A Photography Assistant

When taking photos at home I'm fine on my own, but when taking doll photos out and about, especially in public, or with several dolls, having someone along to help is almost a necessity. Lucky for me my husband Jan actually enjoys helping me.

When I'm out and about, I want to make my dolls look like they fit into the scene around them, and that means taking the photos more or less at the doll's eye level. So I have two choices - either elevate the doll to my camera level, or get down to shoot at the doll's eye level.

For this 'shopping' photo I posed my dolls at my eye level on top of a snow-covered fence around the Walmart plaza. The dolls are on bases, the bottoms of which are hidden under the snow.

For this second 'shopping' picture, I wanted Toys-r-Us in the background, and there's nothing in the parking lot to stand the dolls on. So I had two choices - either lay down flat on the wet snowy pavement (and have everyone stare - and maybe even call 911) or have my trusty assistant hold the doll up to my camera level. I opted for the latter......

I almost always have my dolls on their bases, with the vertical support behind one of their legs, so Jan holds the doll by their base, with his thumb over their shoes to keep them sturdily in place. I do the final posing and positioning before taking the photo.

Here's Jan with Lisa in the Magnolia Plantation Gardens in South Carolina, with Lisa posed, ready for me to take her photo, and then the photo I took of her....

When we went to the top of Pike's Peak last fall, the altitude really got to me, so the only way to take doll photos up there, was if Jan held the dolls outside my passenger window......

I sat in the vehicle, reached out my open window to pose the dolls how I wanted them, and snapped the photo.  Like this.....

Pretty pathetic really, but one has to do what one has to do, and without a willing helper there wouldn't have been any doll photos up there at all.

An assistant is also very important in situations where I have to get down flat on the ground to take a photo. With my poor arthritic body it's difficult enough to get down, but getting up is way worse, so once I'm down I'm staying there. But to shoot my dolls like they are part of the scene, they are usually too far away from me that I can't reach them to fine tune their poses, so a willing assistant is mandatory.

For example, when shooting 'the Quest' series in the Rockies, I saw a perfect photo opportunity at the side of the Icefields Centre parking lot. There was a puddle on the edge of the pavement, with a low snow bank beyond, and the gorgeous Rockies behind as well as reflected in the puddle. I knew I was going to have to get right down on the pavement in order to capture the reflections, so actually got Jan to move the RV so anyone else in the parking lot (which was mostly empty that early in the morning) wouldn't see me laying there.  

So, I did the initial placement of the dolls (on their wire stands) on the snowbank, went to lay down on the pavement (on one of the RV carpets) and directed Jan to make any final adjustments. "Could you turn Kyle counter clockwise a smidge? Please straighten Maya's cloak on this side, and tilt his chin down a bit more....and can you wipe Aeran's hair out of her face on the side facing me? Thanks!"   (Remember to always thank your helper)

None of these photos would have been possible without my wonderful helper. 

And the added bonus of having an assistant, is that there's always someone else to help carry all the dolls and props back to your vehicle....