I've always loved these little yellow fluff-balls, and it seems Cinnamon and Elin do too....
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Oh dear! I think I should have made them change out of their pretty Easter dresses before they started in on their chocolate! I think it's probably too late now.....sigh..... I just hope chocolate comes out of lace.....  I've finally started taking my Easter photos. I know it's a bit late, but after I wrecked my neck last weekend, I'm finally at the point where I can start taking some photos again. Anyways, better late than not at all. My little ones have been standing around all week in their spring finery wondering when I was going to give them their Easter baskets, and let them play with the chicks.....    Yesterday afternoon we took a quick little trip to downtown Toronto to visit Arton's Beads and Sussman's Bridal on Queen Street. I bought some turquoise lame and sequin fabric for Peach, who still hasn't decided which Disney princess she wants to be for her Birthday Princess party coming up in May - either Elsa from Frozen, or Cinderella in her ball gown from the new movie. I stocked up on some trim from Sussman's Bridal shop. I could so take home almost everything in that store!! But I resisted and focussed on trims I know I've run out of and can't get anywhere around home. At Arton's I stocked up on small round metal beads and findings for studs and embellishments for the series of fantasy costumes I need to start for my little ones....  'Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It is used primarily in photography, filmmaking and architecture.' There are many aspects to taking a photo so your doll looks in scale, like it belongs in a human-size world. Mostly it's about paying attention to the distance from the background, and at what height you take your photo. Some of these things have already been touched on in previous tips, but are worth repeating. To make your dolls look like they fit into the real world behind them, you need to take the photo at the doll's eye level. Which means either raising the doll up to your eye level, or getting down to their's. Taking a photo when you are looking down at the doll just makes them look like 'dolls'. For example, the photo on the left was taken from above, whereas the one on the right was taken at the doll's eye level.....
Getting down on the doll's level often means laying down flat on the ground. For example, I first tried taking a photo of Isar while sitting...so it's still a bit from above....  Not too bad, but then I got down even lower.....  The higher you can position your doll's head against the horizon, the more 'real' they will look in their environment. Same thing happened with Asa and Byuri on the beach in Bandon, Oregon. The sand was wet, so I was reluctant to lay down, so sat on a towel for the first picture......  They still look like 'dolls on a beach', so I laid down to try again....for a much better picture...  Some places it's not possible to get down to the doll's eye level...such as in a parking lot....so that's where an assistant becomes necessary to hold the doll up high enough....  Of course, if you want the whole doll in the photo, then it means raising the dolls up so the background is lower behind them. On the left they are standing on a fence surrounding the parking lot, and on the right they are sitting high on a dune. Both times their heads are either above or at the horizon level.
In cities it's especially important to look around to see if there's a place to stand your dolls so they are elevated some, and the background is far enough behind them to look the correct scale. Then shoot at the doll's eye level. For this shot of my dolls 'shopping' in Santa Fe.....  ..the three dolls were posed on the stone surround of a large sculpture in the park, and I got down to their level and took the photo so the dolls filled the frame. Another shot, taken further back...  Exact same location, but by paying attention to shooting at the doll's eye level, and getting in closer, it can make the difference between a photo of 'dolls in a park', or a 'mother and daughters shopping'. *Note this was one time I couldn't hide the doll's bases, so had to get rid of them afterwards in Photoshop. The bases still show in the bottom photo.
These two little cuties are finally ready for Easter, even if it is a bit late. But after yesterday's post about controlling the ruffles, I thought I should post a photo to show how the two dresses turned out. The ruffles along the bottom of the skirts are nicely under control.....  I'm still working on two little spring dresses for my two little Kaye Wiggs girls. Even though I'm using regular cotton, the ruffles tend to really flare out at this small size, and the embroidered edges are making it even worse. I like my dolls to look like 'real children' in photos, at least as much as is possible, and there's no way a dress like the one on the left is going to scream anything but "I'm a DOLLY dress"! But there is a way to fix it. Whenever I make something that just sticks out way too much, the way I control it is by wetting the garment - in this case the bottom of the skirt - squeezing it into the shape I want it to be, and letting it dry on one of my heating ducts....  Look at the difference. Both skirts were made from the exact same width of fabric, with the exact same width of ruffle. Of course, the one on the right now has an impression of one of the wires from my drying rack across the bottom, but it's not on the front where it counts, and it will go away with time.
This is not exactly a very inspiring time of year for taking doll photos. It's all dead and brown outside, and we are supposed to get freezing rain today. Sewing is going very slow, so there's nothing new to share. So what better time to tackle another photography tip - tension points. How often have you taken your dolls outside for some photos, then when you downloaded them on your computer, there were distracting things in the background? We tend to focus so much on getting our dolls posed just right, that we can easily overlook, or not notice what's in the background. Like this photo taken this past January......  It was so cold, and I was in a hurry, so never even noticed the windmill blades sticking out of Ringo's pompom. Then there's those sneaky trees that stick up through a doll's head.....
Or how about this photo where I wasn't paying attention to what was in the background?  You can unintentionally take some rather funny pictures! I had to really watch the backgrounds in my recent series of photos at the Ruins Garden. I never even noticed the large, concrete fruit protruding from the top of Rosy's head....  The horizontal edge going right through her head isn't attractive either. When I moved to get another angle I didn't notice the curls spiralling out of the top of her head at first either.....  There were also large numbers in the concrete - the date on an old building facade - and they also were rather distracting....  To minimize the tension points, I moved over a little more, and took another photo. There's still a concrete curl on one side of her head, but at least the huge spirals are not coming out the middle of her head anymore...  So next time you are out and about taking photos of your dolls, try pay attention to what's in the background so you don't end up with distracting tension points.....  I have just one of the four Renaissance ensembles left - the Magenta one. I've posted her on my For Sale page, but unfortunately I can't get links to work there or here today, so you'll need to go to Gallery 2015 and click on the thumbnail there for more pictures and information.  Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!  I've been unable to take any new Easter photos, so I'll just post a few from previous years....
   I did have plans for some Easter photos, and if I don't tell my little kids that today is Easter,
they'll never be the wiser. So here's hoping for chicks and chocolates very soon! |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
January 2025
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