Tiny Mouse Portraits

Ever since I shot the additional scenes for my Forest Dweller Christmas book, I've been inspired to photograph my little mice in tiny scenes of their own. Now, I'm used to taking doll photos in huge scenes covering my entire dining room table, but my mice are just 10 cm tall, so they need a totally different approach. I need a close crop scene with a blurry background, and that requires a totally different kind of set up.

The first scene I remembered to take 'behind the scene shots' for was Muffy reading in bed with Christmas tree lights in the background. It's easier for me to take the photos if my subject is raised, so I set up the scene on two of my prop boxes....

I used the base of a clock for her 'headboard', and the edge of my Storyteller's coat as her quilt...

Then I added the props and took the photos very close up....

For Mannie reading at the window I was inspired by an empty box of matches. I use a lot of matches constantly lighting up the candles in my Medieval scenes, and then blowing them out again, and I'd finished an entire box of matches.  Before throwing it into recycle I thought to use it as a mouse bed. So I set up a scene by the window, raised on a box and some books so the bed would be the right height.

Then I took the close up photos...

For the Bubble Bath Day photos I did something similar, but because I was planning on using real soap bubbles I needed something more water resistant than one of my cardboard prop boxes. I didn't want to risk using the big Medieval table either, so I found a different table where it wouldn't matter as much. It wasn't quite wide enough for the entire scene, but fortunately I had another small table the same height. 

 Now, the mouse can't actually be submerged in real foam, so her 'bath bubbles' are made using tiny bubble wrap and clear beads. Then I whisked up some water with dish washing liquid and dropped it strategically over the outside of the cup and saucer, and took my photos....