Lego story #083: Friendly snail, be my test subject

First attempts at photography with a new phone.

This set is 40788 Friendly Snails, and these photos were my earliest taken with a Google Pixel 8 Pro. 

I only started using smartphones several years ago. They were always budget Xiaomi phones, usually Redmis in the $100-200 range. They had served my needs well, and the last was a Redmi 9T.

Going from that to a Pixel was a huge leap, both in price and power. I felt a little guilty buying a phone that cost exponentially more than my humble Redmis. 

But 6 months in, I feel it's been a worthwhile experiment. A frustrating one at first. 

I missed the simplicity of the Redmi camera app and had difficulty getting the right level of focus on the Pixel camera. Eventually, I learned to put more physical distance between myself and the subject -- to get the entire thing in focus -- and then zoom or crop after.

A second thing that confused me while using the Pixel was its ultra HDR feature. It makes photos brighter and colors more vivid, for example; but this level of brightness can only be viewed on screens enabled to display ultra HDR. I toggled the feature off.

Anyway, here are my test subjects, the Friendly Snails. You can swap out the eyes of the brown snail, switching between closed eyes and open eyes. You can also adjust the angle of eye stalks on both snails.

Below is the small but detailed diorama from different angles.

I added a minifigure to this display. It felt like the perfect diorama for my Mushroom Sprite! 

The Mushroom Sprite comes from CMF (collectible minifigures) Series 25 of 2024. It has two faces, normal and laughing.

I released my Friendly Snails to a new owner a few months later. I'm glad I have these "test" photos, even if they aren't great, so I can remember this whimsical little set. 

And that's why I photograph and blog about Lego. It helps me let go of sets (to make room for new ones) and create memories that last (and don't take up much physical space)!