Why do doll owners photograph their dolls?

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories?
I photography mine simply because I love to show them off. I love photography and have been practicing with various styles. They make interesting subjects and beautiful models if you have nothing else.

Do you just simply enjoy your doll and play with her without photographing her in a story?
All the time. I walk around with my dolls, dress them up, set them up and play out scenarios that I never photograph just for the fun of it.

Why do so many people in the BJD community use Doll Photography as a hobby in itself? (not owning BJDs as a hobby, but the hobby of photographing the BJDs)
I guess it's similar to a photographer photographing a model. Photography is a hobby all in it's own. Some like models, some like objects, some like scenery, some like dolls. I have been known to even photomanipulate my doll photographs as well, which is a different hobby (digital art/photomanipulation)

What do you do with these photos that you take? Do you sell them like a print? Do you have them for personal enjoyment? Why?
I generally display them on DeviantART because I try to take pride in my doll and photography. It's just fun to me (:

 

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories?

I haven't made a photostory with my new doll just yet but when she gets here I plan to. I have an idea actually, a couple, but I need a boy first...Anyway I love photography as a hobby and I love dolls as a hobby so mixing the two? I guess it was bound to happen eventually and I was going to love it. And hey, it happened! ​

Do you just simply enjoy your doll and play with her without photographing her in a story?

Yep, that I do. I enjoy the two hobbies separately and I enjoy them together. I love just taking my dolls out or attempting to make things for them. When I was in high school and had my puki I took her to school with me for the heck of it. I just loved having her there with me for some reason.​

Why do so many people in the BJD community use Doll Photography as a hobby in itself? (not owning BJDs as a hobby, but the hobby of photographing the BJDs)

This is a good question. But its like asking why do people only draw fan art, paint landscapes, only sing karaoke songs, and so on and so forth. There are different mediums but people only use them for certain things. Why? I guess it's because they like it, it's what their good at, it's what they enjoy and there's nothing at all wrong with that. ​

What do you do with these photos that you take? Do you sell them like a print? Do you have them for personal enjoyment? Why?

I normally put them on deviantart, tumblr, or flicker. I don't selling the prints. I would like to be good enough to make an art book one day but that's one of those things that would be done for personal reasons opposed to anything else. But I put them on these sites because I like to share. I enjoy looking at other peoples doll photos and I figured it would be nice if that was the same for me, if someone liked looking at my pictures. It makes me happy when people favorite my art and decide to watch me. Makes me feel good about my abilities. ​

 

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories?

I photograph my dolls because it makes me happy. I think it is a form of art and it is really hard sometimes. To get that perfect balance of light and shadow, to get the angle that makes the picture suddenly have deeper meaning, to make the viewer feel something...it's an amazing feeling.

I do photostories because in my mind, I know what is going on with my dolls, but nobody else does. They just see some dolls. But, the photostories let people see what's actually going on in my head when I see my dolls. It's really fun to have people actually want to know what happens next. I actually have a photocap comic that I'm working on. I hope that someday I can make some money off it, but for now, it's just a lot of fun.

Do you just simply enjoy your doll and play with her without photographing her in a story?

No, not really. I'm almost 20 now, so I don't really play with my dolls. I guess, doing the photostories is a bit of an excuse to play with my dolls in an artistic way.

Why do so many people in the BJD community use Doll Photography as a hobby in itself? (not owning BJDs as a hobby, but the hobby of photographing the BJDs)

I would imagine that many people who own dolls have similar opinions. They want to show off. When I do a new faceup or make a new outfit, I take a picture and post it. Plus, I think most people get into the hobby because they see the pictures of the dolls somewhere and get it into their mind that it is normal to do that as part of the hobby. The first time I had seen these dolls was on DeviantArt, and that's what got me hooked.

 

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories?

It was my photography that brought me to BJDs. My wife collects Sasha dolls and over the past several years I've photographed them for her and it occurred to me that the images would be more satisfactory if the dolls posed better. That is decidedly true...

