Hello there ♥ Today was an incredibly nice day. The weather was warm and comfortable and perfect for spending some time outdoors taking photos. Unfortunately for me, warm weather means bees, which I am absolutely petrified of. They look so cute and fluffy from far away, but as soon as they get close enough to hear their buzzing my fight/flight response kicks in. I don't know why I'm so terrified of them, but it makes taking photos difficult sometimes because I get so jumpy, heh heh.

Regardless of the bees pestering me, I was able to spend some time photographing Solstice. I decided to experiment again with some darker photography. I love how her bright hair makes her stand out so well against the dark background. 

Solstice is sort of an anomaly among my doll collection. I've never been into fantasy themes. Her antlers were sort of bought on a whim- I really had to plans for her. Her character fell into place after the antlers arrived, and her look has been an inspiration to me ever since. I doubt I'll add another fantasy themed doll to my collection in the future. I had another girl with antlers, but she never caught my eye the way that Solstice does ♥

I really enjoy this last photo. I think it's my favorite from the shoot ♥ 

Unrelated to this blog post and shoot entirely, I really want to make a doll hacks video! I've been thinking about it for so long ( months and months!) but I haven't had the motivation to gather up the materials and film it (and then edit- oh boy! tedious!). I may begin working on it next weekend ♥

I hope you enjoyed this weeks photos. Thank you for stopping by! I hope to see you again soon! (:

Hello again! Today was a dreary day; the sun hardly ever came out at all. Despite that, I felt like going outside to take some photos. I saw my Pure Neemo gals sitting on their shelf and they just looked too cute not to play with. The subject of today's little shoot is my Azone Pure Neemo Mio's Holiday. 💖 I didn't get outside until sundown, unfortunately. Because of this, the photos came out much darker and drearier than I had expected. Regardless, I think Mio looked adorable with her little bike!

I'm currently experimenting more with editing. I hope to discover some new looks I enjoy. 

Thanks for stopping by again; I hope to see you guys again soon!

Hello all! I have some more photos to share from yesterday's shoot. I didn't want to include them in the previous post because I felt like they had a different feel to them. I ventured outside with Magdelena, my Fairyland Minifee Celine. It was a chilly and windy day, but overall rather pleasant. The sun was shining which took the edge off of the breeze a bit.

As you can see, I also brought along one of my Sonny's Angel figurines. I only have a few, but I think they're adorable. If I had to choose a favorite, this snake baby would be it. 😊

Thanks for stopping by today, friends! I'll see you soon!

Hello again! Today I ventured into the out-of-doors to take my weekly ADAW photo- this time featuring Magdelena, my Fairyland Minifee Celine. 💛 I know this idea is overused, but Magdelena's top knot just seemed to fit perfectly with everyone's favorite Snapchat filter. 😉

Today I also gave this gal a little manicure. I don't know why I never did it before, since I enjoy painting my own nails so much, eheh. Minifee finger nails are so tiny and delicate! Painting them well requires quite a bit of concentration! 

I opted for a simple, single color embellished with tiny caviar beads. The materials I used were all simple- acrylic and gouache paint, caviar/micro beads (for scrapbooking and nail art), and clear gloss varnish to seal them. I think they look super cute! I was inspired by Kai of Studio Darjeeling to paint my girl's nails. I commissioned Kai to paint Magdelena's faceup and remembered that they offered doll manicures and pedicures as well! Their work is incredible and inspiring ~

And finally, here is a random shot I thought was cute from today. I love these pinstripe pants. I bought them from Milk Bunny Boutique on Etsy a while back. I wish I had more tops that looked nice with them. I don't know if it's just me, but I often neglect buying clothes, shoes, and accessories for my BJD. Everything is so expensive. I can't even justify spending $30+ on a pair of jeans for myself, so you can imagine the struggle of justifying these purchases for dolls, eheh. 

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed these photos! I'd like to thank those of you who have been continually stopping by. 😊 I hope you wander through again soon!

I went on small venture into the woods the other day and brought along Danbo. He always seems to get lost in the strangest places...

As much as I love doll photography, I think I enjoy figure/miniature photography even more. Something about making tiny things look regular size is so fun! It's hard to make things look of a regular scale when the doll posing with it has a humongous head, eheh.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these simple photos of little Danbo 😊

Hey there! Today I went outside with one of my Monster High dolls- something I don't do often enough. At one point I had 20+ Monster High girls and it was sort of out of control, eheh. I've since sold a great number of them and only kept the ones I really liked. One of them being this Home Ick Frankie Stein.

