4 Behind Nfld Scenes - 2025

Behind the Scenes in Newfoundland

Taking a look at the magic behind the photos of the three groups of dolls I took along on our trip to Newfoundland.

Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia

The tide was out at the Bay of Fundy, and I posed the dragons and Avery twins on the rock shelf part way down the stairs to the ocean floor....

Then I took closer ups photos of them with the offshore island behind them....

I wasn't going to risk taking cloth dragons out on the wet ocean floor, so just took two of the RRFF dolls. There was nothing high enough to stand them on, and I was definitely not going to get down in the mud, so Jan hand-held the dolls so I could take photos.

Lunenburg

In Lunenburg, we parked along the harbour where there were some picnic tables. I like posing the dolls on picnic tables since then they are nice and high off the ground, so I don't have to get down to take the photos.

For forced perspective to work, it's important to take the photos straight on at the doll's eye level.

I had really wanted to take photos of the family in town along the warfighters, but there were no parking spaces available.

On the Ferry

Since we were one of the first vehicles to board the ferry, we had time to take some dolls up on deck, and return them to the RV before the ferry started sailing, since we wouldn't be allowed down on the vehicle decks after leaving port. So I brought two sets of dolls; Alex and Sara....

....and Bonnie and Jamie. Jan got down and held them up against the railings.

I get nervous taking doll photos in public, but somethings, if I really want to take the photos, then there's no choice. And sometimes people come over to talk to us. We just say we're taking photos for a children's book, and they think that's so fascinating.

Bottle Cove, Nfld

At Bottle Cove, at the end of Humber Arm, there's a park with a boat-shaped seat down by the water. If the dolls are held up...

...and photographed straight on, it looks like they are sailing away somewhere...

Flying in the Tablelands

It's always a bit of a challenge trying to make the 'hot air balloon' look like its actually flying. Same with the dragons. The balloon basket has a wooden disc underneath which has a hole in the middle into which a dowel can be inserted, but the dragons have to be held by hand....

Then it just takes some cropping in, and a bit of photoshop to make both the dowel and Jan's hand disappear....

Norstead

Even though I'd really been looking forward to taking doll photos in Norstead, it proved to be quite the challenge. I was so disappointed that it was a bright, cloudless, sunny day, and with the way the place was situated on the north coast, almost everything would have to be shot into the sun - which is the worst possible scenario. Almost all the photos had to be taken with the dolls hand held, except for this one, where the dolls were standing on a bench....

Then I had to crouch down to take the photo at the doll's eye level, of them heading off to the boat shed....

Labrador

One of the biggest challenges taking any kind of photos in Labrador is the swarms of black flies. They even came to check out the dolls, and started crawling all over them....

I'd really wanted to take a photo of Jude on his horse somewhere in Labrador with some nice scenery in the background, and thought the pull-off at the top of one mountain was perfect. So we got out, and I set up Jude on his horse. I sat down on the ground to take the photos, but Jude and his horse fell over - thankfully onto his back onto some soft moss - and I had to direct Jan to stand them back up and adjust Jude's wig....

Then I was able to take some photos....

Everything went fine for the first fifteen minutes or so, but then the black flies smelled that dinner was being served, and swarmed us. They were all over me and the camera, and it became impossible to take any more photos without them. You can see all the bugs flying in the background in the next photo, and all those fuzzy dark spots in the sky are from black flies crawling all over the camera lens.

So we quickly packed up the dolls and made for the RV. Then spent the next hour killing the dozens of black flies that had followed us into the RV when we opened the doors to get in. But I did get some really nice photos. I just wish I'd been able to take more.

Bayview Iceberg

I wanted to take some photos of the dolls with the iceberg in Bayview, so we went to the beach very early, at 6 am in the morning, when the sun was still very low in the sky. We set up our slide projector stand on the beach, and I posed the dolls on top....

Then took the photos straight on at the doll's eye level....

Twillingate Iceberg

I also wanted to take some photos with the iceberg in Tickle Cove in Twillingate. It was handy that there were some picnic tables overlooking the cove. Then it was a simple matter of just setting up the dolls on top.

First a photo of Jude and his son...

And, doll photos don't always have to be taken from the front. Sometimes a back view has more of a story...

Then it was the Ruby Red kids' turn....

