SLS.01 w/ RodianAngel + Tea Time Feature

Apr 9, 201422 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Apr 9, 2014

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Still-Life-Stills is a group for still life photographers to gather and find inspiration, events & resources. Whether you want to expose your work or just gaze at wonderful images; consider joining us!

Welcome to the 1st edition of SLS;
a new series of articles from Still-Life-Stills which will include an interviewed photographer and feature with a splash of group + community news! Without further ado let's introduce our first interviewee!

Interview with RodianAngel

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us! Let's start off by telling us a bit about yourself & your photography?
Thank you for the opportunity! It’s really amazing (--ahem--surprising) to be here!
I’m a 19-year-old from Backwoods USA, where people will stare at you funny when you take your Ball Jointed Dolls out in public for a photo shoot, and say things like, “That can’t be a boy, it’s too pretty to be a boy!” I feel like a 6-year-old, and I always will, so that’s probably why I take pictures of dolls.

And I’m addicted to emotes, but I’ll try to refrain from those now…
I use a Canon EOS Rebel T3 and a 50mm Macro lens for all of my photos. It’s my first DSLR, and while sometimes it can be temperamental, I’m convinced that’s because I haven’t learned how to completely use it yet.

So for those of us that don't know what are BJDs?
BJD stands for ball jointed doll which you can read more about in this wikipedia article. BJDs are primarily intended for adult collectors and customizers. They are made to be easy to customize, by painting, changing the eyes and wig, and so forth.
Mine are 60cm in size (give or take a few centimeters either way), which is commonly referred to as ‘SD.’ They’re all from different companies, since each company generally makes one or two different bodies in either gender, and then releases several head molds, each with their own name. When introducing a BJD, most people will list the company name and then the head mold to identify them, and then the company of the body, if the head and body were bought from different companies. These BJDs are called ‘hybrids.’ From first to most recent, my current BJD family stands as:
* Rodya, my Only Doll Yifeng
* Theorie, my Doll Love Thea
* Prosper, my Immortality of Soul Anos head on a Popodoll 63cm body
* Thackery, my Migidoll Ryu head on a FantasyDoll body
I should also mention that you have to order them online (or buy them at a convention, if you should be so lucky), as they’re not found in stores.
The best source of information on BJDs is denofangels.com, a forum which is only accessible by invitation. But if you’re interested in BJDs and would like to join, note me and I’ll send you an invite!

So tell us how did you find your way into photography & photographing dolls?
Through my love for BJDs, honestly. Those came first, and once you finally get your hands on a gorgeous hunk of resin you’ve pined after for three years & two months, you start to realize that you’re going to need some fancy equipment to take pictures of him that do him justice.
That being said, the more I’ve gotten involved in taking BJD photos, the more I’ve been inspired to branch out and take photos of a variety of things (none of which are decent enough to post online yet). I’ve been collared into taking all of the photos at family functions from now on, and I have the opportunity to possibly be the wedding photographer for a friend of one of my brothers in a few months, which is really exciting! And terrifying!

Was there anything that influenced you to work with dolls?
I’ve always loved dolls! I started with Barbies (don’t hate me…) and moved on to American Girl Dolls, and as soon as I spotted my first BJD on dA, I knew I had to have one--forget the fact that selling all of my American Girls would barely pay for one BJD.
A big part of my affinity of dolls also comes from how much I love to sew, and after taking the time to put together a hand-stitched outfit, I really wanted a decent model to show it off. Barbies were a bit too small and had extremely pointy fingers that could really mess up delicate materials, and American Girls didn’t have the best figures, per se. Not only that, but American Girl doesn’t produce male dolls, and Mattel seems to completely chintz on most of their men. BJDs offer a selection of male dolls that can even be prettier than their female counterparts, and even be mistaken for them at times. Coupled with how much I enjoy creating original characters and mapping out their personalities, BJDs seemed like the perfect way to combine all of my hobbies!

Wait, so you make your own clothing and accessories for them as well?
Yes! My mom is an amazing seamstress, and so is my best friend, so we’ve been sewing since I was about seven. I still have a few of the first Barbie outfits I made (the seams are all on the outside) and a red Quidditch cape for my American Girls, which was basically a square hemmed on one side and secured with a hair clip under the chin. When I was seven, it was totally the best thing ever!
Once I got my first BJD, however, I realized I needed to step it up, and started taking extra care on their outfits. They’re beautiful works of art, and they deserve to be clothed appropriately. Also, once you actually manage to buy a BJD, you really don’t much feel like buying them clothes at the moment, so it’s a cheap and creative alternative. On any given photo, whatever they’re wearing (shoes excluded, I can’t make tennis shoes, unfortunately) or carrying (meaning purses and shoulder bags), I hand-stitched it. It’s nice to have something to do while watching TV, so you don’t feel so guilty about being unproductive!
I’ve been making my own BJD clothes tutorials for a while as well, once I figured out efficient ways for making just about every article of clothing I can think of. They’re applicable for any dolls though. You can find them in my gallery if you’re interested! [Check out Sarah's tutorials here!!!]

What is your favorite thing about using dolls for photography & photography in general?
Creating aesthetically pleasing compositions that tell a succinct story has always appealed to me. That’s the really professional-sounding answer, but the second answer is just that, ever since I got my DSLR, I’ve been really taken with unfocused lights. I mean, they’re SO cool. Sometimes I’ll just cross my eyes when looking at streetlights just to see what they would look like as a bokeh (maybe that sounds a little too crazy to admit in public…).
Photography is actually still really new to me, so I always have my aperture setting as wide as possible so as to make the background as unfocused as possible. The novelty has yet to wear off. About photographing dolls in particular…apart from getting them to balance and hold poses, which can be difficult (or infuriating at times, and involving rubber bands), they don’t fidget. This is helpful for someone like me, who has accursedly unsteady hands, so it’s really difficult to get the subject in focus sometimes. And they’re just so darn beautiful, so even if my photography isn’t up to snuff on a particular day, their natural loveliness can sometimes salvage a picture anyway.

