Safari Ltd Replicas at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens! :D

Hello everyone! Am I posting the first topic here on the Safari Ltd forum? I think so... Well, I think it's a good way to start!

As I said I would on the Diorama forum, today I went on a photo-taking outing with five of my Safari Ltd replicas (Opossum With Babies, Platypus, Boer Nanny Goat, Brachiosaurus Baby and Leopard Cub) to the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens. I am proud with many of the shots I was able to capture! Though in return, I got a scratch on my arm and was bitten by mosquitoes. Hey, all in the name of animal replica love!

Below you will see a few samples, I took over 70 photos. They can all be seen on this Facebook album (and you DON'T need a Facebook account to be able to view it. )

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Nice pics, you chose your figures really well, congrats on the collection.

Philter4 wrote:

Nice pics, you chose your figures really well, congrats on the collection.

Thanks for the kind words, Philter.

very nice pics Marinaneira :) .

I especially like the platypus and the opossum family, they are very good models indeed.

Lovely pictures Marina, I like the one of the Platypus as well. They are great models too, the goat is very sweet.

Great photos! Especially these with platypus and one with opossum too!

Kikimalou wrote:

very nice pics Marinaneira :) .

I especially like the platypus and the opossum family, they are very good models indeed.

Thank you Kikimalou! The platypus photos are my favorite as well. The opossum family is adorable but at the same time, if I had to scale all my replicas from most to least favorite, the opossums would be at the least favorite end. I still like this model a lot though.

HKHollinstone wrote:

Lovely pictures Marina, I like the one of the Platypus as well. They are great models too, the goat is very sweet.

Thank you Holly. I love that goat! But then again I'm a fan of goats in general.

Ana wrote:

Great photos! Especially these with platypus and one with opossum too!

Thank you for your kind words, Ana.

Great photos. I especially like the platypus, opossum and dinosaur photos. You did a great job on them. Thanks for sharing.

I like the leopard cub behind the leaf and the Platypus swim in the river. I supposed before you look a picture you already set your mind what kind of result you wanted it to be? Great Photos.

By the way where the river is it nearby your place?

Ken

aandmkw wrote:

Great photos. I especially like the platypus, opossum and dinosaur photos. You did a great job on them. Thanks for sharing.

I'm glad you liked them. Thank you for the compliment!

ken yeo wrote:

I like the leopard cub behind the leaf and the Platypus swim in the river. I supposed before you look a picture you already set your mind what kind of result you wanted it to be? Great Photos.

By the way where the river is it nearby your place?

Ken

Ken, it isn't a river... This is at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, and that is a tiny artificial stream/lake. The water was clear and the stones were perfect for my purpose, though!

I usually walk around looking for little grasses, stones with good textures, places where the sun isn't too bright because that ruins the picture. I look for these things and then I think what figure of the ones I am carrying is best for that spot. The platypus on the stream was a no-brainer. I saw branches on the trees that were perfect for the opossum, and there were plenty of good rocks for my goat. A garden like that is always a good place for miniature photos because they are so meticulously maintained.

More great pictures Marina!
The one with the Platpus is just superb in setting, and the one with the oppossum-family is very nice too!

Very nice pictures. Particularly amusing is the dinosaur. It looks as if wondering whether to jump into the vortex. And we'll unearthed after 150 million years. This picture is taken on a tree or a rock.

Terrific photos, Marina. You've inspired me - I'll have to bring some figurines and a camera on my next visit to San Francisco. The Strybing Arboretum would be a great place to stage and take some photos. I could place the elephant seal in the surf at Ocean Beach or Baker Beach, but I'd feel foolish if that lovely guy washed away into the Pacific!!!

Always nice to see those outside shots, some of them make the models look very realistic.
And before you take your models to the ocean, keep your diving gear right next to you Phil!

zbyszek wrote:

Very nice pictures. Particularly amusing is the dinosaur. It looks as if wondering whether to jump into the vortex. And we'll unearthed after 150 million years. This picture is taken on a tree or a rock.

Thank you, zbyszek. I took that picture on a rock that I thought had a very interesting texture.

schleich61 wrote:

Terrific photos, Marina. You've inspired me - I'll have to bring some figurines and a camera on my next visit to San Francisco. The Strybing Arboretum would be a great place to stage and take some photos. I could place the elephant seal in the surf at Ocean Beach or Baker Beach, but I'd feel foolish if that lovely guy washed away into the Pacific!!!

Thank you for the kind words, Phil! I think so long as you are watchful you have nothing to worry about. Sometimes I do risk my animal replicas a little for the sake a good photo, usually when water is involved, or when it's windy and a fall could mean that a figure gets some paint rubbed off if it falls against a rock. But all this "danger" makes the experience of taking photos more exciting, wouldn't you say? Ha ha ha...

Speaking of elephant seals, have you seen this video? I did not know elephant seals could be so adorable.

marinaneira wrote:

Thank you for the kind words, Phil! I think so long as you are watchful you have nothing to worry about. Sometimes I do risk my animal replicas a little for the sake a good photo, usually when water is involved, or when it's windy and a fall could mean that a figure gets some paint rubbed off if it falls against a rock. But all this "danger" makes the experience of taking photos more exciting, wouldn't you say? Ha ha ha...

Speaking of elephant seals, have you seen this video? I did not know elephant seals could be so adorable.

Yes, Marina, I guess the element of danger is a rush, but truthfully, I'd risk my own neck before I'd seriously risk any rare figure! I did see that video a few days ago and yes, they are adorable. However, I wouldn't advise getting in between two males in a territorial dispute...!!!

[quote="schleich61"]

marinaneira wrote:

I'd risk my own neck before I'd seriously risk any rare figure!

Gosh. I love my animal replicas but that seems a bit extreme!

[quote="marinaneira"]

schleich61 wrote:

marinaneira wrote:

I'd risk my own neck before I'd seriously risk any rare figure!

Gosh. I love my animal replicas but that seems a bit extreme!

Yes, I understand, Marina, but in my case, many of my rarer figures are worth substantially more than I am.....

[quote="schleich61"]

marinaneira wrote:

schleich61 wrote:

marinaneira wrote:

I'd risk my own neck before I'd seriously risk any rare figure!

Gosh. I love my animal replicas but that seems a bit extreme!

Yes, I understand, Marina, but in my case, many of my rarer figures are worth substantially more than I am.....

I've got to ask. What's the most you've ever paid for an animal replica? And specifically for that elephant seal?

marinaneira wrote:

I've got to ask. What's the most you've ever paid for an animal replica? And specifically for that elephant seal?

Hello Marina. The most I've spent on a single figure (without shipping) is $227.00. Quite recently, I achieved my second-highest figure with 106.00 euros, which is approximately $141 at the current exchange rate.

The elephant seal, which, I believe is the third I've procured, cost me about 18 euros, if memory serves.....the last one I sold on eBay.com, went for $28, as a Buy-It-Now item, and it was in used but very good condition.

The highest i did pay was 85 euro for the old pinto a few years ago, and 45 euro for the brown pelican, but this will not be possible anymore now....

The highest i ever paid, was 125 euro for the Britains zoo.

by the way, i think the price of around 18 euro's for the elephant seal is the right price.

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

by the way, i think the price of around 18 euro's for the elephant seal is the right price.

Yes, Willy, I think you're quite right that this is a typical auction price. However, it can be had for less if one finds the right auction. I've seen them go for well under 10 euros.