Blog Archives

Out and About

3/11/2023

The next morning they got up early. "So, what's the plan for today?"

"We are going to go explore the surrounding countryside."

And they headed east, and took the bridge over to Isle d'Orleans, which is situated in the middle of the St. Lawrence River.

It's a picturesque drive through rolling farmland...

...passing centuries old barns...

It was a bright, sunny autumn day...

...as they made their way around the island...

At the westernmost tip of the island, they stopped to take in the view of the city in the distance.

...just as a large ship sailed by.

Later that afternoon, back on the mainland, they explored the south shore of the river in Levis, across the river from Quebec...

There were three huge cruise ships, including the Queen Mary 2, docked at the base of the Old City...

...almost dwarfing the impressive Chateau Frontenac rising high on the cliff overhead...

"No wonder it's so crowded over there."

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Exploring the City

3/10/2023

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The next day they went exploring the city within the Old Walls...

They eventually made their way down to the Lower Town....

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Champagne

3/9/2023

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After a quiet dinner, they had a lovely, intimate evening in their hotel room...

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Exploring

3/8/2023

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A few hours later, they ventured out to explore the Old City....

"This place is so beautiful, but I'm getting a little tired. Let's head back to the hotel."

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le Chateau Frontenac

3/7/2023

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"I think we should go and register and get rid of our luggage."

"Good idea."

They registered and went up to their suite...

"Look at this view!"

"It's like being in the middle of a Fairytale castle."

Baron couldn't help but smile, "That's amusing, considering we actually live in a real castle already, your Ladyship.."

"What do you say we go explore the Old City for a little while?"

But she took his hand, and sat down on the bed...

"I can think of something else I'd rather do right now..."

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the Honeymoon

3/6/2023

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It was a lovely, sunny, autumn day when Baron and Naomi arrived in Quebec City. Baron had booked them a suite at the prestigious Fairmont la Chateau Frontenac

They made their way through the Lower Town...

...and took the Funicular up to the Dufferin Terrace.

The view was spectacular.

But the real attraction was the magnificent hotel...

It rose like a castle, high on the cliff...

...overlooking the Historic Lower Town, and the St. Lawrence River...

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Winter Rose

3/5/2023

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We had a huge blizzard the other night, and I was inspired to take lots of photos in the fresh snow, including a set with a fairy with my fading Valentine's roses...

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Back at home, several weeks later, I decided I wanted to photograph Lawrence and Naomi and the kids in a side chapel before the ceremony. I needed some kind of space that looked believable as a room off the main hall of the cathedral. So I used my 'stone' walls, the wooden half walls, and the styrofoam arch, to create the set on my dining room table...

Taken in the morning by candle-light, the scene had just the right feel...

Bloopers

Even with all the planning, and attention to detail, there were still a few things that escaped notice, until afterwards when the photos were downloaded. Like Miho's missing headpiece. I was quite stressed when I was taking all the dolls out of their boxes, with several people watching, and I never noticed that Miho's circlet had fallen off.

Bianca's pendent on her necklace had also turned when she was in the box, and I never noticed...

Then with all the lighting of candles, the box of matches and the glass dish for the spent matches were left in view...

For the first part of the photo shoot, they had attached a little gizmo to the top of my camera, which would actually move the background scene into different angles depending on how I held my camera.

Then I had to watch out for the moving red line that it generated across the background. I found it extremely annoying, so they disconnected it. But it was already in some of my photos.

But at least it wasn't too bad in this photo, and I could Photoshop it out...

Also, notice in this photo that Naomi is wearing her ring on her right hand instead of her left. It's because the fingers on her left hand are not separated, but they are on the right.

Then there was Baron's ring. I had only planned on photographing Naomi receiving her ring. I'd tied a gold cord around Baron's finger at home, to simulate his wedding ring, and I wasn't planning on removing it.

But when I started to post the story months later, I really wanted to include Baron getting his ring as well, plus he shouldn't already be wearing it when he slipped Naomi's ring onto her finger. So I removed his ring in Photoshop.

Baron's Damage

The photography session at the movie studio was fantastic, but there was one thing which cast somewhat of a dark cloud over it. Towards the end of the photo shoot I noticed a spot on Baron's cheek. On closer inspection it looked like a big chunk of his cheek paint had fallen off. My heart sank. It wouldn't be the first time some of his paint had flaked off. The other two times it was from his beard at his jaw-line, and I had been able to 'fix' it and hide it . But this was way worse, since there's no way to touch up something in the middle of a cheek. I was so disappointed, and had no idea how or when it had happened.