The sun was higher in the sky now and casting harsh shadows across their faces, but at least it was coming from the right direction

Cape Bonavista

I had been looking forward to taking photos of Jude and his family at Cape Bonavista in their Celtic outfits, but unfortunately it was another bright, cloudless, sunny day. It's always best on a sunny day to take the photos with the sun behind me, and shining directly on the doll's faces, so I chose a spot on the west side of the cape. I set the dolls up on their horses, lay down at some distance, and directed Jan to make any adjustments....

Thankfully it was still early in the morning, so the sun wasn't too high in the sky yet, but it still cast some harsh shadows...

I also wanted to take some photos of the dragons there, so set up their camp on the rocks....

Bright sunshine isn't an issue with the dragons, although the two DHS dolls Avery & Emily shouldn't be exposed to the sun for too long. So Jan will usually stand casting a shadow over the scene while I set up, then step out of the way when I want to take the photos.

I always try to take the photos quickly so we can clean things up and get them out of the sun...

Another view, this time showing the busy parking lot nearby...

Durell

We arrived in Twillingate late in the evening, and went straight to the village of Durell so I could still take some Canada Day photos on the actual date. We went up the hill to the local Museum where there's a picnic table to set the dolls up on....

We covered the bright yellow table with a tarp, and sprinkled some gravel, but it wasn't very effective in my opinion.....

The photos worked a lot better if I just took close-ups...

Next morning we went there again to take some hot air balloon photos. The basket has a wooden disc on the bottom, which has a hole to fit a dowel, which Jan holds so I can take the photos of them 'flying'. I take the photos, and then later when I'm home, I'd remove the dowel in Photoshop....

Being so high up on the Museum hill, gave the impression that the balloon was flying very high over the village....

Twillingate Harbour

Back in Twillingate there's a small local park with picnic tables along the waterfront, where I decided to set up the dragons....

And, like usual, it's important to crouch down and take the photos straight on at the doll's eye level.

I also set up Jude's family on the same picnic table, and took some photos of them there as well...

Bottle Cove

We were in Corner Brook to get the RV propane system checked out, and it was such a nice day that I wanted to go out along Humber Arm to Bottle Cove again. I really wanted to take some doll photos out at the Captain Cook Lookout, so I packed up Jude and Grace's family, the dragons and Avery twins, and all manner of props, and headed out along the trail to the point. There was a picnic table to pose the dolls on for some simple close-up photos.....

But I really wanted to take some photos of the family having a picnic....

Then I set up a scene with the dragons breaking camp, and got down flat on the ground to take the photos.

And it suddenly got busy, with lots of people arriving. I felt absolutely mortified just imaging what I looked like, a fat old lady spread eagle on the ground taking photos of a scene with dolls and dragons. Some came over to take a closer look at the dragons, but I avoided any eye contact, pretended I was invisible, and just took a few photos with sight-seers in the background anyways...

...and then Winston fainted from all the excitement, and Jan had to stand him back up again....

Burgeo

We were at Sandbanks Provincial Park in Burgeo on the south coast. It has one of the best beaches in all of Newfoundland, and I'd wanted to take some photos there. Thankfully we had the beach to ourselves as I set the dolls up, and Jan went looking to see if he could find any shells. By shooting forced perspective, he even looked like he belonged in the picture.....

I took photos of the dolls in several poses, and ended with Jude and Grace sitting on a 'log', relaxing and enjoying the scenery. Bonnie wasn't working where I'd originally put her, so I asked Jan to move her over to the other side.

After finishing at the beach, we drove into town for some photos in the harbour. It's always nice (and a lot easier) when there's something high enough to pose the dolls on. There was a big fish container on the dock, which was perfect....

I set up the 'snack envy' scene on top of it....

Rose Blanche

Jude and his family had jumped to modern times over a week ago, and I hadn't had any plans to change them back into their Celtic outfits again. But with the fog enveloping the rugged coast at Rose Blanche, I quickly changed him for a few more photos with his horse. We headed out along the trail to the lighthouse, and I looked for a place to pose him. There was one big stone bench I could use, but it was rather uneven and very windy and I didn't trust him sitting on his horse unsupported. The last thing I needed was for him to fall over and get damaged. So Jan sat down beside the bench and held onto one of the horse's legs until I'd tell him to let go for a few seconds when I was ready to take a photo.
Some other people came along and saw what we were doing, and were fascinated, and asked if they could take a photo...