Behind the Scene - 2014
Taking a look at the set-ups for some of my photo shoots this year - when I remembered to take them
In the order they were taken...
In the order they were taken...
Happy New Year!
I wanted to take a photo of all my BIDs celebrating the New Year, so set them up on a table in front of my Christmas tree...
Photo taken in close with a tripod because of the low light...
Orthodox Christmas
Things got crazy busy, and I didn't have the chance to take the Christmas photos I'd wanted before the 25th of December, so decided to take them for Orthodox Christmas on January 6th instead. That holiday is more about the true meaning of Christmas, so I had three of my little girls setting up a creche scene, on a box on a table in my office doorway....
The photo, taken in close, at the doll's eye level....
Houseplant Appreciation Day
What better place to appreciate houseplants in the dead of winter, than in the 'greenhouse' half of my kitchen? I had found some miniature cyclamen at the local plant nursery, and had to buy two, just for this photo.
The dolls were set up on a box on the kitchen table, so their eyes would be at the level of a child their age. I used a photo studio light on the dolls so they wouldn't just be dark silhouettes against the bright outside light behind them....
The dolls were set up on a box on the kitchen table, so their eyes would be at the level of a child their age. I used a photo studio light on the dolls so they wouldn't just be dark silhouettes against the bright outside light behind them....
Taken in close, with the camera on a tripod, set on a ten second delay....
Robinson Crusoe Day
Another in the 'Special Days' series, this one took considerable Photoshop work in order to get the photo I wanted. I envisioned Nami, laying on the sofa, reading Robinson Crusoe, dreaming of what it would be like to be shipwrecked on a deserted island. It was the dead of winter, and I needed a desert island, so I made one in my basement photo studio.
Knowing water is actually a turquoise green (not blue) I laid out some dark turquoise satin on the gray backing paper. For my first photo I wanted Nami in her little lifeboat, with everything she had been able to salvage from the sinking ship, and took a photo...
Knowing water is actually a turquoise green (not blue) I laid out some dark turquoise satin on the gray backing paper. For my first photo I wanted Nami in her little lifeboat, with everything she had been able to salvage from the sinking ship, and took a photo...
Then I needed a suitable background. I had taken a photo along the Florida panhandle a few years back, and thought it would do...
I 'cloned' one photo onto the other, to create a finished picture....
Then I took a photo of Nami, laying reading a book, on one of my bent sofa cushions (to suggest a doll-size sofa)....
...and put the lifeboat picture in a 'thought bubble' above her....
Then, since one idea usually leads to another, I wanted to make a tiny desert island. So got some sand from the garage
Then I made a little island on the satin, and piled it high with all Nami's saved possessions. And a curious octopus...
...and put in the Gulf of Mexico background....
Maple Syrup Time
I was doing a little story about gathering maple sap to make maple syrup, and needed a setting with a tree in the snow. Since I prefer to shoot standing up, and not laying down - especially in snow - I figured the tops of the snowbanks out front would work..
I pushed some tacks into the branches of our tree, hung up some tiny pails, and posed the dolls....
It's not the most exciting posing because you can see by the size of the snow bank that it wasn't easy to get in close to the dolls. But I took a photo with my telephoto lens from further back.
By the Fountain
We took an early spring trip to Florida, and I brought along a couple of dolls. It was surprisingly cold and bare in the gardens...
Photo taken in close...with a big depth of field....
South Carolina Plantation
On a much warmer day, in another garden, and another hand-held photo opportunity....
Lisa marvelling at the Spanish moss....
Ice Cream Sundae Day
I set up this little scene on the end of my kitchen table. It was summer, so all the plants were outside. I used real ice cream to make all the sundaes, and being a warm day, it melted all over two of the girl's clothes...
So I had to strip them down and wash all their clothes. Then I needed a clothesline for a picture.....somewhere in the shade...
on the Rocks
We had gone up north, camping in Kilarney, and I took along several of my BIDs. I packed them up in boxes to put in Jan's 'Dry Sack' so we could take them out with us in the canoe. It was a bright, sunny day, so setting up any scene required using a white umbrella to shade the dolls from the sun. I'd do the initial posing, go to where I was going to take my photos from, and sat down, and directed Jan to make any minor adjustments....
