your own work. 

@BNWMacros

@Colors_Hub

@Flair_Macro *

@Flawless_Macros

@Global_Nature _Macro

@HDMacros *

@IG_4every1

@IG_Closeups *

@JJ_JustMacros

@Macro_Champ

@Macro_Perfection

@Macro_Premier

@Macro_Secrets

@Macroclique * 

@MacroStalking

@MD_Macro

@MyDailyMacro

@Nature_Obsessions

@TGIF_Macro

@Visual_World

The communities marked with an asterisk have been the most receptive to my work, especially @HDMacros. If you are looking for exposure beyond the toy community this is a great place to start. 

~ xxsjc

Are you involved in any communities on Instagram other than toys?

If so, what are they and why?

Bunnies and flowers! What is there not to like??

Louie

Selfies™

Today Clark crashed the name giving party of little Louie with a signed selfie.

While Professor Gildroy Lockehart may have been an inspiring role model for our young Clark when he stated "Celebrity is as celebrity does ..." we are wondering if you ever packaged your own Art™ work when crashing a party ?

Let us know below in the comments.

Curious we are !

Mind The Gap

Mind The Gap™

It has been a busy week to say the least.

After our epic friendship dinner and some tears and hugs the day after (when we all said our farewells and goodbyes), Shelly got in an epic write up mood and not only wrote a fantastic sequel on being grateful, followed by an interesting observation on art as the conversation topic of choice for bankers in the weekend but also continued to reveal the century old secret ingredient of lemonade being lemons.

If this all was not sufficient, we got reminded on the honey trap we all face when we go out on our favorite social media platform of choice looking for instant recognition and gratification.

A true Roller-Coaster™ for the mind.

In the meantime I was stuck in corporate boardrooms with Darth, discussing his latest and greatest top secret projects I can not talk about (remember these silly NDA's ...) without a decent connection to the internet (WiFi on the Death Star is restricted).

So, when I came back from my corporate deep dive I got completely energized by all the food for thought Shelly put out there.

Food for discussion.

Food for our brains and our heart to take in, absorb, dissect and include in our work.

I for sure will respond on some of the posts in more detail (I still believe bankers talk shop in the weekend and likes can help you grow your skills as an artistic crowdsourcing) but for now I can only wholeheartedly agree with Shelly when she reminds us of the gap between following our own artistic self and seeking instant gratification on our social media of choice.

Mind the gap.

Me2

The "Like" Trap

This was posted on G+ the other day by a photographer I follow:

"I may have hit the inevitable conclusion that more I try to find a fit for my photography in other's lives, the more unhappy I become. Social media has inevitably turned from the place of hope to just the typical empty echo chamber that it is. I really need to find a way to go back to shooting for myself and not others." ~ Anonymous

After reading the comments it seems that he is looking for validation for his photographs in terms of "likes" and favorites. It is easy to fall into the trap of having lots of followers who give feedback to feel like you are moving in the right direction. But this is an ugly trap.

Social media, be it Twitter, Facebook, Google, Flickr or whatever, will not give you the feedback you need and most likely crave. (Let's be realistic, we all have egos that enjoy an occasional stroking.) I talked earlier about the sheer volume of photos posted daily to FB and G+ here. With this volume of photographs being posted you need to find your motivation from within yourself or from with the work you are doing. It's near impossible to be seen in this onslaught of imagery. Lets face the harsh reality, more than likely you will be making work that no one really cares about except you.

So stop chasing "likes," chasing followers, chasing the latest photo trend and create the work that makes you happy. If it's photos of babies and cats, then make them the best photos they can be. Be it toys or water droplets it doesn't matter...the only one who is setting the rules is you.

And you know what, if you do the work you love, you never know who is going to start following you. Sometimes miracles do happen.

~ xxsjc

I used an image of a Chima because I have noticed that they usually get 50-100 less "likes" on Instagram than any other image I post. If I was going for the most likes per image I wold post only Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle photos. But I love Eglor and all the characters of the Chima tribes and I will continue to explore my universe with them.

Lemonade from Lemons

I realize I used this photo recently, but I felt it deserved its own post since it has an interesting back story.

In an effort to add a new twist to my photography and set ups I have been making my own accessories. I was inspired by the documentary Marwencol as well as Krash_Override, an Instagram friend.

Lets just say that I have a few things to learn about making accessories for my Lego friends. First is the scale. It is remarkably hard to get the items to scale as well as sized so my little friends are able to hold them comfortably. Second, since my material of choice is metal, the weight and balance point issues are problematic. I guess it never occurred to me that the smallest sword in copper and sterling silver would outweigh a little plastic mini figure.

This particular Chima friend was given a fairly large and weighty double edged sword and found it to be more than he could handle. Not only did it slip out of his grasp, the sheer size toppled him over instantly. As he was teetering on the edge of the rock precipice of our photo shoot, I managed to snap this rather dramatic photograph. Luckily he did not loose control and fall over the edge. I guess it is back to the drawing board for me.

