In which I post amateur pictures of my first ever doll

So I ordered Harmony last week, and a few days ago, and I figured I'd take a bunch of photos of her, both to get used to posing a massive doll, and because it's fun.

 

Compared to some of the pics y'all have posted, I'm a pretty terrible photographer, but oh well, I guess it's all part of the learning experience

 

 

 

Pics of dolls peeking out and climbing out of their bags seem pretty common, and it was pretty fun doing these.

 

 

I kinda regret getting such skimpy clothes for her, especially as her only outfit. I'm planning on getting some classier clothes for her after my next pay day.

 

 

One thing I never realised was how pretty doll eyes are. I just never picked up the shine and detail in pictures I saw online

 

 

I am a firm believer that any figure's possibility should be judged by its ability to do a JoJo pose. Harmony here wasn't perfect, on account that she doesn't have a hand piece where she's showing the finger, but she still gets a passing grade!

LOl at the last pic.

 

I'm glad you like her! Don't worry about your photos not being masterpieces at first, my first photos absolutely sucked. And now....they still kinda suck, but they suck less.

 

Doll eyes are beautiful in person! The smartdoll ones are especially shiny - Eiji's defaults werent that impressive, maybe because they're grey, but I was blown away by the blue ones I got him later.

(Volks seem to be here and there - the standard ones they sell are merely okay imo but Rin's eyes are so deep and shiny they amaze me every time.)

Congrats on your first doll. You can only get better by taking more photos, so keep taking them and posting. On a side note, not sure what you were using to take the photos, and it could also be my screen, but check your white balance because she looks purple to me.

Congrats!

 

When my first girl Amber arrived about a year and a half ago, I got entranced by her eyes too. It's something photos on the web just didn't properly convey. The eyes really pop in person.

 

As for clothes, Harmony will build a wardrobe over time. She looks fine in her first outfit.

 

And don't worry about your photography. I think I'm the worst photographer here with my tablet phone and dungeon-like lighting, and you're in no danger of taking my title away from me. The important thing is to enjoy yourself.

Practice makes perfect.

 

Your doll is lovely! I hope to see more of her. Keep taking photos and making up stories or settings for her to pose in. It's great fun!

So a bunch of new clothes arrived at my office round the same time, and I figured it'd be a good excuse to take a few more shots of Neela.

 

I'm still far from being competent at photography, but its still fun for what its worth. Really need to work on my lighting though I don't have much of an idea where to start.

 

 

I got the poncho jacket from Danny Choo's, though unfortunately, I'm a little disappointed with the overall look. It doesn't look very nice buttoned up, and I don't have the right clothes to go with it opened up.

 

 

On the plus side, I'm really happy with this sweater I got from Cool Cat. The white brings out her skin colour really nicely, and I love her little necklace.

Ich love this sweater.

Ich love this sweater.

Agreed. She looks so perfect in it!

Wow your doll is so adorable! I really love that white sweater btw. I've got two of those keyhole sweaters myself.

Aww, thanks for the comments guys! I really appreciate it!

 

Speaking of, Neela's gotten some new clothes and wigs, so I figured I'd share a few new pics:

 

 

 

She's also gotten a bunch of new wigs to try

 

 

First up is this minty, sci fi bob wig. I really like it, but I'm not entirely convinced it fits Neela. I find that I tend to dress her up in either white or earthy colours, and they don't really match the wig. I've been planning on eventually getting another doll down the tracks, and will likely have an eye for one that can wear this wig well.

 

 

This on the other hand is probably my new favourite look for her. I really prefer the black hair rather than her original dark brown, and as an added bonus, her fringe is higher and doesn't block out her left eye anymore!

She looks great! My next girl is gonna be Chitose in the Cocoa skin, so I'm always glad to see reference pictures of that skin tone.

How are you finding taking photos of her? Her skin tone looks pretty consistent in all your shots, but I've heard of people struggling with it turning purple in some light.

Thanks!

 

Honestly, I'm just pointing my iPhone at her and snapping shots. The flash is always on, but that's mainly because the lighting in my house is fairly poor, especially at night, which is when I take a majority of my pics of her.

 

Regarding the purple thing, I suspect that monitor settings are playing a role. A poster earlier in this thread said she looked purple in some of the pics, whereas those same pics look fine to me.

 

In person, I think the skin tone looks good when she's on her own or next to other vinyl dolls. However, do note her skin tone is kinda 'anime black person,' and while she looks good next to other anime looking dolls, she does look off and even purple tinged when next to more realistic dolls with dark skin.

So I've gotten a bunch of new clothes, and thus new pics!

 

Since it's summer here in Sydney, I've been wanting to get some summer clothes, since most of Neela's wardrobe is winter stuff.

 

 

 

I particularly like the sheer dress from Danny Choo. In addition to just looking nice, it fit's Neela's L bust. At least from the few outfits I've bought, I've noticed its a lot harder to buy lighter / summer gear for larger bust dolls.

 

 

I really love this hoodie from TTYA. Admittedly this goes completely against what I just said about wanting more summer clothes, but this is probably my single favourite item in Neela's wardrobe at the moment.

 

 

 

So far, most my pics have been fairly static shots of Neela from the front. I'm trying to be a little more dynamic and actually pose her a little, but am still getting used to the idea of doll photography.

 

 

My cat also showed interest in Neela for like the first time ever. Except for that one time she chewed her shoe.

 

 

Unfortunately for Neela, she was too high up to make a speedy getaway

I really like the posing in the last shot. I too definitely found it hard to get used to posing dolls when I first started but I think you are off to a very good start!

 

I also like the hoodie/jeans/shoes outfit. It looks casual yet is definitely the outfit of a fashion-minded person.

