I had originally wanted to photograph the Christening scene before Baron's 'birthday' on October 21st, so I could post it on the actual date. It was going to be a private affair, with just the parents, grandparents, and godparents. But I was waiting for an opportunity at our son's movie studio, so in the meantime, I did a practice set-up at home on the dining room table, so I'd know exactly how to set up everything once we got to the studio.
I had found a candle stand at Value Village, which would make the perfect baptismal font.
Jan removed the spike inside which would have held a candle, and it seemed that it might actually hold water.
Jan removed the spike inside which would have held a candle, and it seemed that it might actually hold water.
I decided that the godparents were not going to be 'sexist', with Lawrence holding the son, and Monica the daughter, but to do it the other way round, with Lawrence holding the girl, and Monica the boy...
So, everyone was all set for whenever we'd be able to go to the studio.
the Christening
After a few postponements, we finally had a time-slot on November 22nd, to photograph the Christening at the movie studio.
Our son's movie studio, the Immersion Room, had moved to a new, much larger location into one of the movie studios at Downsview Park since the last time I'd taken dolls for photos. This time we were able to drive the car right in and park right beside the set, which helped considerably with unloading everything.
My sister had asked if she could come along to watch, and she took some photos when I was setting up the first scene. I had taken along a printout of the scene at home so I'd know exactly how to set up the scene, with the wooden shelves as risers at the altar. The dolls were set up on a moveable riser, so the scene could be rotated.
Our son's movie studio, the Immersion Room, had moved to a new, much larger location into one of the movie studios at Downsview Park since the last time I'd taken dolls for photos. This time we were able to drive the car right in and park right beside the set, which helped considerably with unloading everything.
My sister had asked if she could come along to watch, and she took some photos when I was setting up the first scene. I had taken along a printout of the scene at home so I'd know exactly how to set up the scene, with the wooden shelves as risers at the altar. The dolls were set up on a moveable riser, so the scene could be rotated.
She took photos of me taking close-ups of the dolls in the first scene...
I was basically shooting 'forced perspective' with the cathedral interior shrunken to quarter scale in the background...
Jan was on candle-lighting duty, and had to light the candles before each scene. I had brought along six candle stands, which helped tie the foreground into the background, by making it hard to tell which candles were real and which ones were part of the background.
I'd take close-up photos...
Then we'd blow out the candles, I'd change the scene, the candles would be lit again, and I'd take more photos...
The studio was a busy place, and I was feeling rather stressed working in front of an entire movie production team, so sometimes left stuff in frame - like my water bottle.
And I also would forget to shoot some wider scenes, so it would take some creative cropping...
When I was done, and put down my camera, our son picked it up and shot some photos of the studio with us cleaning up....
My feet were dead at that point, so I sat down to pack up the dolls...
...while my sister kindly passed them to me...
Another amazing photo opportunity had come to an end.
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