Behind the Scenes in Life with Babies
Taking a look at some behind the scenes photos taken when I was photographing the story...
Escorting the Doctor
I wanted a nice location for the scene with Rex escorting the Doctor to the palace, and thought the scillas would be the perfect spot. The photos were taken on April 14th, 2023. I pose the dolls, and then sit down at a distance, and since it's a challenge for me to get up and down a lot, I ask Jan to make any small adjustments...
Then I zoom in to take the photos...
the Dragons Come for a Visit
After the birth of Baron and Naomi's twins, I had all their friends come for a visit. I figured that they would host the dragon family out on the castle terrace, so set up the scene on the patio table. I created their 'garden' by surrounding the scene with baskets of million bells. I always buy several baskets of them every spring, because they have the perfect in-scale size flowers.
The photos were taken on August 27, 2023, on a hazy, sunny afternoon. I set up the dolls in the shade, with their backs to the bright light. So I needed Jan to hold a white card to bounce light into the scene...
Then I take close up photos...
Naomi and Lisa on the Patio
It was September 10th, and the sun was getting low int he sky, so any scenes in the usual direction on the patio table would be severely back-lit, which doesn't make for nice photos. So I set up this scene the other direction with the background to the north with the stone fireplace in the background. I filled the background with baskets of million bells. Many of the leaves from our crabapple trees, which usually provide shade on the patio all summer, had fallen already, so the scene was partly in the sun, which also doesn't make for the best photos. But there were also scattered clouds, so I took my chances. So I poked long sticks into the baskets of million bells to support clotheslines, and hung up the 'laundry'....
Then took close up photos of Lisa and Naomi interacting with the babies....
Baron's Birthday Party
I like to throw 'birthday' parties for my dolls on their arrival dates, and Baron's was coming up at the end of October, and I thought that would be the perfect day to have the babies Christened, and then have a party afterwards where he'd finally meet his half brother. So I set up the party scene on the dining room table, and filled it with his family and friends....
It's times like this that I wish the background walls were higher, since it's impossible to have everyone in a single photo....
...unless I severely crop it into a 'wide screen' format....
But the scene provides ample opportunity for close-ups....
Then I'll keep moving everyone around, and take more close-ups...
Christening Prep
I had originally wanted to photograph the Christening scene before Baron's 'birthday' on October 21st, so I could post it on the actual date. It was going to be a private affair, with just the parents, grandparents, and godparents. But I was waiting for an opportunity at our son's movie studio, so in the meantime, I did a practice set-up at home on the dining room table, so I'd know exactly how to set up everything once we got to the studio.
I had found a candle stand at Value Village, which would make the perfect baptismal font.
Jan removed the spike inside which would have held a candle, and it seemed that it might actually hold water.
Jan removed the spike inside which would have held a candle, and it seemed that it might actually hold water.
I decided that the godparents were not going to be 'sexist' with Lawrence holding the son, and Monica the daughter, but to do it the other way round, with Lawrence holding the girl, and Monica the boy...
So, everyone was all set for whenever we'd be able to go to the studio.
the Christening
After a few postponements, we finally had a time-slot on November 22nd, to photograph the Christening at the movie studio.
Our son's movie studio, the Immersion Room, had moved to a new, much larger location into one of the movie studios at Downsview Park since the last time I'd taken dolls for photos. This time we were able to drive the car right in and park right beside the set, which helped considerably with unloading everything.
My sister had asked if she could come along to watch, and she took some photos when I was setting up the first scene. I had taken along a printout of the scene at home so I'd know exactly how to set up the scene, with the wooden shelves as risers at the altar. The dolls were set up on a moveable riser, so the scene could be rotated.
Our son's movie studio, the Immersion Room, had moved to a new, much larger location into one of the movie studios at Downsview Park since the last time I'd taken dolls for photos. This time we were able to drive the car right in and park right beside the set, which helped considerably with unloading everything.
My sister had asked if she could come along to watch, and she took some photos when I was setting up the first scene. I had taken along a printout of the scene at home so I'd know exactly how to set up the scene, with the wooden shelves as risers at the altar. The dolls were set up on a moveable riser, so the scene could be rotated.
She took photos of me taking close-ups of the dolls in the first scene...
I was basically shooting 'forced perspective' with the cathedral interior shrunken to quarter scale in the background...
Jan was on candle-lighting duty, and had to light the candles before each scene. I had brought along six candle stands, which helped tie the foreground into the background, by making it hard to tell which candles were real and which ones were part of the background.
I'd take close-up photos...
the candles would be lit again, Then we'd blow out the candles, I'd change the scene, and I'd take more photos...
The studio was a busy place, and I was feeling rather stressed working in front of an entire movie production team, so sometimes left stuff in frame - like my water bottle.
And I also would forget to shoot some wider scenes, so it would take some creative cropping...
When I was done, and put down my camera, our son picked it up and shot some photos of the studio with us cleaning up....
My feet were dead at that point, so I sat down to pack up the dolls...
...while my sister kindly passed them to me...
Another amazing photo opportunity had come to an end.
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