Omg, long time no see you! ~ 💙
Lately I’ve been busy for several reasons and one of them was this: I attended the Animefest CZ 2019 as a guest to give a talk about Doll Photography! 😍
Come in and I’ll tell you everything ~ 😊
Welcome to Animefest! ✨
Animefest is convention about manga, anime and Japanese culture that has been held in Brno (Czech Republic) since 2004.
A few months ago, I was invited to attend as a guest to give a talk about Doll Photography thanks to Figubo, the photo project of which I participate along with other excellent photographers. When they invited me I was like “OMG”, I never imagined being able to do this kind of things! 😱😱
The experience was truly amazing. From the first minute we arrived at the Vienna airport until the last moment, the Animefest team was super attentive and really nice. Once there I could also meet the other guests and it was great to share experiences with such interesting people, with so much talent and so much passion for what they do. I hope I can see them again on other occasions!! 💙💙
Doll & Toy Photography exhibition with Figubo 📸
I’ve been exhibiting with Figubo since 2016 and I’ve finally been able to meet the team behind it! 🥳🥳
Thank you very much for everything, there is so much work in a project like that and seeing that many people were interested in Doll & Toy Photography there made me happy the day.
This year I exhibited 2 photos, the one with Glitch looking at the laptop and Coco surrounded by flowers. The rest of the photos belong to: abuwhobi, Alphond, Ateens, Bellechan, EXkurogane, fsdlingr, Gale XV, Grishnakh, HunterXv2, Kinako, kitamin, kixkillradio, kiyurohi, 余月koko, Manjuu, Nekoko, nisshi, Nono, TupTub, unknowdata, Vince454, Wndrenvy and Zodake. It’s an honor to be among these camera artists 🙏
Furthermore, Figubo gave me this Coco’s print (which by the way, it’s huge and has an amazing detail and texture 😍) and a copy of this year’s Photobook. These things make me so happy! 💙
My Doll Photography talk! ≧◡≦
© Photo: Lukáš Kozlík photography
THE TIME HAS COME! 🎉
My talk began on Saturday at 3pm. I wanted it to be entertaining and in also show all the work behind this hobby.
It was my very first talk in English so I was kind of nervous, but in the end I felt super comfortable and it went great ≧◡≦
@ Photo: Vojtěch Tomeš
The show lasted 50 minutes and it was divided into 3 parts:
- Introduction to the Doll Photography world and what you need to start in the hobby
- Demonstration of how I take a doll photo
- Edition of the photo
The idea of doing so was totally mine and I know I took the risk: actually, the time was super tight to do all of that xDD
But yeah, I would do it again because I think it’s the best way to show what goes on behind the scenes in this kind of photos 😊
The final picture! 💚
1. Original photo that I took there live
There was a lot of natural light since the stage was in a room full of windows.
This was an added difficulty because I designed this photo to be taken in a dark room or with light control (below you can see the test I did!). Still, I’m happy with the result 💚
2. Live edition
This was the final result at the end of my talk.
If you notice, I removed the cable, the apple, I edited the shadows and lights and modified the colors a little.
3. Later edition
This is the final photo that I had in mind and that I finished editing once I got home.
I like it because it looks like she’s in a closed room but she’s actually on a stage with a glass roof in broad daylight 😆
Watch the full talk! 🎥
Tests and essays before the talk 💡
The idea of the photo was to show Futaba, from the videogame Persona5, in his natural habitat, among computers, using green tones and trying to recreate her room.
Thanks for the Glitch cosplay idea, Nikn ♡
The following photos are LED tests I did weeks before the convention:
Final result of the test
So this is all for now! Many thanks to the people who attended the talk, asked me some questions and came to say hello ♡ I had a great time at the convention, there was a very nice family mood and the people were super happy!! 😍😍
I can only say that it was an amazing experience, a thousand thanks to the team of Animefest CZ and Figubo, I really felt at home. I also had a blast with the other guests, traveling and meeting new people fills your soul 💙
Steph | June 15, 2019
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Hello!
I just wanted to say I really love your blog, and all the content it provides! I’m a not so new doll collector, but I get so shy about taking photos of my dolls or sharing any of my little at home projects. Your blog definately helps me overcome that! I’m so glad your talk went well, it looks wonderfully informative!
orchiddolls | Author | June 17, 2019
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Hi Steph!
Your comment made me so happy!!! ^_^
I was shy at the beginning too, because this isn’t the most common hobby in the world, you know… but once I started sharing my pictures and my girls I felt great! The doll community is so nice and inclusive. The most important thing is that you do what makes you happy! ♡
Pastel Dreams | December 3, 2020
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Hi! I’m a beginner doll photographer and was struggling for advice and help when I came across your blog! It’s so helpful! How much did photoshop cost? And do you have any tips on how to do doll collecting and photos on a tight budget? Thanks! I’m a big fan and love your dolls. You are amazing! ( I have a blog that I’ve started posting my photos on called Pastel Dreamland, at https://whittycat.blogspot.com and it would be mean a lot if you took a look. I mostly just did reviews and things but you and other doll photographers like you inspired me to start this whole thing as an official hobby! Thank you again!) 💕
orchiddolls | Author | December 3, 2020
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Hi! I’m glad my blog is helpful and that you like my dolls ♡
About the photoshop, it depends on the plan you choose, take a look: https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
There’re also free similar programs like Gimp ^_^
Then, if you want to take doll photos on a tight budget, I recommend you to use natural light. Look for a nice window and play with diffusers, lights, shadows, just have fun! You’ll learn a lot just using the natural light (and it’s free! XD). Using a reflector is a cheap and easy way to improve the photo 😉
I took a look at your blog, it looks so cute! Your doll photography is telling stories so keep up with the good job ^_^