So even though the sword was a bust I did manage to snap one of my favorite photos of the year. The lesson I am trying to impart here is don't immediately assume every mistake is a failure. Because some where in that failure is a success, sometimes you just have to change your point of view.

How do you feel about the Chima line of mini figures?

Art vs Money

I found this quote in Art & Fear :

"When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss money." ~ Oscar Wilde

It seems that life in the ninteenth century was not so different from life in the twenty-first century.

~ xxsjc

Did you buy your copy of Art & Fear yet?
How many different versions of Unikitty do you have? 

Grateful (3/3)

How could I not take a moment and say thank you to everyone who has ever supported my toy photos on Instagram, Flickr, G+ and especially here at Stuckinplastic? The connections forged here on the internet amongst this far flung group of like minded souls fills my heart with joy.

To be inspired by and to inspire like minded toy photographers is a great thrill for me. I wish I could name every person who has inspired me or made me feel happy with their kind words. But they are too numerous and I would ultimately leave someone out. I'm pretty sure if you find this post and read it, then you are one of those people and I am grateful for making a connection with you.

Everyone has a bucket list of some type. Often this list is filled with adventures like skydiving, climbing Mount Everest or traveling to some far flung local. On the top of my list is a party akin to the farewell party thrown by +Me2 after his adventure in search of the Northern Light. To sit around a table for an evening with all my Instagram and toy photography friends toasting, gabbing, talking toys would bring me the greatest joy. When I first saw his pictures here on the blog I actually got emotional. It was like my dream was coming true, even for a brief moment, and it was lovely.

I am looking forward to 2015 because there are possibilities on the horizon that could lead to an evening like Me2 depicted. The first is the Toy Photo Meet-up in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 16-19th. A few of my favorite toy photographers are going to attend and I hope to persuade a few more to join us. But who ever ultimatly attends, know we will be toasting all the friends we have made on Instagram. The second event is in early March and I will reveal more information as it becomes appropriate.

So thank you Instagram and Stuckinplastic friends. You bring me joy, humor and friendship everyday and I am grateful for all of it.

~ xxsjc

Grateful (2/3)

I'm sure this one is pretty self explanatory, but I am thankful for my family. I'm not foolish enough to think that I could be taking lego photos, volunteering, running 1/2 of Stuckinplastic as well as 1/3 of Brickcentral (as well as my regular life and job responsibilities) without some serious family support.

Not only do they support my photo antics, they actually encourage them. My husband will buy me unusual mini figs as gifts, my daughter keeps my up to date on the doings at the Lego store she works at and my son helps me build props as well as accompanies my on my photo adventures.

They all know that when we go on a family adventure there is a good chance my Lego friends will be coming along as well. They are all happy to hang out for an hour or more while I take advantage of some interesting local to snap a couple of photos. This past weekend was no exception. We went on a hike and I had some quality photo time at our destination as well as some quality time photographing at the lake at the base of the trail.

It's not easy to be an adult playing with toys. Not having to explain myself to the ones I love is a blessing I don't take for granted. Of course many of my friends fall somewhere between enthusiastic and skeptical, but they are slowly coming around. My parents...now that's another story altogether.

~ xxsjc

How do your family and friends react to your hobby?
Do you have a photographic support system? If so, who are they?

Taken on a gloomy day at the end of a lovely hike.

Grateful (1/3)

I'm out of practice blogging, but +me2's last post put me in mind of a series of posts about gratitude. I know it's not the holidays, but sometimes it's nice to sit back and take stock of where you are and why.

Even though I graduated from university with a degree in photography and had a successful art career, I never felt like I knew what I was doing. I would joke that if the subject wasn't under water I wouldn't know what to do. This was shockingly close to the truth. 

When my art career ended I was at loose ends and struggling to find my place artistically. Through a random series of events I ended up volunteering at my local independent radio station KEXP. The gentlemen I work with have been generous with their patience, guidance and willingness to share information. I felt like I was in school again. Over the past five years I've learned how to handle my dslr, light a room, video like a pro, work as a team member and most importantly travel successfully with nine distinctly different and mostly male personalities. 

Our last adventure together was to a nearby music festival, Pickathon. Since we always travel short handed I volunteered to not only help with video but to take care of still photos of the bands. Basically I would be doing double duty. I took all my lenses with me: 70-200 for video, my favorite wide angle lens, my go-to 24-70 and on the off chance I could sneak in a lego photo my 100 mm macro (which is also a great portrait lens).  The upshot of taking stills for three days, 100's of photos and multiple lens changes is that I actually understand how and when to use each of these lenses. I also learned each lenses strengths and weaknesses. It was glorious. 

