Calyva's Hide-Out

[Perterz]

Far beyond the fortified kingdoms, deep in the cold and foggy medieval forest lay the homes of several creatures.

Meet Calyva, not much is known about her but people say she speaks through witches.

Calyva with her own personal 200 years old witch..

The place where she breeds her plans..

A closer look at the tower..

It has modest interior..

It even has a door in the back to look inside the cave..

So what is inside it?

The moc is seperated into modules..

I'm really happy how this turned out, my largest (finished) moc untill now. Took me about 20 hours to complete in 3 days (I'm enjoying a vacation!)

It might be a bit weird hence the fact I'm sharing this with you. I really want to know your thoughts about it.

Any suggestions/remarkes/tips&tricks will be appreciated.

Thanks for looking and reading, hope you've enjoyed my latest moc.

Kevin.

[SWMAN]

That really is quite impressive. I love the amount of detail you put into the greenery and the bridge. Great figures too!

[Lego_Warlord_8]

That rope bridge is amazing! The tilting tower really captured my gaze... I also like the foliage. ~LW 8~

[BlueBard]

Wonderful job! The whole thing has a "wild and mystical" looking really impressive

[keetong]

Well.....to start of its got a huge amout of detail, you could sear it was real. The tilt of the tower is differnt and I like different. The bridge it amazing all the little detail is so worth it in the end. The cave underneath with its backdoor it wonderful,the minifigures give it that extra detail and makes the MOC more lively. Anyway great work.

[Perterz]

Thanks! I'm really glad you guys are liking it so far! I was very confident by this ropebridge in a way, it came out exactly like I wanted which not always seems to be the case..

BTW, please somebody teach me how to photograph Lego MOC's! I feel I just fail most of the time to let the detail come out like I want + I hate the fact I basically never can hold my hands steady..

Any more thoughts are welcome and appreciated!

Edited July 17, 2009 by Perterz

[HumanPackMule]

Very good moc and a very good use of the Nute Gunray head

[I Scream Clone]

A very nice creation. The rocks and tower are great. The plant life adds a mystical run-down look to the landscape. The rope bridge is nice, but I feel the ladder is a little bit too ramshackle, perhaps some of the pieces should still line up to show that it was a organized ladder previously (just a minor thing) The figures are nicely done too.

As for photographing Lego have a look here at Hinckley's photo set up. If you don't have that kind of cash to outlay I would still recommend building the white cardboard/foam corner set up for taking photo's as this will eliminate background distractions. If you are having trouble with movement they have cheap bendy tripods available.

As for close up shots, if you have your camera on maximum resolution and pull the camera a bit further away, you can then crop the image down and still have a large enough and clear enough photo. The problem with going too close is that you move inside the shortest focus distance available for a camera.

Hope this helps. Great MOC

Cheers

[Perterz]

Hope this helps.

That sure does helps a lot, thanks! I'll certainly try it out for the sake off improving my photo's.

I've noticed the white backgrounds before but now I have a decent look on what's been used for it.

Funny how I didn't think off using a tripod before *slaps head*, that should be a must for me..

The one you showed looks so cute! Innovatieve.

Thanks again.

Edited July 17, 2009 by Perterz

[Sir Dillon]

Very nice hideout, I'm impressed. Everything is satisfactorily overgrown, the rocks look good, and the leaning tower is a cool touch. I'm not sure I understand all the details though, such as the horns along the top, or the trees growing out of the middle of the tower.

I Scream Clone's suggestions are all good. If you don't want to buy a tripod though, it's possible to make do with various things lying about, such as books or LEGO. If you don't have space for a permanent photo booth setup, a large piece of paper or poster board, curved to cover the floor and the background works well, and so does a bed sheet. Also make sure to have plenty of light, preferably natural.

[Perterz]

Thanks for the input! About those weird details: there's actually no real explenation for trees growing out the tower, I was looking for a natural look while it became a little surreal I guess. And I just liked the horns Good remarkes tho! I already wondered why it hadn't been asked yet :)

These photographing tips I got here really have payed off already! I happened to complete a new MOC erarlier today and I'm very satisfied with the pictures I took from it.

The image in my sig links to the new MOC/photo's for those who're intrested.

Thanks again for your usefull input people, makes this forumboard about perfect..

Edited July 19, 2009 by Perterz