Behind the Scenes

11/25/2022

Now that we've come to the end of the story, it's time to share the rest of my Behind the Scene secrets from all the various photo shoots where I actually remembered to take photos....

Evening Banquet

One of the most important aspects of doll photography is the lighting. This scene for Chapter 3 after Kassia was human again, living in a castle full of cats, was taken way back in October of 2020. It was supposed to be evening, and to get that kind of lighting, I need to take the photos in the morning, with the dining room table rotated and pushed away from the window. The set curtains need to be drawn to hide my French doors.

My dining room faces west, so there's less light coming in in the mornings. Then with the candles, the lighting on set is perfect for a scene that's supposed to be taking place in the evening...

Horseback in Autumn

I wanted to show the passing of time throughout the story, so took photos in all four seasons. There's a short dead-end road up in the country north of here where I liked going to take doll photos.

I'll set up the dolls, then get down on the ground to take their photos, and if any adjustments needed to be made, I'd have to ask Jan to do them for me.

It's important to take the photos at the doll's eye level in order for forced perspective to work...

Unfortunately this spot is no longer usable. They are building a brand new city up there from scratch, and the entire area has been built up with hundreds of new houses. Progress, I guess?

7 Comments

Nancy

11/25/2022 07:35:18 am

I always enjoy seeing your behind the scenes photos. Sorry you’ve lost that great location. “Progress” is always a double edged sword.

Martha

11/25/2022 08:20:32 am

I have a whole series of Behind the Scenes posts coming up, since I decided not to share them all at once in one very LONG post. Instead I'm doing just two or three at a time.

Dorothy

11/25/2022 07:54:36 am

I am so smiling as I look at these photos.

Seeing the photo of you sitting on the ground lets us know how hard you work to take the wonderful photos that you do. Thank you so much for telling these stories and sharing a bit of your life with us.

Martha

11/25/2022 08:21:39 am

Getting down on the ground is hard, but getting up is even worse. Thankfully the dolls were on horses, which meant I didn't have to lay down even lower.

Donna

11/26/2022 05:23:29 am

I always love your behind the scenes photos. Each one is a mini lesson in doll photography. Thank you for sharing how you create the magic 🙂.

Janet Farrell

12/11/2022 10:53:25 am

I see you use clothes pegs much the same way as I do. LOL. They certainly don’t hold my washing up🤣

Martha

12/11/2022 11:07:56 am

I use clothes pins to secure the wallhangings, which are folded over the tops of the walls. I also use them to hang paintings and smaller wall hangings which are on strings. The walls are just foam core, and wouldn't last very long with pins stuck into them, but they don't seem to mind clothes pins along the top.