Woodstock to Pittsburgh - Tuesday October 26, 2010

We left home at about 11 AM. Now we have a large SUV and it was loaded. Hubby asks, what are we going to do with the dolls you bring home? I didn't even think of that.
The ride was about 7.5 hours long with two stops, a few naps and some silliness with the iPhone camera. Rudy was a little trooper as usual when we travel. Check in was smooth although there was a line. I recommend that anyone checking in use the kiosks to save time waiting on line.
We settled in, unpacked and went to eat. At about 10PM I took Rudy to visit Kazue and Denise T.'s room. That put me right in the mood. Kazue was unpacking some OOAK Blythes. They are gorgeous. The elusive Marui Misaki was on display along with Momoko and many Misakis I had never seen. They are so delightful.
I was not going to buy a thing tonight but walked out with the Red Rabbit Misaki. As part of the "Misaki Madness" she was on sale for $99. Sold! It didn't take me long to make that decision. I have wanted her ever since I saw her.

For those that are not familiar with the doll, this is Integrity's picture of her. 

We're off to a good start.

My Favorite Two Tonner Dolls

Although I'm busy getting ready to leave for Pittsburgh today, these two were just aching for a photo shoot. The female doll is the 16" Comicon Supergirl Exclusive and the male is Jeremy Voss. Supergirl is wearing a new fashion from the "Gowns by Anne Harper" line called Venus Rising. Voss is wearing Simon Chase's tuxedo.
I love these two dolls. I very rarely pair up dolls or make up life stories for my vinyls but these two are now married.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Tonner Photo

Venus Rising is a lovely and ultra romantic fashion. The drapey shoulder things attach by slipping the doll's arm through an elastic circle on the underside of the rosettes. The fabric is filmy and wonderful! I was surprised by the glitter, yes girls and boys, glitter, on the rosettes. That is really cheap and non-imaginative on a fashion that retails for $114.99 There is a close-up of that detail on the Tonner site but I didn't pay attention apparently. Glitter comes off on everything and stays everywhere and no matter how long or hard you clean and vacuum, there will be glitter. It will be on your nose and your butt and on your dolls' black clothes. Glitter also snags hosiery. It belongs in sleep-away camp and that's about it.
Please, Robert, ditch the glitter.

..........

And now I'm off to pack for the FR convention. This should be an interesting one with 422 in attendance, there are bound to be some traffic jams and other surprises.  Keep watching for reports although with all the excellent photographers out there vying to post their images before anyone else does, I won't be shooting as many photos as usual. There will be many to see.  I will go for quality not quantity (if possible as I'm taking the point and shoot and not my studio camera.)

Ciao...Hasta la vista...A tout a l'heure...Toodle loo...A presto...Sampai jumpa lagi...Tα λέμε σύντομα

Fun Halloween Images from Around the Boards

For the last 2 weeks I've been collecting a few Halloween images that I thought were fun and/or beautiful. Here they are with their name and the board they post on most often.

Cherylette on Prego

Cisca Durieux on Pink Parlor

Diana P. on Studio Commissary

Johanna on Prego

Leneda Maki on Studio Commissary

Avantguard Dolls in Monica Merrill Outfits and Photographic Ruminations

My favorite Avantguard doll is wearing Monica's "Take a Letter" outfit in this photo. It fits very well. The earrings that come with this outfit are black beads. I like diamonds better. Ahem.

I love this doll and that makes me chuckle because looking at her pleases me! 

What I'm not sure about is the shadow on her face created by the light on the right side of the figure. It does repeat itself on her chest but something is off. I think I could have done without the second light on the right and j ust pumped up the power of the other strobe.  I'm shooting with one strobe reflected off an umbrella and one directly diffused strobe which I placed approximately 90° apart from eachother. I have the umbrella higher. I love using high contrast when shooting this doll. I definitely need to work harder when shooting white...it's just not as good as I envision.

In this next photo, I did eliminate the second light. The background is grayer (I could have lit that separately) and the extreme contrast is softened. Her face looks better without the distinct shadow. The big area under her face of faux fur is blown out and takes away from her face. This image could have used some pixel pushing for sure.

The shoes seen in the photo are Goldmine's own.

These last 2 images are of "Attention" Avantguard and were shot with a point and shoot using window light and fill flash from the camera.
The outfit is from a dressed Monica Merrill doll as is "Taking a Letter" and is called "Jonquil Sass." Again, the fit is excellent including the shoes. It's such an adorable outfit. The wig is from another AG doll.

It's painfully apparent to me that my point and shoot is vastly inferior to my studio, tripod-mounted camera. But I'd be taking a lot less pictures if I had to take everything into my studio to shoot. Yes, I know that the last picture above is out of focus but I wanted to let y'all see the entire outfit with shoes.

Fashion Doll Quarterly - Winter 2010 Issue

You're not seeing double. There are two covers this quarter. One will be on the newsstands and the other is for subscribers. Both covers feature the new FDQ exclusive, Devon, a Numina by Paul Pham. Devon is a gorgeous 16 inch resin BJD who wears an exclusive Patta Art wig. Her silk dress sports embellished gold epaulettes. Her bra beautifully fills in the V bodice shape.  This issue contains many wonderful photographs of Devon by Alexandra Forbes showing her in different wigs and fashions.
Devon is a Limited Edition of only 50 dolls and is available only through FDQ for $750. Mail order forms are being accepted until November 15, 2010 as long as the supply lasts. After that, there will be a lottery if dolls remain.

More information and to order click here.

Paul Pham's Dollcis Website