Ranking My 2017 Model Animal Photos

~My First Model Animal Photoshoot~
...2017...

"Try and fail, but never fail to try!" ~Jared Leto

My Schleich Eagle Owl (14738) at dawn on July 18th, 2017.

I now present to you the first post in yet another new series on my blog! 😊

In 2017, my sisters and I were introduced to Schleich. Well, re-introduced...

In case you don't know, Schleich is a German company that makes realistic model animal figurines. It was founded in 1935 but started making and selling figurines in the 1950s and 60s. [For more information, look here.] They come out with several new models every year, and my sisters and I have been "officially" collecting them since 2017. We had a meager collection of animal figurines that we had considered "Schleich" for a long time, not knowing any better. That changed after a girl from our neighbourhood came to our house one day to see our collection. That's when we discovered that most of our animals were actually from a different company, Safari Ltd. (it's not necessarily worse, but it's just not Schleich). After that, we started our collecting adventure and became more familiar with "real" Schleich animals and the other figurine companies.

Now that you know the basic backstory, let's get into ranking the best pictures from my first model animal photography photoshoot, involving some Schleich and Safari Ltd. figurines. While many of the animals are mine, some of them belong to my sisters, Louise & Yokoshi. I sorted the pictures from best to least, making this post's cover photo my favourite from 2017.

  

My Schleich Ibex (14366) at Waterton Canyon on September 18th, 2017.

My Safari Ltd. Bengal Tiger (270829) wading through water on September 13, 2017.

Louise's Safari Ltd. Flamingo (100262) on September 18, 2017.

Yokoshi's Schleich Octopus (14768) beneath the water's surface on September 18, 2017.

Louise's horse herd on September 13, 2017.

Yokoshi's horse herd's reflections on September 13, 2017.

My Schleich Shire Stallion's (13734) reflection (at a playground in Germany) on October 17, 2017.

Louise's Schliech Hyena (14735) in Nebraska on August 21, 2017.

Louise's Schleich Hyena (14735) which looks quite camouflaged on September 13, 2017.

Yokoshi's Safari Ltd. hatching cobra (258529) on September 13, 2017.

 

 

My experimentation using different camera filters featuring my Safari Ltd. Bengal Tigers (270829 & 273129) on September 1, 2017.

My Schleich Eagle Owl (14738) in Nebraska on August 21, 2017.

  

On the left is a Schleich Shetland pony (13751), and on the right is our neighbours' Shetland pony which they got at the same time I got my model (September 2017). This is one of those synchronicities I love!

Some of the things I learned that year are that to get the animal to look more realistic (1) put it in its natural environment, or a place that looks like it. (2) Take the photos with the model or below at eye level. Taking the picture from above often makes it appear as small and toy-like as it is. (3) The position of the sun matters since it can cast shadows over your subjects.

Alas, I am one of those who learns through trial and error! 😅

Would you like to see more in this series?

Which ones are your favourite? I'd love to know! 💚

"Progress through trial and error depends not only on making trials but on recognizing errors." 

~Virginia Postrel