Picture of the Week Award ~ May 9, 2010 ~ Laura Bigger

My featured photograph this week was made by my dear friend Laura Bigger, also known as Laura/LA. Using her Nikon D90 on a tripod in natural ligh, she presents us with an image straight out of a fashion magazine. Everything works together in this photo: the directional lighting, the composition, the limited color palette. The doll is in a very natural pose supported by the angled prop while she is shielding her eyes from the sun. I love it. The doll is Fashion Royalty Dania Zarr "Exclusive Interview." Her hair was restyled by Uriah and the dress is by HJ Couture 2010. Laura's byline on DollyDaily.com is "Professional Enabler." She has certainly earned that title with me. As a result of seeing this fashion and finding out who made it, I purchased one of his creations. (Huckleberry Jackson aka HJ Couture)

I asked Laura if she had any suggestions to offer doll photography beginners and this is what she said:
"Spend lots of time looking at the doll pictures on Flickr, the doll boards and in magazines. After looking at hundreds of doll photos you will start to have a sense of what is possible, what you like and what has already been done. Pros like Terri [Thank you, Darlin'] will show you what a perfectly lit shot should look like as well as how to use a few props or many props to create an interesting composition. My second bit of advice would be to go ahead and experiment. Now that digital cameras have made each picture more or less "free" try every angle you can think of. Experiment, have fun and play with those dolls!"

See more of Laura's photography and collection at: http://www.flickr.com/people/laurala2008/

Congratulations on the Picture of the Week Award.

Picture of the Week Award ~ March 14, 2010

Our featured photographer is Denise Jefferson aka DeeinNJ. Dee is well known and admired for her creative dioramas and uncanny ability to use items commonly discarded to create settings for 1/6 scale dolls. This week's photo shows The Soiree Silkstone Barbie doll in a OOAK gown whose creator is unknown. The fur is from Silver Society Veronique and the jewelry is Joe Tai. The tiara is original to the doll.

Dee Jefferson

In this shot Soiree Barbie is making her red carpet entrance. The set was created using Barbie's red carpet runway, red posterboard, red felt, a potted plant and a cityscape backdrop. The steps are packaging inserts from the FR Loft Collection.
Dee used a Nikon Coolpix 880 camera. Lighting is natural daylight. Her suggestion to other doll photographers is to pose the doll the way a person might pose. Use props for realism.
Dee has a feature piece in the quarterly publication Fashion Doll Quarterly (FDQ) magazine. You can also see more of her beautiful work in this album.

Congratulations, Dee, on the Picture of the Week Award. I always look forward to your photos.