 I love her bangs and red lips! Also, the clothes she comes with are adorable- not too overly flashy like MH clothes normally are. Anyway, here are a few simple photos of her from today. I hope you enjoy!

It's time for the second recap of my ADAW 2017 project! I've been doing very well with keeping up with photography and uploads this year- I'm quite proud of myself to be honest. Here are the photos for weeks six through ten and a bit about each one. 😊💗

Week 6

I took this photo right after I took apart all of my dolls, cleaned them, and fixed their eyelids and eyelashes. It was so annoyingly tedious, but it was worth it in the end because all of my guys and gals were squeaky clean and looking good!

When I uploaded this photo to my Flickr, I also included a link to the song "Without You" by NCT-U. The title of this photo comes from a lyric in the song. I was listening to it a lot at the time and the words really connected with me.

Week 7

This was the week that my new girl, Sorrell, arrived. I hadn't gotten a new Pullip in years and I was so incredibly excited by this gal's arrival. I was very inspired this week by my history class. We had briefly covered some content about Spanish conquistadors. I thought Sorrell looked very much like the ornately dressed explorers of the time who set out to discover the new world. 

Week 8

I have two Pure Neemo girls, and although I find them immensely adorable, I don't photograph them as often as I do my Pullips. I decided for this week to take photos of my Azone Pure Neemo Happy New Year 2016 Alisa (wow, that title is such a mouthful). I found a small patch of baby grass- so cute and soft! I had to take photos of this girly in the new growth. She has such a sweet and sunshiney expression. She embodies the joy of spring!

Week 9

I took Solstice out for a sunset photoshoot for week 9 of ADAW. Something about both dusk and dawn fit this girl so well. I wasn't all that inspired for week 9, but I did begin experimenting with freelensing which I hope to do more often in the following weeks!

Week 10

I couldn't resist Sorrell's beauty for week 10, even though it seems like I just photographed her. Again, this week I had little creative inspiration, but a lot of excitement for experimenting with freelensing! (Check out my post on freelensing if you want to read more about it!) 

Thanks for stopping by to catch the recap of ADAW 6-10. I look forward to the next 5 weeks! I hope I can find some better inspiration. Have a great week everyone!

Years ago I read of a photography method called freelensing, also known as lens whacking. For those of you who aren't familiar with the technique, freelensing involves detaching the lens from the body of the camera and manipulating its position in front of the lens mount to produce a hazy, macro like focus. Freelensing can create a similar effect to that of expensive tilt shift lenses. Although it's a bit risky to have the camera's inner mechanics exposed, the result is too cool to not give it a whirl! I decided to try it again after years of being too scared. 

I'd only tried it once or twice before, and I was so worried that I would destroy my camera that I swore it off for a long time. I really want to get better at the technique, though, and practice makes perfect! 

I tried out this technique with two dolls, as well as on some random plants and branched. Unfortunately, nothing has bloomed yet. I look forward to practicing my freelensing on flowers! Here are some examples of what I've done so far.

I think Sorrell's eyes look so striking in this photo! Freelensing is very difficult with dolls. I have a hard time deciding where to make the focal point.

I took this shot of Solstice a few days ago. I like the way her antlers and the straw in the background look when freelensed. 

And finally, a boring shot of some branches. I really enjoyed the colors of this photo so I decided to include it. 😊

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon!

Bonus Photo : Black and white version of the first photo 😀❤

Hello there! Today I have a few photos of my newest addition, Sorrell, a Pullip Veritas Deep Crimson Version. She is honestly the most captivating stock Pullip I've ever laid eyes on!! I'm always enamored by her beauty!

It was a very nice day today- mild temperatures and a light breeze made it perfect for spending some time outside photographing this girl. 

Her stock outfit is incredible!! I know I've said this before and I apologize for gushing about her. I just can't get enough of her!! I've only recently gotten into more ornate and luxurious styles. I went through a long phase when I loved minimalist and more simple and cute styles. I still love these, but I can't help but indulging myself in intricate and grand styles once in a while. 

This girl is definitely a shelf doll for me. She won't have a very in depth character and her style will never change. I'll most likely keep her in her stock outfit for as long as I own her. She's a beautiful display piece and looks gorgeous standing in my doll cabinet. 

As much as I adore the deep crimson and iridescent gold of her look, I couldn't resist trying a black and white shot! Black and white photography is definitely something I'd like to improve on. 

