Picture of the Week Award ~ March 29, 2010

Lisa Irinyi

When I found out that Lisa did not use any special effects or pixel manipulation I was amazed. This photograph of A Brighter Side Kyori just blows me away.

Here is Lisa's description in her own words:A Brighter Side Kyori is one of those dolls that’s simply perfect “as-is”. Most of my dolls get redressed eventually, but I’ve not felt any changes could make her better. I wanted to do her ethereal beauty justice with a “heavenly” photo shoot. I saw the morning sun arching through the trees, sending light and shadow across the snow piled on the side of my driveway. The quality of the light almost mimicked the pure white and deep blues of a cloud studded summer sky. I didn’t want to expose Kyori to reclining directly in the snow, so I searched for a throne befitting her regal bearing. I found a small, gilded wall shelf (a Tuesday Morning find) – and turned it upside-down in the snow…it added height, texture and visual interest to the scene without breaking the harmony or stealing the spotlight. I can’t remember exactly how cold it was outside, but I know it was below freezing – one must suffer for one’s art – LOL "

"A healthy piece of advice for shooting snow photos – dress warm, take breaks inside out of the cold if shooting for long stretches of time, power up those batteries because the cold temps drain them faster, position your doll indoors beforehand if possible because colder temps also make the plastic more brittle and susceptible to breakage, use your exposure compensation (I shoot auto, plus 1/3, 2/3 and a full stop just to cover my bases) because snow usually comes out too dark. And have fun. Try things you’re not sure of, take chances. Even if the photos don’t turn out as intended, you learned something. If you don’t even try, you never know what might have been."

I would like to explain why snow usually comes out too dark. When one is using a camera on full auto setting, the camera reads the amount of light coming in through the lens and adjusts the opening of the aperture accordingly. Since snow reflects light more than most objects, the camera shuts the opening down so less light comes in. You may have a snow setting on your camera or be able to set the picture to be brighter. Lisa's camera can be adjusted manually.

See more of Lisa's beautiful doll photography at this link.

Congratulations, Lisa, on the Picture of the Week Award!