I've recently gotten my first DD, and decided to snap some shots of her with Neela

 

 

To be honest, I have no idea what they're doing here:

 

The last photo looks like they're modelling for an anime promo poster. I like it a lot!

So I'm a big fan of Steven Universe, and saw new blind bags of the characters being sold. Being allergic to money, I bought a bunch and thought it'd be fun to take pictures of my dolls having their own dolls. We must go deeper

 

 

 

Neela to the left is holding a Watermelon Steven, and Sanada has a little Stevonie. For anyone curious, the other characters I got was Steven and double Amethysts. I was hoping for Lapis or Peridot, but I'm pretty sure all of Sydney had already felt for and bought those two before I ever got to them.

I like the red eyes on the new addition. What kind are they/where did you get them?

 

Hopefully the new wig for Neela is still working for you, because I also think it looks good on her.

I like the red eyes on the new addition. What kind are they/where did you get them?

 

Hopefully the new wig for Neela is still working for you, because I also think it looks good on her.

 

I got the eyes from Lizanna. They make acrylic eyes with metallic paint that look fantastic in person. The website appears to be down at the moment though.

 

And yeah, Neela's new wig is definitely working for me. Its basically become her new 'default' wig; I switch it up occasionally for variety, but always return to the black bobcut.

Got a couple new items of clothing from Nine9, so I figured it was time for more shots!

 

Unfortunately, Neela's L bust strikes again, as the clothes I got from her look a little odd, and so have by default become Sanada's.

 

Unfortunately, this continues the track record of nothing but the more skimpy outfits looking quite right on Neela. Because of this I'm now rethinking how I dress both these dolls, and going forward, I think Sanada is going to be the more sensibly dressed of the duo, while Neela goes for a more daring style.

 

I also need to figure out how I'm going to approach shots with Smart Dolls using the default faceup. The vacant smile most of them had never really stood out to me when I just had Neela, but Sanada's much more striking expression does tend to drown out Neela when both of them are in view. If anyone has any tips on how to draw out a bit more personality from the Smart Doll face up, I'd be super grateful.

 

Anyway, enough of me ranting. Here's some shots

 

 

 

 

In my continuing struggle to come up with a look for Neela, I've gotten some clothes from Alice's Collection!

 

First up is a simple vest, t-shirt and jeans combo. The amount of denim is a little overkill, but I don't have any other bottoms that work with her top, so they'll have to do for now.

 

DSC_0260 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0261 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0265 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0270 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

Unfortunately, her L-bust strikes yet again in that the poor girl looks cold when she's just wearing her t-shirt

 

DSC_0257 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

As I had mentioned in some of my prior posts, I've been trying to find ways to contrast Neela's style of dress with Sanada, my DD3. At present, they share a lot of their clothes, and the more modestly proportioned Sanada basically wears all of them better. So I've been trying to go for a more overtly sexy look for Neela, which hopefully plays to her L-bust's strengths

 

DSC_0280 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0271 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

While I'm not entirely happy with this top (the collar looks like it was made for a giant), I feel that I've finally found the kind of look that works for Neela, and helps her stand out a little more.

 

Mythal the cat seemed to approve

 

DSC_0275 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0276 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0291 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

Wow, it's been a while since I took some photos of the dolls. Life's been pretty busy lately, and my finances were a little too tight to go splurging on doll stuff, but thankfully things are getting back to normal again.

 

So I got a new wig that I plan on giving to a future doll I have planned, but decided Neela could model it for the time being. I rather like it on her, though I think I'll eventually go back to her black bob cut.

 

DSC_0305 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0314 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

 

DSC_0317 by SolicitorPirate, on Flickr

In my continuing struggle to come up with a look for Neela, I've gotten some clothes from Alice's Collection!

 

First up is a simple vest, t-shirt and jeans combo. The amount of denim is a little overkill, but I don't have any other bottoms that work with her top, so they'll have to do for now.

 

[snipped the photos for space]

 

I was really enjoying the pictures, especially the last look, when I realized your cat's name is Mythal and then I got distracted by that and I'm not even sorry (I'm a little sorry). So now I have to ask, the only Mythal I know of is a Dragon Age character, is it a reference? :3

 

I really like the cotton candy wig on her, to reference your most recent post! Something about pastels on dark skintones is just what the doctor ordered, for me.

@Minuette

 

Lol, you noticed! Yeah, I'm a giant BioWare mark. When I first got her, I was thinking of either naming her Shepard or one of the Elven gods in Dragon Age. In the end, Shepard was crossed out because there wasn't a y'know, Vakarian. My friend then suggested Mythal, and I liked that and stuck with it.

 

Also because Fen'haral would have been ridiculous to say out loud at the vet

 

And yeah! Pastel colours do work really well with dark skin! As I've said, I plan to eventually go back to the black bobcut, but there's a reason I've kept the new wig on her for so long

@Minuette

 

Lol, you noticed! Yeah, I'm a giant BioWare mark. When I first got her, I was thinking of either naming her Shepard or one of the Elven gods in Dragon Age. In the end, Shepard was crossed out because there wasn't a y'know, Vakarian. My friend then suggested Mythal, and I liked that and stuck with it.

 

Also because Fen'haral would have been ridiculous to say out loud at the vet

 

And yeah! Pastel colours do work really well with dark skin! As I've said, I plan to eventually go back to the black bobcut, but there's a reason I've kept the new wig on her for so long

 

I don't know what you mean, Fen'Harel is an excellent name for a cat. ;P I'm an insanely huge Dragon Age fan/lore nut, so it stuck out to me immediately, haha. I've been trying to find the perfect doll to shell my Lavellan OCs in to, it's been a process.