Direlda

I went looking through this thread different tree techniques and found a few that inspired me (I believe the one that inspired this tree was over here, but the images aren't loading for me right now, so I can't be sure...). And then I went to the closest LEGO store and found what sort of foliage they had in the PAB wall. They didn't have any of the leafy limb elements, so I didn't have as many of those as I would have liked, but they did have the palm leaves and grass elements, so I decided to get some of those and see if I could make anything with them that would work. Thanks! ^^ Glad you found it amusing. ^^ It was very helpful. And I appreciate all of the tips! I haven't really done much photography of LEGO, so it's good to know that taking pictures of the bottoms of bricks should be avoided. Thanks! ^^ I was trying to figure out how I would make a target and noticed that the round frames for the windows on the Bag End set would fit perfectly around the round 2x2 plates I had. My problem now is trying to figure out how to make stands for them, since I don't have enough parts to make trees for each target in phase 2. Thanks! ^^ I wasn't happy with just the grass piece at the top of the tree so I rummaged through my pieces and found the green cone, which helped. And then I saw Bilbo's garden and raided it for a carrot. I'm glad it turned out well! I put the rat and plant in to make up for the fact that I didn't have enough white pieces to fill in all the gaps--the number of LEGO pieces at my disposal is not that large--so I'm glad they worked well. But next time I will definitely try to work in a border or at least not have any gaps. And the part underneath the archer was tricky, as I tried to make it fit, but the gap between the SNOT part and the studs-up part where the archer was wasn't big enough to allow for another plate (which is strange, since I was able to get the SNOT part to fit perfectly around the tree-well). Thanks for all the inspiration you've provided! I'll study those before I work on phase 2. Yeah, next time I probably won't have a snowbank curve quite so much (if at all), as the gaps bothered me, too. I'm surprised that I'm the first to use it in AoM. We can pretend that it's a tie! As for those bricks, I'll probably have to consider getting some of those, as I don't think I have any at the moment and they do look rather useful for making snowdrifts. Thanks for the inspiration! ^^ Thanks! ^^ I'm definitely planning on following SK's advice.

I love how most of the rowers seem to be older men! And the water is fantastic, especially in the first shot with the way the light interacts with it. As far as photo editing software goes, GIMP is free. If I find time between writing a short story, editing a novel, and working on AoM, then I'll perhaps contribute a ship.

AoM Archery Phase 1!

Builds AoM Archery Phase 1 - Winter Practice -- Landscape Design: Trees (first of three techniques) [approved] and Landscape Design: Snow and Ice [approved] Pending Credits N/A Approved Credits Landscape Design: Trees (first of three techniques) Landscape Design: Snow and Ice Degrees Landscape Design Apprentice

I would like to claim the following credits: AoM Archery Phase 1 - Winter Practice Landscape Design Snow and Ice Trees (first of three techniques)

Wymond took aim at the target. His winter was not as quiet as he had hoped. For while all of the painters who had disturbed him over the summer had returned home to Avalonia, the painter who had started Wymond's troubles had returned. His paintings of a Mitgardian warrior weren't selling as well in Avalonia because of all the paintings his fellow painters had done of the same subject. So he had journeyed far from his warm home to try and paint Wymond in situations that none of the other painters could rival. The arrow struck the target, causing some more snow to fall off the tree. He was glad the painter had tired of asking him to shoot icicles off the tree. "I've been thinking," the painter said. "I can take you down to the village as soon as I've gathered my arrows," Wymond said. "You must be cold." "That's very kind of you to stop your practice for my sake, but this hood has been doing wonders for me." The painter cinched up the hood tighter around his face. "I've realized what you need to do to get me a unique painting--start an archery school." Wymond was speechless for a few moments. For once he liked the sound of the painter's suggestion. All he had to do was train some people from the nearby village for a little while and then he would be free of the painter. What could possibly go wrong? Wymond takes aim while the painter waits to be struck by inspiration. How I got the snowbank to curve. The snowbank, I feel, could use some work, so I would appreciate suggestions for future snowbank building. It was a pain to get the "arrow" to stick in the target, especially since the tree well was hard to fish it out of when it fell in. This is probably my favorite of the shots I took. This used up almost all of my white bricks and tiles! So it'll have to be deconstructed before I can build anything else involving snow, but I'll hold off on that for a few days unless anyone wants me to take any more pictures. I'm quite pleased with how most of this turned out, especially since it was my first major use of SNOT. To the Avalonians viewing this: I invite you to suggest names for this elven Avalonian painter who has made life interesting for Wymond. I will choose the one I like most. ^^ I'd also like to claim the following University of Petraea credits: Landscape Design: Trees (first of three techniques) Landscape Design: Snow and ice

And if you can't get better light, as Gideon suggested, perhaps because of rain, then using a tripod (or stable surface) and slowing down the shutter speed will allow for more light to enter the camera. The nice thing about digital cameras is that you are able to check the shot you just took and adjust settings if it didn't quite turn out right (and you can change the ISO between shots without having to finish a roll of film!). I would try between ISO 400 to ISO 800 and experiment until you get some good pictures. I like to use the manual mode on my DSLR, since that allows me to tweak everything to get it just right, but it takes some practice to know what you need to adjust to make the shot better. If you have any questions about using your camera, I'm willing to do my best to answer them!

This is fantastic! I like the aesthetic of it. ^^

I can help with maps if need be. Cartography is a hobby of mine and I have plenty large rolls of paper to sketch out on. Here is an example of my work. Rough Fantasy Map by Direlda, on Flickr

I love the perspective on this! The image seems to be a bit grainy, which could be the result of using a rather high ISO. High ISO is good for low-light situations, but the higher the ISO, the more noise (aka grainyness) you have in the picture. If you have a tripod and can manually adjust your shutter speed and ISO, you can try lowering the shutter speed to compensate for using a lower ISO (I did this on my A Summer Shelter MOC; f/10 at 1s with ISO 500, though your numbers would vary based on light conditions). If you don't have a tripod, then bracing the camera against a non-wobbly, flat surface, such as a table or car hood, can be used as an alternative.

This is fantastic! It's going to take me a long time before I have enough pieces to attempt anything on this scale. But you have provided me with inspiration for the future! \^o^/

I think I got the page loading time issue sorted out with my freebuild, A Summer Shelter.

A Summer Shelter | Direlda | Mitgardia AoM Archery Phase 1 -- Winter Practice | Direlda | Mitgardia | Age of Mitgardia

I've edited the post and it seems to be loading much faster (I think it was my attempts to resize the images using code that caused issues). If it is still loading rather slowly, let me know and I can continue fiddling! While I'm not a trapper, I have put together shelters like this and spent the night in one. I'm glad you like it! ^^

Wymond the Fox shifted on the stump as he finished cooking a trout over the coals. “I can’t believe that Avalonian painter tried to adjust the way those elk were holding their heads. I have enough to worry about without needing to save painters from their absurdities.” He inspected the trout and decided it was ready. As he was tearing into the cooked fish, Wymond heard the cracking of twigs and labored breathing. He stamped out his fire. Before Wymond could crawl into his shelter a portly man crashed through the underbrush. “It better snow early this year,” Wymond muttered, “I can’t stand any more painters.” The painter, oblivious to what Wymond was saying, began setting up an easel. Wymond put on his best grimace. The more frightening he looked in the paintings sold in Avalonia, the fewer painters would come looking for him; at least, that was his hope. Wymond's campsite. Cooking fish over the coals. His trusty axe. The lean-to. Since I mainly do photography of nature and cities, I would appreciate suggestions on creating a good backdrop for taking pictures in addition to any other suggestions you have!