but I found a good spot for some group and individual portraits....
Next, we went down to the formal gardens and fountain area. The water wasn't running yet, but I found a good spot for some group and individual portraits.... With so many photos of the girls and their bouquets, I've been asked repeatedly, "Where's the bride?" or "Is there going to be a wedding soon?". Well, I hadn't planned on it, but I may give it a shot. Just a bride and her bridesmaids. No groom, as I don't have anything appropriate for a guy to wear. I will see what the weather is like next week
We had set up for photos under a magnificent old tree, that had tiny red leaves opening... I thought it might make a good background for some more photos, since the doll's faces would at least be lit up by the bright skies to the west and north.... Then the sun came out, shining through the leaves, making for even better lighting....
This past Sunday was Mother's Day, and Jan took me to Parkwood Estate in Oshawa for a photo shoot. I'd brought my four Naraes, and had wanted to take some 'formal' shots of them, as if they were bridesmaids just waiting for the official photos to be taken. No sooner did we pull into the parking lot, but it started to rain. Not good. But the showers passed quickly and out we went. They keep the grass trimmed very short there, so it was a nice scale for the small dolls. Unfortunately the lighting just wasn't working for me. We were under a huge tree, and it was blocking the light from the south, and made the dolls just look like dark silhouettes against the bright skies over the mansion..... Which I later tried to fix it Photoshop. Better, but their faces are now a bit grainy.... I tried using my flash, muted by the little white cloth envelope.... Decided the photo didn't look very natural, but more like the girls had been dropped into the photo in Photoshop. So I guess the better shots were without flash, even if the girls ended up a bit grainy Close-ups were better too.... I was a bit disappointed with the group shots, but at least now I know what to do next time I want some formal shots with the house in the background. Like when my FID couple come back home.
Finally some photos of the flouncy pink dresses on dolls. I put the five outfits on four Naraes and my Limhwa Lily, then decided Lily didn't match the others, so changed her back to her default outfit. I've decided to just photograph the four Naraes. First as a group inside... Narae standing at the back, is an older, yellowed French resin. She was my first Narae, and just the second of my BJDs. Two years later, I acquired the blonde Narae in the middle. She's also an older French resin, but has retained her original colour. The other two Naraes - the one seated in front, and the brunette on the right, are both Butterfly Naraes, from the D'Storic 'End of Contract' Sale, from when their contract with Bimong (the artist) expired in December 2012. He now makes and sells his dolls himself. I thought the four of them looked a bit like bridesmaids in their matching pink dresses, so gave them all a bouquet to hold... Sisters in light pink... ...and the fourth Narae, who is a special project, and will be leaving soon. It's almost hard to believe that she's the exact same sculpt as the brunette above, who is tan French resin. Just goes to show what a difference resin colour and face up can make, even with the same face up artist.
Back in the early winter of 2015, I discovered the amazing Russian artist aGatti, who makes the most incredibly lifelike, mature, MSD size dolls. Even though I am usually drawn to the more realistic sculpts, I wasn't sure her dolls weren't maybe a little too realistic, especially compared to most of the dolls in my collection. But I fell in love with her little Feegle characters. Unfortunately he had been offered as a pre-order a few months earlier, and was no longer available. But she said she would release him again in 2017. So yesterday she put him up for a limited pre-order, along with a new second Feegle character. Well, I just have to have both of them, so sent an email to start the pre-order process. They are just 16.5 cm tall, and perfect for little 'dwarf' characters, to go with my Fantasy crew... The plan is to dress them in similar fashion to the little 'Wee Folk' figures my sister and I made many years ago. The Feegles will become posable versions of our little 'Warrior Dwarves'. ...and the 'Remus' series, sculpted by my sister (her photo) Even though they won't be arriving until some time in the fall - September or October
- I'm very excited to be able to get them. *aGatti doesn't have a website, but sells through her Flickr page - aGatti / Flickr There's so many great pictures from this photo shoot, that I just had to share a few more.... ....and one with the Guild Inn in the background. I figured the old stucco building could pass for something from long ago, and I did clean up most of the construction debris in PhotoShop, but there was nothing I could do about the chain-link fence.
The two Exotic Blue SID gowns are finally available for purchase.
For more information, click on the photo below.... It was the perfect day today for taking some photos at the Guild Inn Ruins Gardens. The property has been under redevelopment for some time now, and all the usual parking lots are closed, and there's no parking allowed on the street either. So we drove along the western edge, where there's a long trail through the woods along the shore of Lake Ontario. I was determined that I was going to take pictures this time, so off we went. The woods were full of wildflowers - trout lilies, trilliums, marsh marigolds, and forget-me-nots, so it was quite a lovely walk.
We spent quite a while in the ruins, and I got some great photos of my beautiful Asa.... I finished the last of the bodice embroidery this morning. I didn't have enough fabric from the baby onesie to make five tube tops, in addition to five sets of sleeves, so I made little semi-circle inserts to sew into the bodice necklines instead. The five dresses. The skirts of the lighter pink dresses are not quite as full as the darker ones, as I was limited by how much fabric there was in the actual human skirt ruffle layers. Now to dress a bunch of my ladies, and take some photos.
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
April 2024
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