Well, there's no way to fix a spot like that, so I just continued on with the photography.

He was going to need a repaint at some point, but he wouldn't look the same, so I just kept photographing him and fixing the spot in Photoshop.

Then there was the honeymoon photos. I still needed to photograph that, and he needed to look the same as during the wedding, so I photographed him mostly with his good side showing for the entire honeymoon, correcting any photos that showed the damage on his left side in Photoshop afterwards.

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the Wedding Day

3/3/2023

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We had determined that I'd need a stage 5' x 8', and it would need to be moveable so I could rotate it to take photos from all sides without having to move the dolls. So our son prepared the stage at his studio, by screwing sheets of plywood onto one of his 4' x 8' risers supported on two of his moveable panel containers...to create a 5' x 8' stage....

So on the wedding day, I packed up all the dolls...thirty six in all....as well as the last few props.

At the studio, I spread the fabric flooring over the stage, and set up all the furniture and props. It was a lot of work, and the concrete floor was hard on my feet and back, so I'd have to take frequent little breaks...

I added the dolls, posing them as if they were just arriving at the cathedral. It would be our 'test' scene to adjust the background and lighting. I found it a lot harder to reach into the middle and pose the dolls than I had expected...

The Gothic Cathedral background was actually supposed to be a ruin, with broken windows, crumpled carpets, and dust everywhere. Jesse, their 3-D artist, had gone to the trouble to fix several of the broken windows. Then, after we set up, she removed all the elements out of the scene that I didn't want, like the pews, and the huge candle stands. Then, after everything was ready, it was time to do some testing...

I took some photos to see if I could take the photos hand held in the low light. I could!! As long as I didn't use too big a depth of field. Which meant it was going to be so much easier than using a tripod. So, taking the photos in the movie studio was basically shooting forced perspective against a digital background.

Then it was finally time for the wedding to begin. We could rotate the stage and the background so I could take photos from the different angles, with the other walls of the cathedral in the background.

When the procession began, we didn't like the big black door in the background...

...so they added some doors and lighted the space beyond the doors. That looked much better!

After positioning the dolls for a scene, we'd light the candles....

There were six candle stands, each with four candles to light...

I'd take photos of the scene from the various angles, and each time I wanted to take photos from a different angle...

....the background scene would have to rotate to match, and they would have to adjust the lighting.

The screen turned off between takes...

The LED panel wall...

Each time I was finished with a particular scene, we'd blow out all the candles so they wouldn't burn down too quickly. I had brought a box of extra candles, but I didn't want to run out. Plus it was better for continuity if the candles didn't suddenly get taller during the ceremony. Not that anyone else would likely notice. But I would.

I was constantly adjusting all the guest's heads so they'd be looking at the couple at the front...

Six hours and 150 photos later, and I shot the final scene. It was beyond impressive!

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the Wedding Rehearsal

3/2/2023

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I had all the dolls ready that would be going to the wedding. Of course all my Fashion sized dolls and their families were going, but I needed more guests, so that meant including as many of my regular MSDs as I had costumes for. They would be on one side of the aisle opposite the Fashion sized dolls, since they are different aesthetics so couldn't really mix.

Jan made some half walls to go on either side of the cathedral aisle, and I posed Naomi, Lawrence, and the wedding party on the dining room table to see how they would look...

I was starting to get excited about the photo possibilities....

The movie studio wanted to know what size platform I would need, so I had to do a practice set-up on the dining room table. I had found a large piece of fabric at value Village which would work for a cathedral floor, and draped it over the table. I had three flower arrangements - one big, and two smaller ones - so put together two more smaller ones. We had also found two short turned posts, which would make nice supports for the extra flower arrangements.

So then I set the scene up on my dining room table. I was going to need seating for at least a dozen dolls, but all my chairs are different styles, so I put the most similar ones at the ends of the row where they would show a little. The ones in between didn't matter, since they would be hidden.

We built up the altar stairs using old book shelves, and I made a carpet to go up the steps.

Our dining room table is just 44" wide and 6 feet long, and there wasn't room for two double rows of guests, so the set at the movie studio would need to be considerably wider. But it couldn't be too big, or I wouldn't be able to reach the middle.

We went to the movie studio a few days before the photo shoot, to deliver all the furniture and props, and to discuss the final details. We got to see the 'set' for the first time, and it was spectacular!