Behind New Beginnings - Fav Photos 2023

Behind the Scenes of New Beginnings

This story would never have happened if it wasn't for a series of unfortunate events. In September 2022 when I was partway through photographing Baron and Naomi's wedding at the movie studio, I noticed that Baron had a spot in the middle of his cheek.

On closer inspection, back at home, it turned out to be even worse than I thought.

I had no idea how or when it had happened, and still had to photograph his honeymoon, so resigned myself to taking photos mostly of his other side, and fixing the spots in Photoshop. But I got tired of fixing them, so thought of asking Iplehouse if they could redo his makeup like his promo photos, so he'd be like new again. I knew Iplehouse's faceups were hit and miss at that point, so looked to see if there were any owner photos of any recent Barons that had arrived looking like his promo photo. There was a customer who had gotten one about six months ago, and he looked perfect. So I made the fateful decision to send his head back to be redone.

About a month later he was sent back. I was nervous and hopeful, but my heart sank when I saw what they had done. He looked awful. His beard was all wrong and his makeup was inconsistent from one side of his face to the other, and nothing like his promo photo. And they'd given him the most ridiculous long eye lashes. I did take some photos, but never posted them anywhere. I was too embarrassed, and didn't want to humiliate him by making the photos public. I contacted Iplehouse to complain, and they said I could send him back and they'd try redo him. But I'd lost faith in them at that point, and demanded my money back. I contacted two well known faceup artists. The first said they couldn't do it, and the second said they could try, but not until later in spring when it was warm enough to spray the sealer outside.

Then I came to realize that my Baron would never look the same again, and got the idea to do a story explaining why he'd end up looking different. I decided that Baron was going to be injured in an attack, and after he eventually recovered, and his bandages came off, he would look different. So I got out my pastels and water colour pencil crayons and tried to make the awful Iplehouse faceup look more like his original makeup. And I added lots of 'cuts and bruises'.

the Attack

The very first photos to be shot were of Baron lying wounded in the snow after the attack...

I used red paint for the 'blood' in the snow, but there would have been way more blood after such a battle scene, and there was no way I was going to risk staining the dolls or their clothes, so all the rest - bloody hands, hair, and armour - was added afterwards in Photoshop.

Then I added his bandages, and took photos for when he'd eventually return home. I needed an exterior that could pass for the outside of his castle, and thought of using the brick fireplace. I added the styrofoam arches, and I had a believable castle exterior...

The photo taken while sitting down on a bench, with the two knights at my eye level...

the Dragon Lair

I was working on baby dragons at the time and decided to weave the story of the dragon eggs into the one about Baron's attack. So I needed the dragon's lair. It needed to look like it could be in the ruins of a castle.

it needed to look somewhat regal, yet rustic, like dragons could live there. So I used straw for their bed, and lots of furs.

It made for a cozy lair for the two dragons...

The 'dragon eggs' were some interring Easter eggs that I'd found at Michaels. I needed some egg shells for when the babies hatches, so painted some real egg shells in the same colours with the same speckles....

Riding in a Blizzard

I needed photos of Rex and Baron riding home in the snow, and thought doing it in an actual blizzard might be worth the effort. But it was snowing so crazy hard that Jan had to hold an umbrella just to protect my camera lens....

But there's nothing like some real falling snow to add that extra touch of realism....

Saying Goodbye

I realized that I needed to start the story with photos of Baron leaving on his annual winter patrol, but he still had his 'attack' faceup. I wasn't going to wipe it off since there was no way I'd be able to reproduce it again afterwards.

So I photographed all the scenes with him either from the back, or from above, and always with the left side of his face showing since it had the least 'scars'.

Owen & Kyle

I also needed some photos of Kyle and Owen heading out in the snow, so took them to one of my favourite nearby spots...

Lawrence's Office

Several scenes took place in Lawrence's office, which was set up on the dining room table...

I had just finished shooting the scene where Winston delivers the bad news to Lawrence and Monica....

Then that same day, after taking photos of Owen and Kyle in the snow, I needed to put them somewhere so their boots could dry off, so I laid them on the edge of the table. Then it hit me just how funny the scene looked, so I had to take a photo....

