Seen On-line

Freddy Tan, doll repainter extraordinaire posted his repaint of Draculaura, a Monster High doll. This is fabulous. She looks so pretty now. Now my MH girls look so boring. Sigh.....

She is on eBay for sale at this time. I'm looking forward to seeing what this little gem goes for.

Freddy's photography is pretty spectacular, too.

Seen on Studio Commissary

"What a difference flash makes," said Vicki Walker, who posted these identical images of Ivy Jordan. In the first, no flash was used.  The immediate difference one sees are highlights and shadows but there is much more.
I'm guessing her camera was on Automatic. When a camera reads the available light (even when using flash), it will adjust the length of exposure and aperture opening to properly light the subject. The longer a shutter stays open or the wider the aperture, the greater the effect on sharpness of the image.  With a camera that's not on a tripod, there is more of an opportunity for a blurry photo.
I'm trying to explain this simply but I realize that many will not understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture opening and the like. These images speak volumes.
The reason I think these photos are so important is that many collectors are afraid of using flash. There are many more reasons to be afraid of not using enough light or only using existing light.

Focus is soft, distracting spots of light and shadow on nose, chin and chest, eyes are dark.

Face is beautifully clear, eyes have enough light, highlights on hair sparkle, vinyl and dress fabric look like their actual color, overall sharpness is very good.

The only issue in this photo is the shadow cast by the flash behind the doll, but that is a topic I cover in my next FDQ article.

If you blinked, you missed it.

Quick as a wink, two new Sybarites were posted on the Superfrock.com site and were sold. Gone. I never even got to see good pictures of them. There are four dolls in this wave - two are evil and two are good. The two that disappeared this morning are DeHood and Heroette.

I just know that in a few days I will see one or both of them offered for twice the price with the lame excuse that the poor buyer just got some car repair bills, needs a new roof and can't keep the doll. I'd like to see them just come out and say that they beat out the other speculators. Just sell it and quit the lies.

Images from the site.

A friend was able to capture these images and graciously sent them to me.