I hope you enjoyed this little shoot! Thanks for stopping by!

Hello there! This week's ADAW photo was a bit of a struggle. I have been having trouble finding motivation for my photography. Luckily, once I finally went outside to take some photos I really enjoyed myself. Things are budding and regaining their color. I really like the way there are bright flashes of color among the still dull background of early spring.

Thanks for stopping by to read about today's shoot! I hope you enjoyed! 💚

Hello! This week for ADAW I took my Azone Pure Neemo Happy New Year 2016 Alisa outside for a little photoshoot. 💛 Unfortunately, I didn't get as many photos of her as I'd have liked, but I did photography Danbo a bit as well. 😊 I enjoy collecting these cute figures like Danbo, Sonny's Angel, and Tokidoki; I really should photograph them more.

It was very warm today- it almost hit 80 degrees! It was also very sunny. This again interfered with my recent darker photography style. I'm so torn- I love vibrant colors but I also love the look of washed-out and pale photography. I enjoy the look of sun-bleached film. When I'm editing photos, I go through such a struggle deciding which road to take- vibrant or pale? Light or dark? So many decisions....

I love the way Danbo's eyes light up! They're kind of spooky, don't you think? I'm always super cautious when using his eye lights; I don't want them to burn out so I only switch them on when I'm taking photos. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed these photos! 💛

Hello ~ Today it was unseasonably warm outside, but naturally I was feeling lazy and didn't want to venture out with dolls and equipment for taking photos, eheheh. I told myself that I would take some photos today, so to check that off my list I opted for a small photoshoot indoors. 

I have always been very unsatisfied with my indoor photography. I don't really know why I have such a hard time with it. I need a lot of practice, for sure. 

The subject of this shoot was Lucy, my Pullip Regeneration Paja. I had her listed for sale at one point, but I've decided to keep her. I love her in her dino pajamas too much to part with her. 😊 I have realized the problem between my dolls and I and why I eventually give up and try to sell them. I buy dolls I am attracted to because of their stock look. Maybe there is one or two things I want to change about them, but overall it's their factory look that I am initially drawn to. For some reason, once I get a doll, I try and change everything about them. I realized this when I took this girl out and replaced her original eyechips. I love the look of them so much, but for some reason I changed her look completely upon her arrival. Once I put her back into her stock outfit, I realized I should try and stick to what I liked in the first place.

Talking about these photos- they seem very different than what I have been working on recently. I've noticed my photography has taken on a rather dark look. This is partly because of how dreary everything has been lately, but also because I really enjoy dark, rich colors. It's interesting to take a lighter turn again, but it also reminds me another thing I am not a fan of when it comes to indoor photography. My lighting situation is so hard to work with. I have two photography lamps, but only one is currently working which makes photographing in a well balanced and lit area is difficult. It makes manipulating lighting a challenge for me.

Well, I believe that is it for this shoot. It was nice to photograph a girl I hadn't seen in a while and a good learning experience when it comes to working with indoor lighting issues. I hope you enjoy these photos 💚😊

Hello there 💖 Today I received a very special package in the mail. Last week I ordered a new girl and I am so happy to introduce her now! Her name is Sorrell and she is a Pullip Veritas Deep Crimson Version. I remember falling in love with the original Veritas release when it was already too late and she was sold out. I am glad Groove re-releases similar dolls from time to time, such as in their Regeneration Series. It allows new collectors to own some of the models that made Pullip so popular in its beginnings. 😊

A bit about this girl's character: Her name is Sorrell and she is an explorer set out to conquer the New World. She spends months at sea in search of opportunity and truth. 

I've already made a few changes to her stock look. I put her on a 27cm white Obitsu, gave her some gold CoolCat eyechips, and applied some new and fuller lashes. Here is how she looks now 💖

I am in love with her entire look! She is from a new line of Pullip dolls called "Pullip Premium". They're supposedly made of higher quality materials than usual. I was skeptical of this when ordering her, because the last doll I purchased with an elaborate outfit (a Pullip Marianne) was very poorly made with pieces missing, falling apart, and damaged. I thought "Pullip Premium" sounded too good to be true. I was so wrong! This girl's outfit is incredible! The fabric is detailed and beautiful; her entire outfit is filled with shimmering metal and lace embellishments. Everything down to the pleats in her skirt are top-notch and in perfect condition. I really hope Groove releases more dolls like her! It really makes me more comfortable with spending money on Pullip dolls. Here are some photos of Sorrell's outfit.