What do you do with these photos that you take? Do you sell them like a print? Do you have them for personal enjoyment? Why?

Mostly I share them on the assorted photo sites. You'll find many of them on my Flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10884242@N00/

Tom

 

we photograph our dolls because they pose well and have so many different looks to capture.
we take pics of them as we do our own kids.

 

I don't do much photography, partly because I don't have a nice camera, and partly because I don't have much actual desire to. My major form of expression with my doll is writing stories with him because he started out as a character in a story. I bought the doll because I thought it would be nice to have an actual physical representation of the stories that I work so hard on.

Likewise, on the rare occasions that I do take pictures of my doll, I do it to portray him as the character I write about. Since his character doesn't actually know that I exist, I don't want to be in the picture with him. It might be a little different if I had a smaller doll just to have a smaller doll--something that would refer to me as mom or something, like many of the owners of the fairyland babies have. Then I'd be all about taking pictures of them with me, lol.

 

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories?
I photograph my dolls because I want others to be able to enjoy what brings me enjoyment. I like protraying my chracters/dolls doing the things I see them doing in my stories that I write. I want others to enjoy the stories too. Even if they don't understand it in the same way I do. Shrugs...I guess I just like doing it because it makes me feel good.
Do you just simply enjoy your doll and play with her without photographing her in a story?
Yes I do that too. I enjoy my dolls by just looking at them playing with them, cuddling them when I've had a bad day or when something really crappy or happy happens. But generally the 'big one' as I am called if u are all familar with Dragonlance I'm like Astinus the chronicaller in those stories to my characters.

Why do so many people in the BJD community use Doll Photography as a hobby in itself? (not owning BJDs as a hobby, but the hobby of photographing the BJDs)
I don't know maybe ask them. I mean I like phographing things and as a kid I thought about going into a photography but due to my eye sight I was told by several teachers and others that my skill would never be good enough to do that....so I suppose people like it because it preserves time in away that nothing else really can.
What do you do with these photos that you take? Do you sell them like a print? Do you have them for personal enjoyment? Why?
Heh no. I do nothing but share them on DOA and with the few friends that enjoy my photography of them and the dolls. I don't sell them because well I don't think they would be good enough to do that. I do it because I like taking photos, I get ideas or what not I just...I guess its away to connect to the characters and allow others who choose to to connect with them too through my eyes and what I see in the photos that I post. That's all.

 

Ok, I'm not a pro and I know some people here are, but I love taking photos. To me it's just one more thing to create.

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories? I photograph them because I want to convey a story, or because I think they'd look really pretty or cool in a specific setting or because I want to share the results with my bjd friends who don't get to see me and my dolls irl.

Do you just simply enjoy your doll and play with her without photographing her in a story? Yes, I constantly play with my dolls. They watch tv with me or hang out while I'm doing something sometimes.

Why do so many people in the BJD community use Doll Photography as a hobby in itself? I don't know, since I own bjds. But maybe the dolls appeal to them.

What do you do with these photos that you take? Do you sell them like a print? Do you have them for personal enjoyment? Why? My photos all go up on photobucket where I can share them with other people. Sometimes I make a thread on here or throw them into a game or something. I've printed a few small size to make Jaida a scrapbook because I have a tiny scrapbook kit.

 

I'm just a photographer by nature. I take pictures of everything. I have a bunch of random photos of my wife eating, sleeping, watching TV, etc. just because I think she's beautiful and I want to capture her in that moment. I do the same with my dolls. I think they're beautiful and I like to pose them to capture their beauty.

I haven't really done any photo stories but I want to. I just haven't because I don't have appropriate 'sets,' like backgrounds, props, or even clothes.

