Antique Lilac

Taking Photos at Cape Bonavista

11/8/2025

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...

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Photos with Icebergs

11/7/2025

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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

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More Behind the Scenes

11/6/2025

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Even though I'd really been looking forward to taking doll photos in Norstead, it proved to be quite the challenge. In addition to it being a bright, cloudless, sunny day, and almost everything having 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 had taken some really nice photos.

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More Behind the Scenes

11/5/2025

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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....

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Behind the Scenes

11/4/2025

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Before moving on to something new, I want to share the behind-the-scenes photos taken on our trip to Newfoundland, just a few at a time starting at the beginning....

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.

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.

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Into the Darkness

11/3/2025

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A few final Halloween photos of Agnes taking her girls out Trick-or-Treating....

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Trick or Treating

11/2/2025

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Before heading out to go trick-or-treating, everyone posed for a group photo....

Then the little elves' Mom came and picked them up, so it was just Avery, Emily, and the dragons...

And then it was finally time for everyone to head out and go trick-or-treating....

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Happy Anniversary!

11/1/2025

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It was on this day fifteen years ago, on November 1st 2010, that this website went online for the very first time. I had just two BJDs back then - an Elfdoll Ryung, and a Narae - and I had been so impressed with the photo I'd taken of them, that I felt I really needed to create a website to share them with the doll world.

So, every November 1st, I take a little break in the middle of posting Halloween photos to have a little celebration. So, I bought a cake and picked a bouquet of the last million bells still surviving in my garden.

November 1st always marks the end of another year, and the beginning of a new one. Even though I started with just 2 BJDs fifteen years ago, their numbers have multiplied over the years until I now have well over a hundred in a wide variety of themes, all of which I love, but say something completely different to me.
However, it seems I may finally have come full circle from those very early days when my main focus was on sewing doll costumes and photographing them. I've made more new doll outfits this past year than I have in years. There's just something satisfying, and relaxing in working on a doll outfit, especially ones for my Fashion size dolls, since my greatest love has always been for making historic and fantasy costumes for realistic proportioned adult figures.

The three new arrivals this year reflect that change for the most part. First there was Lily the House Elf who still spoke to my love of Fantasy...

And then there was SartoriaJ Sarah

and Serena....

Unlike in the past, neither lady was chosen to become a member of an existing family. I chose Sarah purely because I'd always loved her, and went for Serena so she could become a model for whatever costumes I decided to make.
And then I fell in love with two more SartoriaJ Limited Edition sculpts, neither of which have arrived yet. There's Elliot, the commander from their Napoleonic Edition back in the summer. He was ordered to become Sarah's partner, and a male costume model for whatever period costumes I decide to make.

And recently I ordered Bella, just because I thought she was so beautiful, and reminded me of my larger Elfdoll Hazy. I could envision her in all kinds of period outfits....

I still like to take all kinds of doll photos, but there's just so much time in a day, and at my age they fly by faster than ever. So, I've started focussing on making books of my favourite stories, and taking photos specifically for those. The market for the books never materialized, mostly because they ended up being so expensive, but thanks to Trump throwing a 45% tariff on All Canadian goods, there's no point to even try anymore. So I make the books just for myself. Same with the calendars.

Right now my latest book is off getting printed. It's Drako, the story of the giant dragon skull which appears on the beach over the centuries...

I'm currently working on editing My Family Trip to the Pacific Coast, which is a trip journal from the perspective of Lonnie, the young teen whose family took a cross-country trip to the Pacific and back in 2015. Once that's done and checked, it can go to print as well.

And we have just started the first rough layout of New Beginnings, the next book in the Somewhere In Time series

My Mom used to say that the older she got, the faster time seemed to fly, and I now that I'm in my seventies I know exactly what she meant. There isn't half the time in a day to do all the things I still want to do. Between making doll outfits, taking photos, coming up with new stories, and filling in old ones, and putting books together, my house is in serious need of some cleaning. But who has time for that? The dust just comes back anyways.

So, what lies ahead? Hard to say. I still have thousands of photos that haven't even been processed yet. There's quite a few stories that haven't been finished - or even started - yet. I haven't processed most of the photos I took last year to finally complete the story I started in 2012. Here's a few sneak peaks...

I've been photographing all the outdoor scenes for upcoming stories while the weather was still good, and before my garden freezes for another year. Those include another wedding....

...and Baron and Naomi taking a family trip to her time....

I'll get to those eventually, but first I have to finish posting the last Halloween photos, and then there's all the Behind the Scenes from our trip to Newfoundland.
And I need to have some of that delicious cake!
So, I better get back to it, because it isn't going to get done by itself.

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