A Second Attack

Back when I took the very first photos of Baron after his attack in the snow in early January, I only shot a few photos, and avoided showing much of his face. But after starting to put the story together I decided I needed more photos with Baron and Rex talking, including close-ups of Baron, and photos with Rex looking at and talking to Fenwick.

It had been two months since I'd taken those first photos, and I would need a similar looking snowfall, but it was already March, so I needed to take advantage of the first decent snowfall. So I posed Baron and Rex as closely as possible to their poses in the first photos taken two months ago, and brought them back outside in the snow. I still had the jar with 'blood' coloured paint, and poured some in the snow....

But it was really wet snow this time, and the 'blood' seeped into it almost immediately, and kept spreading. I was mostly just shooting closeups this time, as well as some photos with Rex talking to Fenwick, but the blood in the snow would still show, and that was definitely going to be a problem for any kind of continuity. So I ended up having to photoshop the background so the photos would match the original set of photos. I had to photoshop all the 'blood' in the same places, and add extra snow....

Before

After

Dominic's Wig

I was in the process of shooting the scene where Lawrence and Monica are breaking the news about Baron to Miho and Naomi, and then Dominic comes in....

I had never been all that happy with his commercial wig, and decided this was as good a time as any to do something about it. So I spent two days making him a 'salt & pepper' wig, suitable for an older noble...

Then I had to do a complete reshoot of the entire scene...

First shoot with commercial wig....

Reshoot with new wig...

the Birthday Party

I had wanted to throw Judith and Fay a birthday party for a while, and thought it would be something to show the passing of time between when Baron left, and when he was injured, so set up the party scene in Rex and Bianca's castle interior.

Birthday parties can get rather boring if they are always the same old thing, so I thought of using balloons as a highlight.

So I'd pose all the dolls for a particular scene, then take close-up photos at the doll's eye level...

Then I'd move everyone around to continue the story, and do it all over again.

the Wood Shop

After Baron was finally on his way home, I wanted to show the passing of time by having a baby shower. And that meant gifts. Sure, I could use the same old props I always do, but I thought it would be nice to make some specially to be the gifts. And where would someone make some toys, but in a wood-shop. So I had to put one together...

I gathered all the props, furniture, and unfinished projects I though might be in a wood shop. I also gathered lots of bits of wood, and containers of tiny nails from Jan's workshop.

I sculpted one dragon pull toy from Apoxy, and the second using wooden beads attached to a wooden body...

It was just a small set, taking up barely half the dining room table.

I even had a bowl of sawdust to sprinkle around to add that extra touch of realism

the Baby Shower

Now, baby showers aren't exactly the most interesting thing to photograph. It's just a bunch of women sitting in a circle while the guest(s) of honour opens their gifts. So, I had to make the gifts the interesting focus of the shower.

I had been really inspired to make several gifts for the baby dragons, including a set of tiny bibs....

Then it was time to shoot the actual shower. I took out all the medieval ladies that were Naomi's friends, and all the elves who were Saphira's friends, and posed them all seated around the room.

Then I'd focus on the details,

and change the poses while working my way through the opening of the various gifts...

Willie & Winston Visit

After Baron gets home, I had Willie and Winston come for a visit. It was the very last set of photos I took for the story. I was in the middle of taking photos, when Jan snapped a photo...

Baron's New Look

I sent Baron's head to Lisa Jameson in April to have him repainted, but she was delayed getting to him due to worsening health issues. She said that she did the best she could, and he ended up being her very last faceup commission, with her announcing her retirement immediately after he was done.

When he arrived home, I just put his head back on his body, with his old wig, and went on a short trip. After we got back home, I took a good look at him. I was happy with his new look, but something just didn't seem right. I was working on a new book with my sister at the time, and she shuddered whenever there was a photo of Baron, saying he 'was so creepy'. But it wasn't his sculpt, but his wig she found the problem. So I thought I'd try restyle his wig, and in the process I totally destroyed it. I spent the next few days kicking myself for listening to someone else's opinion and ruining the wig. But then I made a new wig for him, using the same mohair as his first wig. Only this time I was going for a softer, more natural look, but in the same basic style.

It turned out that the new wig was just what he needed. I finally had my Baron back!