Photo taken with regular lens...
Photo cropped in....
Cake Decorating
I was doing a story about Narae and Kyle getting married, and had made a nice wedding cake, then decided it would be more interesting to take a series of photos of 'behind the scenes' getting ready for the wedding. With Leona being the only JID in contemporary clothes, she become the 'cake decorator'. I set up her 'kitchen work space' on a box on my kitchen counter....
...and took the picture in close, at Leona's eye level, using a tripod....
Pike's Peak
We were on a trip to the US Southwest, and I had taken a group of dolls along - Owen and Leona, and three small dolls who were not getting a lot of camera time. This was in the days before I settled on a permanent 'family' group for Leona and Owen.
We were going up Pike's Peak in Colorado. I was a bit nervous because I don't do well at high elevations. I thought the mountain was 'only' 12,000 feet high, which seemed doable, but the mountain was actually over 14,000 feet. My head was already getting weird when we pulled over at 12,000'. I wanted to take some pictures with my dolls in them, but I couldn't even get up out of my seat. So Jan took two dolls in hand and went out, and held them out my passenger side window....
We were going up Pike's Peak in Colorado. I was a bit nervous because I don't do well at high elevations. I thought the mountain was 'only' 12,000 feet high, which seemed doable, but the mountain was actually over 14,000 feet. My head was already getting weird when we pulled over at 12,000'. I wanted to take some pictures with my dolls in them, but I couldn't even get up out of my seat. So Jan took two dolls in hand and went out, and held them out my passenger side window....
I reached out the window to pose the dolls, and took a photo so Jan's arms weren't showing....
Up at the summit, Jan wanted me to take a photo with the dolls with the sign, but it wasn't going to work in my opinion, so I only got one of him trying to pose the dolls in front of the sign....
Since I was stuck in the RV with altitude sickness, barely able to breathe, we drove around the parking lot looking for just the right spot, and Jan set up the dolls under my direction, and I took a photo with my telephoto lens, from my seat in the RV. Normally I don't shoot dolls from above, but this time, with the mountain dropping down behind them, it was the perfect angle....
Arches National Park
There was no avoiding shooting in the sun that day at Arches, so we went out first thing in the morning, so the sun wouldn't be directly overhead. I did the initial set up, then went down lower on the rocks, and directed Jan to make any small adjustments. He worked on the sunny side, so as to shade the dolls as long as possible...
The dolls were on stands, hidden behind one of their legs, and the bases were obscured by the slight rise in the rock. Then Jan took the boxes and stepped back, so I could take pictures with my telephoto lens..
|
|
Another 'forced perspective' shot taken lower on the same rocks, but with the parking lot behind the dolls. If I have to shoot on a bright sunny day, I always try to have the sun behind me, and in the doll's faces....
Dolls back in their boxes, and putting away the props....
Ghost Ranch
We were in New Mexico, visiting Georgia O'Keefe's Ghost Ranch, and I wanted a scene of some dolls hiking in the desert. I posed the dolls on the wire stands that I can poke into the ground, and went back to the road. Jan made adjustments...
The photo. Back home I noticed that Leona's wire was still showing, but hoped people wouldn't notice (of course, now they will)
Santa Fe
I took a couple of dolls along as we walked around the old central plaza in Santa Fe. All my doll photos were taken 'hand held', until I thought of using the elevated surround on the statue in the park beside the old church....
The dolls were positioned on their stands, and the edge of the surround blended seamlessly into the stone walkway behind them. But there was no way to hide the bases of their stands, so I camouflaged them in Photoshop afterwards.
White Sands
We were at White Sands, one of my favourite places in the US Southwest. I wanted to take some doll photos, so I packed Leona and Owen into boxes, chose some props, and we hiked to the top of a dune, where I set them up like a couple enjoying the scenery on their RV trip. I shot the photo with a huge depth of field.
Then couldn't resist just one more....
The most important tips one can gather from these behind-the-scenes shots, is that it's important to try take photos at the doll's eye level, whether you have to get down to their's or raise them up to yours. The other thing is to ignore the 'big' picture when looking for a setting, since often just some small space will do. Then get in close. or crop the photo afterwards.
Copyright © 2018 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2018 Martha Boers
All Rights Reserved
