Hi :)

Just my little intro to the community.

I've been a doll collector for many years now and expanded my collection with DD's when Saber Alter v2 came out.
I think she came out in 2012, gosh time flies when you are having fun.

I was pretty active (same handle) on a different doll forum but took a 9 year break from the hobby and when I got my jive back everyone had left haha.
Photography of dolls is something I am focusing on at the moment, I love to see others people doll photos and hear tips/tricks to improve my own photography skills.

The current dolls that I own are:
- Volks Saber Alter v2
- Volks Kizuna Ai
- custom MDD
- Smartdoll Cherry

There are a few other dolls that might be on-topic but I haven't done enough research on this forum for them to be on my owner's list.

I've logged into my old Flickr account, but I was wondering what people use these days besides Instagram to build up a photo database. 
When Flickr went Pro, a lot of friends left. T__T

My Instagram handles are clogsandsneakers (doll photo account) and maankatje2000 (personal account+other stuff I collect) and I love meeting doll collectors and seeing your photos.

I live in the Netherlands but do sometimes travel abroad for doll conventions, I had booked a visit to Japan and the Volks Doll Point Store in Akihabara in 2020 but alas the pandemic came around. Hopefully 2023/2024 will be my chance to go. One of my dreams is to participate in one of the dolly cons in Asia.

Looking forward to meet you all.  
 

 

Welcome to the Forums.

For doll photography there is a user that goes under the name Orchid Dolls that made a very good tutorial.

https://orchiddolls.com/10-tips-for-doll-photography
 

It has been very useful for making photo’s. An additional check that I do when checking my photo’s is if I see a doll or a character in the photo. If I see a doll then I have the wrong angle or wrong pose. If I see a character than the pose and angle are good. I try to get the face and especially the eyes on the focus point of the camera. 

I checked your BJD Insta and noticed the difference in styles in your BJD collection. You got some nice girls in your collection. 

En leuk om een andere Nederlander in de BJD hobby tegen te komen op het forum. 
 

Seeya around,

Rajke

Thank you for the tip! Orchid Dolls has been one of my favourite photographers for while now.

Zeker leuk om meer verzamelaars uit Nederland tegen te komen op het forum. 😄

Welcome - I also have Kizuna AI. I thought vTubers were over but she's just announced she's getting an anime. The huge number of comments on the announcement were overwhelmingly positive so there are a LOT of Kizuna fans out there.

For doll photography I'm really loving the popup photo studio I bought on Amazon. It has a ringlight at the top that changes colours via a remote control. On the downside it's difficult to find a Dollfie sized one! My big girls can pose in it if they kneel down although it's perfect for MDD.

I also have a set of LED studio lights and they make a tremendous difference.

Sometimes I shoot outdoors to take advantage of the sea views and the doll sized railway near my house, but just be aware outdoors is not good for wigs!

I'd like to visit a doll convention in the UK next year although I guess my girls might be more welcomed at an anime convention. It would be nice to go to a doll one to possibly buy a lot of mini photo accessories though.

P.S. I love Saber too.

8 hours ago, Xiongmao said:

Welcome - I also have Kizuna AI. I thought vTubers were over but she's just announced she's getting an anime. The huge number of comments on the announcement were overwhelmingly positive so there are a LOT of Kizuna fans out there.

For doll photography I'm really loving the popup photo studio I bought on Amazon. It has a ringlight at the top that changes colours via a remote control. On the downside it's difficult to find a Dollfie sized one! My big girls can pose in it if they kneel down although it's perfect for MDD.

I also have a set of LED studio lights and they make a tremendous difference.

Sometimes I shoot outdoors to take advantage of the sea views and the doll sized railway near my house, but just be aware outdoors is not good for wigs!

I'd like to visit a doll convention in the UK next year although I guess my girls might be more welcomed at an anime convention. It would be nice to go to a doll one to possibly buy a lot of mini photo accessories though.

P.S. I love Saber too.

The LED studio lights are on my to-buy list. I've moved some stuff around in my work-room so now I have a photo corner for my dolls. When I get the lights I can get started with indoor photography. 

Yea, its really windy here, I live close to the river so outdoor photos are always a challenge. Hopefully the stands I bought will keep them from being blown over haha.

I bought a ticket for the UK BJDcon in Leicester next year and fingers crossed I also get time off from my work haha. 

57 minutes ago, maankatje2000 said:

The LED studio lights are on my to-buy list.

With LED lights and studio lighting in general, I'd recommend getting some modifiers like softboxes, bounce cards, or diffusion umbrellas. What you get depends a lot depends on your space and the type of light you have, but in general direct studio light can be a bit harsh, even with LED panels with diffusion built in. You can also bounce the light off a white wall or ceiling if needed.

16 hours ago, maankatje2000 said:

I bought a ticket for the UK BJDcon in Leicester next year and fingers crossed I also get time off from my work haha. 

Wow... I hadn't heard about that event. I might go too. It's a long time in advance, but it will take months for my girls to argue over who will attend 😂.

On 12/3/2022 at 6:09 PM, BeyondTime said:

With LED lights and studio lighting in general, I'd recommend getting some modifiers like softboxes, bounce cards, or diffusion umbrellas. What you get depends a lot depends on your space and the type of light you have, but in general direct studio light can be a bit harsh, even with LED panels with diffusion built in. You can also bounce the light off a white wall or ceiling if needed.

Thank you for the tip.

On 12/3/2022 at 4:03 PM, maankatje2000 said:

I bought a ticket for the UK BJDcon in Leicester next year and fingers crossed I also get time off from my work haha. 

I didn't know about this. I'm going to look into it, thanks for the heads up. Hope you get the time off work to attend.