Way back at the beginning of the year when we first thought of going to Newfoundland again, I had all kinds of ideas for some fantasy pictures. But with the never-ending health issues, the trip date snuck up on me, and I was suddenly out of time.  I couldn't decide if I should bring a 'contemporary' group, or a 'Fantasy' group.  Contemporary dolls would be WAY easier to photograph in the various setting. but it would be the second time taking a contemporary group to Newfoundland. The scenery in Newfoundland would be perfect for a Fantasy group. but I didn't have any time to make the props I'd wanted to take. So, I opted for a contemporary family - again.  But at the last minute I threw in everyone's Fantasy costumes - just in case.

 The icebergs at Goose Cove seemed like the perfect place to shoot some Fantasy pictures. So I spent two and a half hours redressing all the dolls, and realized it was way too much work to be doing over and over again, so this was going to be a one time deal. With no props for any kind of story, I was left with just taking some dramatic shots of the dolls with the icebergs in the background. At least Winston would add a bit of interest.

So after everyone was properly dressed, we hauled them all up the trail to the cliff top....

It was a bright, sunny morning, so I had to be careful to limit everyone's exposure to the sun, which meant that forward-facing pictures never had everyone in them. It was a lot easier to handle just two dolls in the sun, and maybe four.  But not six.

I'm going to put all the Fantasy pictures together in one album, as they don't fit with the others.

We woke to another beautiful morning in Goose Cove, at the very end of the road past St. Anthony on the northern peninsula. This photo is from the centre of town, looking out of the cove to the two icebergs grounded beyond.

We had spent the night again at the small public parking lot just past the last house on the point at the upper left. There's a trail to a gazebo out on the rocks overlooking the ocean - that tiny dark dot near the end of the point. 

View from the last house in town....

Leona and Owen posed for a picture with the iceberg behind in the distance....

Lonnie and Milo posed for one last photo....

Then everyone went inside for the two and a half hour transformation into their Fantasy personas. Their contemporary identities would not reappear again until a few days later in Labrador.

The coast of Newfoundland is extremely rugged, with lots of promontories, and inlets. Many of the smaller, protected bays have little fishing villages in them. Just to the west of St. Anthony lies St. Anthony Bight. It's quite close as the crow flies, but it's quite a few kilometres of winding road to drive to.  In St. Anthony Bight we came across a parking lot with a trail down to a local park along the edge of the bay.  There were three large, flat, ice islands grounded in the bay, and the wind was blowing all the bergie bits toward the shore, grounding them along the beach.....

The kids immediately went down to the beach to check out all the ice.....

The closer to shore the ice, the more interesting the shapes they had melted into.....

I was shooting straight into the sun, which is not an especially good angle,
​and made for some very harsh contrasts....

I tried using a diffused flash to fill in the harsh shadows.  A bit too much flash!

Taking a closer look at the front edge of one of the ice islands....

...and more icebergs out in the bay....

Coco picked up a chunk of ice. "Look, it's filled with tiny air bubbles!"

We explored more of the northern peninsula that afternoon, but the dolls did not come out again. Jan photographed an interesting iceberg off L'Anse aux Meadows.....

,That evening we headed back to the end of the road in Goose Cove just as it started to rain.
​Jan captured part of a rainbow and it's reflection.....

That evening we witnessed another spectacular sunset out of our window....

I just remembered that Jan took a lot of pictures of the icebergs when he was down on the rocks, so i thought I'd post a couple. Unfortunately, he was shooting  almost straight into the sun, and he had a fuzzy spot on his lens, but the shots are still amazing......

After breakfast, we drove back to Fishing Point in St. Anthony to look at the icebergs there. The big one closest to shore had turned and moved even closer in the night. It was even more spectacular in the sunshine this morning!  It was also clear that the two square-ish bergs, a bit further out,  were actually attached, and were really just one big iceberg.

The turning of the iceberg had generated all kinds of bergie bits, 'growlers', and ice debris....

The dolls and I stayed up on the cliff tops.

Holly and Coco were more interested in playing with their puppies....

Eric is an Iplehouse BID Serca, that I've had for almost a year now. I had always planned for him to be a boy, even though I bought the doll with a girl's body - just in case - since I don't mind passing off a doll with a girl body as a boy, but I just wouldn't be comfortable the other way around.

But even though I really like the sculpt, and he has a great face up, there was something about him that just didn't seem quite 'right', so he's not been featured in many photo shoots, other than as someone vague in the background.

So, the other day, I finally decided to try figure out what was wrong, and see if there was something I could do about it.  Did 'he' really want to be a 'she' after all?  I tried all kinds of girlie wigs on, and even though several looked really cute, I couldn't get past the fact I'd always wanted him to be a boy.  So I did a little trimming on the Johnny wig he's been wearing all year, and I confiscated Milo's overalls and shortened the back bib. After all, the overalls were meant to be for my BIDs, and as nice as they looked on Milo, he looked like he'd totally outgrown them. 

He looked much better!  Like a slightly older brother to Coco (at least nine months older) Or maybe they could be fraternal twins?

Although he looks amazing in real life now, there's still something about his photos.
​Maybe he needs a lighter eye colour? I should go see if I have any.

Continuing with the plan of making a dent in my vast sari collection, I'm making two party dresses to fit Kaye Wiggs girls, from a pretty peach sari. Hope can't wait to try one of them on.....

The sari fabric is a bit challenging, and very time-consuming to work with, since it's
sheer and naturally very crinkly, so there's a lot of hand-basting involved. 

​The skirt detail.....

Next morning, the kids took a look out the window.  
​"The iceberg moved in the night! Let's go look!"

So they put on their sweaters and headed off on the trail for a closer look...

"Look at all the bergie bits!"

The tide was out....

So Jan was able to cross to the island...

...and pick up a small chunk of ice....

..before sneaking a photo of me and the dolls.....

We arrived in St. Anthony, at the very northern tip of Newfoundland, in the evening, and as soon as we drove into town, we could see all the icebergs out in the water. The best views were from the lighthouse at Fishing Point, where three huge icebergs were grounded....

Of course the kids wanted to come out and have a look....

They counted 17 icebergs, out and about, but the best one was the big one closest to shore....

We went on to Goose Cove, which was another 15 KM further, at the very end of the road. There were two more big icebergs close to shore there, although it was getting too dark to take any photos with the kids.

We parked for the night in the small parking lot at the end of the road, where there's a public trail overlooking the coast. This was the view from our RV after the sun went down, after 10 pm.

The road up the northern peninsula of Newfoundland follows the coast, and one of the scenic stops is Arches Provincial Park, where there's a huge rock on the edge of the pebble beach, which has 3 large arches underneath.....

The kids were fed up with all the driving, and needed another break, so out they all went...

It was very windy....

Holly and Coco made their own arch...

Holly picked a bouquet of wildflowers - including violets, buttercups, and strawberry flowers