 

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories?
I do it because I want to show their character
Do you just simply enjoy your doll and play with her without photographing her in a story?
I like to put my dolls in different places in my room every day
Why do so many people in the BJD community use Doll Photography as a hobby in itself? (not owning BJDs as a hobby, but the hobby of photographing the BJDs)
I think its amazing how you can get some thing that's not real to show emotions
What do you do with these photos that you take? Do you sell them like a print? Do you have them for personal enjoyment? Why?
I post them on websites so others can enjoy them too

 

Why do you photograph your dolls and make photostories?
I'm a writer - and I love the idea of graphic novels. But I can't draw. And I have no intentions of dealing w/the pain of human models/actors (married one of those - & a very good friend had an acting company - I will NEVER do that...) These dolls are manna from heaven for me. I can make their outfits, cosplay them, pose them to tell my stories - FABULOUS!
Do you just simply enjoy your doll and play with them without photographing them in a story?
Well, I do enjoy fixing them up in little vignettes, making their clothes & costumes, etc.
Why do so many people in the BJD community use Doll Photography as a hobby in itself? (not owning BJDs as a hobby, but the hobby of photographing the BJDs)
Creativity. And so many of us LOVE the photos & the photo stories!
What do you do with these photos that you take? Do you sell them like a print? Do you have them for personal enjoyment? Why?
I'd love to sell one of my novels & if it was a 'graphic' novel using BJDs, how COOL that would be! But I'm just really planning on putting my stories up on a blog & letting people check them out (& posting them here of course LOL) I know I enjoy going to other peoples' photo story blogs so I hope some will enjoy mine once I'm up & running...

 

My photography skills improved after i got my doll. In a way, they're flawless models and can look very realist sometimes. I think they're picture perfect lol

 

As others, I photograph to share with others.
But most of all it it because it is in the photos that my dolls, or rather, their characters come alive. I try to photograph them so that they might look life sized or real, and in their own environment.
I don't take photos of dolls, I photograph their characters and try to make them real in a way.

This type of photographing is a whole other side of photographing dolls, far apart from taking pictures of just my dolls and their clothes, in my home. Just this way, when they sit in my home, they are my dolls. When I photograph seriously, they almost cease to be my dolls, and sometimes dolls at all. I forget about their material and all and try to let them shine through, so people can know them for their personality I have given them and not their sculpt.

 

I like photographing her because she doesn't move, so I can use long exposures and get exactly what I want.

It also gives me a sense of accomplishment to manage a decent photoshoot with her, even though I haven't done anything super stunning yet.

 

I just love the hunt for the one perfect photo. I love sharing my pics with others and I love looking at their pics, too! It's amazing to see how different one and the same sculpt can look. Taking pics is one of the biggest parts of my collecting hobbies!

 

I haven't got a BJD yet, but I will photographing them as reference for paintings. I started a project about me as a broken doll years ago and I'd love to pick that up again with a new type of model.

I will put some photos on my flickr too as I love to show off what I have been creating. I guess I love the whole sharing aspect of the doll community and photography is just the best way to share!

 

I feel like it's another form of artistic expression. The way that one puts together their own doll and the settings and poses in which he/she places can be just as artistic as brushing paint on a canvas IMO. I also photograph my dolls to share them and what I've done with them with others in the BJD community.

 

personally, i was drawn to the hobby of BJDs due to the adorable photographs! i just love the way you can capture them and make them look like a realistic, alive little person rather than just a doll. i feel like it brings a whole new dimension to them and makes them that much more fun to buy clothes for. besides that, it's just fun to show them off!

 

People photograph their BJDs in essence because of their beauty. People like to photograph beautiful things. They also photograph BJDs to express something. It could be anything really, emotion, color, anything that's in their mind that they want others to see. Since BJDs are so unique, it makes it even more pleasing to photograph something so pretty.

 

Taking pictures of your doll is a way to enjoy it and share that joy with other people.
I'm not a great fotografer but I do enjoy taking my dolls somewhere beautiful and make them part of the scenery, like a story. It is a question of imagination and taking pleasure on what you do.