Doll Photo Shoot :)

Hi everyone!  Thanks for all of the entries for the BFC Ink blouse giveaway so far.  Remember, you only have until this Friday to enter!

This Wednesday, March 6th, is the deadline for the latest photo contest from The Doll Wardrobe blog.  I always enjoy taking part in their photo contests.  It's great taking the time to capture my dolls on film.  I'm always reminded of why I enjoy my vinyl gals so much, and I find that it keeps me satisfied with the dolls I have. ;)

I thought I'd have to sit the contest out this time around.  Between the girls getting sick, previous commitments, and other obligations, I was having issues finding the time to get the pictures I needed (although I've had several ideas since the contest was announced in December).  But today, the beautiful spring weather beckoned and I couldn't resist grabbing my camera and a few dolls. :)

These are not my most spectacular pictures ever, but I'm still happy with them.  It was so great to do a photo shoot again after such a long time.  I enjoyed playing around on ribbet.com (my go-to photo editing site since picnik.com shut down), editing the pictures and making them look just right.  I thought you might enjoy seeing them as well.

So first off, these are the three entries that made the cut. ;)  For this particular photo contest, you had to choose from a list of themes, pick three, and take pictures to illustrate those themes.  (If you want to read all the rules or even enter yourself, you can get more info HERE.  Better hurry, though.  The contest ends on Wednesday!)

Jenna represents "Portrait".  This is an outdoor portrait of her.  (Yeah, I'm not all that great with thinking outside of the box when it comes to this sort of thing.  I'm way too literal. :}  I suppose there are worse faults, though.) ;)

Tess represents "Romantic".  I kind of thought of Snow White waiting for Prince Charming's kiss when I saw how this one turned out.  What do you think? ;)

Maggie represents "Allegory".  Every time I hear that word I instantly think of "The Chronicles of Narnia", which contains many allegorical references to Christianity.  I was kind of experimenting with this photo, and I'm still not sure I'm 100% pleased with the results.  I was trying to capture Maggie reading while surrounding by her Narnian toys and collectibles.

Here are some of the photos I thought about using:

Hayden represents "Sketch" in this picture.  I took several photos of her sketching in her sketchpad, but was not completely satisfied with the way any of them turned out.

Another take on "Sketch".

I'm not really sure what Jenna was representing here (which is one of the reasons I decided not to use this photo).  It could have worked for "Portrait", "Close Up", "Romantic", or "Mood", I suppose.  

Same with this one.  :)

Here are two other "Allegory" shots I tried: 

It might have been better for me to use this one since the lion is not quite as out of focus.  Oh well. :}

This one focused on the lion and had the other things in the background.  I didn't use this one because I felt that since the book was my focus, it needed to be clear in the photo.

Another angle of "Romantic" (I liked the one I used better).

This was yet another take on "Romantic".  I really liked this picture, but decided to use the other one because it felt more "artsy", if you know what I mean. ;)

This one could have been "Romantic" or "Color", I suppose.  I liked this one too, but in the end I wanted something a little more unique.

There were several other attempts, but these were the main ones.  I really enjoyed myself, although my neighbors might think I'm a little nuts. ;)  That's the downside to having all the best photo spots in the front yard, I suppose. ;)  Of course, who am I kidding?  It's not like they haven't seen me trudging out there with a box full of dolls before. :}

Hope you're all having a wonderful week.  Talk to you soon! :)