Gideon Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Nestlands Ambush Warzone 3: "The Nestlands Insurgency", G15 Forces from Ulandus are patrolling the jungles of the Nestlands. Troops loyal to the High Council, armed with weapons from Mpya Stedor, have staged an ambush here. Their prey, a pair of Leander heavy infantrymen in the Ulandus army patrolling along a small stream has walked straight into the trap. The peace and quiet of the forest will soon break as sharp bolts pierce the shiny Ulandian armor and color the stream with Leander blood... My entry to Warzone 3: The Nestlands Insurgency in the Kaliphlin civil war. If I get a say in the matter by this build, I'd like D3 to be the next war zone. The picture above was an experiment with a different lighting orientation with a more localized light source at an angle to give more distinct shadows and having it look like sunlight. Below is a picture with my normal diffuse lighting. What do you think? Does the upper picture look more sunny or just weird? C&C are welcome! Quote
Graham Gidman Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Great build, Gideon! You're really pumping these out. Quote
Gideon Posted March 23, 2015 Author Posted March 23, 2015 Thanks! I had made some building over the last two weeks and finally got around to take pictures of them yesterday Quote
Lord Vladivus Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Beautiful foliage! I prefer the regular diffuse lighting- I can't quite put my finger on why though. Quote
Adair Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Great foliage, and the tree is great too! Great job! Long live the Republic! Quote
MKJoshA Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 I like the first picture. I didn't even notice the lighting was different until you mentioned it, but now that I see what you were trying to do I think you succeeded. Quote
Garmadon Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Fantastic build Gideon, excellent job with the fig posing and jungle undergrowth! As far as the pics go, I agree with MKJ, I prefer the first one, and the additional shadows really give it the right look Quote
Blufiji Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Fantastic foliage! Very lush and jungle like. Quote
LittleJohn Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Simply incredible! The foliage looks amazing, as well as the fig posing Excellent work on the irregular base too Quote
Captain Braunsfeld Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 I like this very much. Foilage is brilliant. Sunny effect in first pic does not seem to work out. Maybe you need an even stronger contrast. Quote
Elostirion Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Fantastic build. I really like how you managed to assemble so many different plant-parts in such a harmonic way. Great work. I prefer photo 1, I think the sunny effect turned out quite well. Quote
SarahJoy Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Beautiful, rich, lush landscaping! Love it. In regard to the photography: I personally prefer the first photo, because the shadows give a sense of depth, drama, and richness to the scene. That said, I think the second photo fits better with "LEGO photography expectations", because more build details are easily visible. Which is better? It depends on your goals. Quote
Bregir Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 I'd say the first picture is the most dramatic and realistic, but the second one highlights the build better. (Although the difference is quite small) And about the build - It is looking great! The small stream, the path, the trees and bushes - it looks really realistic to me, and you combined the different plant parts very effectively! A note about the Leanders: It is my understand that after the Leander rebellion, leander units were disbanded in the legions of Ulandus and most leanders enslaved, so I really wouldn't expect them to be fighting for Ulandus. (Unless of course there are some loyalists, which would make perfect sense, I suppose ) Vive la République! For the High Council! Quote
Jacob Nion Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 That is a great jungle. Good job on the figure posing! Quote
Kai NRG Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 That dark green tree is really fantastic, and the lush jungle feel you've captured throughout is great! Quote
Halhi 141 Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Nice build, the foliage looks great! As to the lighting, I prefer the second picture - I think the first effect would work best in a full Lego shot where you're trying to mimic a realistic setting in all ways, rather than a dio/vig. Quote
Emma Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Wow, the foliage is fantastic. My preference is for the first image, the shadows give it more of a dynamic look and an increased sense of depth. Quote
MassEditor Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 A very charming build, the jungle vegetation is just spot on... This will be a hard one to beat! I really like that you added a stream into the environment. Concerning the photos, I'm also leaning towards the second. Halhi made an excellent point about framing the atmospheric shot with a full LEGO background. I've also had some luck using natural light to get the effects I want. It can be really frustrating getting the right light outside, but try shooting in the sunlight and time of day that you want to convey in your build (also, it feels a little weird sharing photography advice with you - you are the best, as far as I'm concerned, and when you share advice I listen!). An example of this working for me, if you don't mind me sharing, would be this photo I took of my Swamp Outpost build: Quote
Robin Creations Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Amazing work! I really like how you did the foliage. To me, this still looks like Kali, rather than Avalonia or something Quote
Gideon Posted March 26, 2015 Author Posted March 26, 2015 Thanks for the feedback, especially on the photography! Even if I've found a photography setup which I'm reasonably comfortable with and works ok, in the "always strive to improve in GoH"-spirit I want to challenge myself in that area a bit. So I've realized that even though my photography works acceptable for presenting a MOC, the builds are sometimes mistaken for being rendered due to the quite boring nature of the bounced flash lighting. It also helps that I've now been forced to move the flash off the camera since it's not compatible with my new camera, and then I started playing around with the flash positioning. I'm now also planning to get a new Speedlight and a pair of umbrellas which will give me even more freedom to experiment with the lighting setup But that new flash is also going to allow me to go back to my original setup if I'm not interested in taking a risk but simply presenting a build in the usual way... Quote
gedren_y Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 About the lighting: both have their uses. The more natural lighting is good for action and storytelling shots. It creates a level of mood that will help advance story, but it sacrifices some focus on detail. The flat lighting is perfect for giving details equal attention. This is great for showcasing technique. You have executed both really well. Quote
soccerkid6 Posted March 28, 2015 Posted March 28, 2015 Absolutely wonderful scene, as always Great use of color and the various plant types are mixed well Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.