Since I'm an art / casual photographer I rarely have this kind of intense photographic experience. I left mentally exhausted but happy with my efforts. It was also gratifying to find out my current toy photography editing work flow also worked great in the field. It is mazing to me how much these two hobbies of mine, toy photography and music videos, inform and influence each other. In many ways I wish my stills could be as good as the work I turn in with video. I am sure in time it will.

In the mean time there is never a day that goes by that I'm not grateful by this volunteering experience. I have learned so much over the years, made friends and met more than a few amazing musicians. 

~ xxsjc

Where did you learn your photographic skills: traditional school or the school of hard knocks? 

Have you considered sharing your photography skills as a volunteer?
If you want to see the entire set of photos I took, look here.

Pickathon's main stage at night.

6474K of Friendship

The friendship dinner outside the Studio

Our friends arrived sound and safe at The Studio and decoded the message of our little green friends that every adventure needs to end with a friendship dinner just like the adventures of Nero and Asterix.

While Rudolf made a viable alternative for the wild boars of Asterix and Co. up here in the North, the secret message of our green friends talked about cloud berries and ice cream.

  

Herr K. from Hamburg.

Herr K. mentioned the good old tradition of German Weisbeer and before we knew we were all talking about our own country favorites, from crocodile to wiener.

Lady W. from S.

A great evening where adventures and stories were turned into tales for the future ...

A toast ...

Friendships were sealed ...

... for a toast full of wonderlust.

And new adventures full of wanderlust are forged into the future ...


The great quest for the Northern light has come to an end and the Crew will travel back to the corners of the earth with great new experiences, certificates and a secret key to the  light switch of the arctic light ... 

We will give you some more travel details and inside pictures in the coming weeks as we get our head around the plus 6K pictures we took on this trip. 

A trip which took us six thousand four hundred seventy four kilometers with our little VW camper ...

Trainspotting

After a long trip through the woods of Lapland crossing Norway, Finland and Sweden (meeting up with the locals across the arctic circle) our friends made it finally back into the urbanized world where they decided to hitchhike back across the vast lands of Sweden with the local train.

Soon our friends will reach the Studio™where the secret package of our little green friends will be turned into something delicious to end this epic adventure before our friends travel back to the different corners of our world and enjoy the memories of friendship, crazy adventures and midnight sun ...

One World

I admire +Me2 and his grand adventure of friends. To bring together people from several continents and many countries who's only link to each other is a mutual love of Lego (and a sense of the absurd) is a beautiful thing. If only the rest of the world would get on board and join the fun.

I love the Instagram toy community that I am an active member of. It has shown me in so many ways that we are one world. We have so much in common beyond just having mother's and father's. Maybe we can counteract the fear and suspicion that seems to be taking over our planet by making friends across the globe. Each connection makes us stronger and less fearful of our differences.

In lieu of making friends and connections I guess we can always rely on a good alien invasion to bring us together.

~ xxsjc

Did you have a chance to catch up on the blog and see all the great group shots?
What super hero do you want to save us when the aliens come?

The Little Green Men ...

What a surprise to find my two dear friends on the cliffs of Cape North on this truly epic adventure in search of Northern Light! It has been so long since our paths have crossed. If I had only known they where following us, I would have had +Me2 pull over sooner.

 Alas, their time was short so we had to keep our reminiscences brief. After we caught up on the important stuff they informed me my travels would soon encounter another dear friend. They handed me a package and asked me to pass it along to our mutual friend. I knew well enough not to ask any unnecessary questions. I love my green traveling friends, but I know they enjoy their secrecy.

 Even though the package was slim, I held out hope it had something to do with food because those little green travelors really know how to cook. If you ever run into them, ask them to prepare you a meal. You won't regret it! 

~ xxsjc

Have you looked at a map and seen where these photos where taken? 

Would you want to travel there yourself?

Nordkapp

The Mysterious Mini Cooper

The mystery of the mysterious green Mini Cooper is resolved when our friends return from a long hike across the cliffs of Cape North to take some selfies and discover that our little green friends used the mini to speed up their way to Cape North with yet another clue to the quest for the Northern Light.

Shelly finally meets our little green friends

Shelly is the first out on the cliffs of Cape North to welcome our little green friends and they spent quite some time talking (*) before they join all together for a group selfie here on the commonly referred most northern part of Europe (**).

A quick group selfie on Cape North

Once the selfies have been taken and everyone did a quick check in on their social media of choice (Cape North has a free WIFI zone, special thanks to one of the largest telecom operators in Norway) our little green friends give Julien an import clue that it is not Tutti Frutti on the inside of his life jacket, but actually reads Hurtigruten and the final harbour of the Northern Voyage may very well contain another passenger for the Crew ...

Without further ado the Crew packs up their photo gear, heads back to the Camper and starts their travel East ...

(*) Will Shelly reveal what she has been discussing with our little green friends out on the cliffs ?
(**) The steep cliff of North Cape is often (mistakenly) referred to as the northernmost point of Europe, located at 71°10′21″N 25°47′40″E, about 2,102.3 kilometres (1,306.3 mi) from the North Pole. However, the neighboring Knivskjellodden point, just to the west actually extends 1,457 metres (4,780 ft) farther to the north and this is where our friends where hiking when they were considered lost or abducted by aliens.
Regardless, both of these points are situated on an island, which technically means the northernmost point of mainland Europe is in fact located at Cape Nordkinn (Kinnarodden) which lies about 5.7 kilometres (3.5 mi) farther south and about 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the east and another beautiful location for photo hikes.

Checking In

I for one have not been lost these past few days, I was merely exploring a different rabbit hole. I am back and caught up on our current adventure. The photos by +Me2 have been incredible and I am excited to see even more as our adventure continues.

Pirate treasure, aliens in hot pursuit, mystical Sjaman and of course our wonderful traveling companions; have all made this a trip of a life time. But how will it all end??

~ xxsjc

Have you been enjoying the quest?
How would you like to see it end?
What images should we ask Me2 to take for us?

Image by +Me2 

Lost

Strange things are happening to our friends.

Did they disappear from the surface ?

Are they just taking a break or are they being abducted by aliens from outer space ?

Did you see the Crew ?

Graffiti

The Sjaman in action over morning coffee ...

When we woke up this morning in Alta we found a trace of red paint outside the Camper.

An ancient red paint with traces of copper and ox blood mixed into it (did you know that red was the very first color which got its own name ?)

It didn't take long before the Ladies found a hidden track behind the Camper and took the whole Crew on a morning walk into the protected World Heritage Site of Rock Art at Alta.

Boats 4K years ago ...

The Sjaman on duty explained the true secret of of the Northern Light would be revealed if we traveled to a small fisherman village up in the North listening to the name of Geirsver.

Without hesitation we returned to the Camper and continued our quest up to the village completely impressed by this prehistoric graffiti and the promise of getting yet another clue in our adventure.

On the road up North we took a few detours to do a mandatory check in on Facebook in the city of Hammerfest, the very first city in Europe to have electrical street lights and made some stops to collect Pebbles.

Pebbles on the road ...

Pebbles seems to be a key ingredient in our quest ...

Right now the Crew is out and about shooting some magic in the last midnight sun covering the village of Geirsver.

Lets keep our fingers crossed we can post some stunning HDR over the coffee when we take a deeper look why we are at Nordkapp  ...

Me2 and Crew ...

Fjord is not a Ford

Waiting for a ferry to cross the fjord

Geologically, a fjord (/ˈfjɔərd/) is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion. The word comes to English from Norwegian, but related words are used in several Nordic languages.

There are many fjords on the coasts of Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska and British Columbia.

Fjords are not to be mistaken with fords, which are normal parts of the roads in New Zealand and a completely different type of water way and sometimes mistaken with a car brand.

Crossing fords is easy, while crossing fjords may be a slightly different adventure all together.

Ours is clearly placed in Norway where the Crew explored quite some fjords today in their big hike up to Alta.

Fjords are impressive (and that is an understatement).

They are the tell tale signs of continents tore apart ages long gone.

They show the pure power and beauty of Mother Earth in her full force.

They remind us of the age of Frodo.

They tell us that we are just another pebble in the big play of things.

And sometimes a ferry is an easy way to avoid hours of driving across the fjord to just make it to the other side, which feels like it is a stone cast away

When waiting for one of the many ferries on our road today some of the Crew could not resist to take some selfies ...

Selfies

Have you ever visited a fjord ?

Ifso, let us know below what you thought of fjords ?

Tutti Frutti

The Crew in Tromsø

The Crew found another clue on their quest for the Northern Light when they woke up this morning in one of the most northern cities of the world.

A life jacket with the inscription Tutti Frutti was hanging on the mirror of the camper.

Who is Tutti Frutti ?
Why did he or she leave the life jacket hanging outside the camper ?
Where is the big ship that was docked on the berth when the Crew went to bed ?

One thing is for sure.
We have to leave this city behind us and continue north.

North towards a settlement where the Sami people took Shelly advice at heart and fought hard for their nature and culture.

North towards the city of Alta.

North to find the secret of the light ...

Pebbles

Pebbles

While the Crew is enjoying a sleepover in the city of Tronsø amongst some of the smartest brains of this world, our ever wondering explores are catching up slowly and reached the Silver Falls ...

Will they catch up with our friends before they reach their highest destination ?
Why are they so determined to catch up ?
Is danger lurking ahead, or do they have clue to the quest of the Crew ?

Time will tell ... just like the pebbles on the beach tell a story of million years ago.