What are some of the challenges you face using dolls & with photography in general?
Lighting and focusing are my two main issues. My house is super dark, and I don’t have any professional lighting to speak of. And flash tends to white-out BJD faces to some degree, while natural lighting makes them look more alive. My outside photos almost always turn out better, unless it’s too bright outside, and then the sun can white-out their faces too. They’re temperamental little hothouse orchids. Taking photos of people is so much easier, but BJDs are so much more fun!
And like I mentioned above, I have a hard time holding the camera steady, so my tripod is indispensable. My macro lens seems to think I want to focus on really stupid things, and it’s hard to convince it otherwise. Manual focus doesn’t work for me, I’m hopeless at that. And then sometimes inspiration fails altogether and I just stare at my camera and mumble, “Why…?” But then other days it all comes together and I have wonderful ideas and perfect lighting and oh my gosh--eighty-two photos and I got three to come in focus! A new record!
Photography is a constant struggle. Laugh scathingly at anyone who tells you it looks easy.

Are there any photographers/other artists on dA or off that inspire you?
Oh, so many…my well of inspiration would be constantly dry without dA, seriously. Looking through the photos of my friends and the people I just stalk from afar, and seeing the passion in their pictures is what has gotten me over several particularly rough spots of art block. I have to mention the lovely

first because it was her BJD, Eniel, who I first spotted and who got me interested in BJDs. This is especially amazing because last year I actually became the proud mother of Eniel, and if you watch me, you might know him now as Prosper. Heart

Now, there are tons of big names in BJD photography who you can easily discover just by putting ‘BJD’ into the search bar and scrolling around, and then there are amazing people who have less than 50k pageviews, which really offends me deeply.
Among them are:

and

to name only ten, which is difficult.

What advice would you give someone just starting out with photography?

Take a couple dozen photos of everything. I have my camera set on continuous shoot for this reason, so I can take a couple backups just in case at any given time. Then sort through them and delete all of them that are out of focus, and go from there. It pays to have a lot of options, because there might be one minor detail that you like better about one over another.
Also, if you have a few versions and you’re not sure which one to post online or to save, keep looking at the thumbnails of the images to see which one catches your eye first. Grabbing the viewer’s attention in the thumbnail image is really important if you want to get noticed more, since that’s usually a person’s first impression.
I used to think, when taking pictures of a BJD, that the whole subject needed to be seen in each photo. I was very reluctant to crop out an elbow, or the top of the head (this was really annoying with my first BJD, who has pretty tall hair and always messed up my rule of thirds), and the most I would do was cut off the rest of the body at the shoulders if I wanted to focus on the face, or at the waist if I was particularly proud of their shirt and wanted it to be visible. But studying the photos of the greats on dA, I realized that they didn’t always do that. They made the subject work for them, and if they didn’t want tons of empty space in the background, confound it, they’d crop out that elbow! It felt weird at first. It works now.
Also, experimenting with unusual angles seems really scary, and it totally is. But once I threw out the idea that you had to be able to see the whole subject, face included, I feel my photos became a lot more visually interesting.

One last thing! I really do enjoy photos of BJDs, human models, landscapes and still lifes just for the sake of their beauty. But I find that I’m much more attached to the photos I’ve taken that manage to tell a story, or give off some strong personality in one way or another. I like taking pictures just for the sake of how pretty my dolls look at the moment, but I also like to stretch my creativity and see if I can come up with a ‘point’ to the whole image. My favorite story so far actually garnered me a Daily Deviation, which consequently almost made me pass out in my kitchen. Because sometimes you have to suffer for your art, you know?

My Wig is Lost in the Mail by RodianAngel

What groups on dA would you recommend to other photographers still life or otherwise?
BJD-Sparks is a fantastic resource of inspiration. They have monthly prompts to jump-start creativity whether you take photos of BJDs or not.
Not-So-Casual has a great selection of various fashions that never fail to astound, and InkMetalandResin has a ton of lovely accessories like tattoos and piercings, as the group name suggests.
Photography-eARTh is the only non-BJD-centered group I belong to, simply because I feel all right in the BJD community where everyone respects pretty dolls, but hobnobbing with the serious, seasoned camera veterans is daunting. Still, Photography-eARTh is very accepting of all types of photography, and hosts some awesome challenges!
And of course, there’s Still-Life-Stills. That sort of feels like product placement, but it’s true. Every single photo in that group is so lovely that it makes me shy away in unworthiness. The good thing about that is, it makes me strive to do better!

Is there anything on dA that you've found helpful or inspiring?
Just about everything. (It would be easier to say things that aren’t helpful. Llamas aren’t helpful at all, but they’re certainly fun, for example.)
I love the front page and the Daily Deviation features, which is how I generally find new artists to follow (I’d look through more groups if I had more time), and there are some truly generous people out there who always submit wonderful features. It’s like ice cream for your eyes, condensed into one web page. How great is that!?
Also, reading interviews like this and ones which highlight the journeys of other artists, and remind me that I’m not the only one who has agonizing days when not a single artistic endeavor goes right and you feel you’ve lost all your talent in one fell swoop.
Also, I wouldn’t be doing any of this without dA. I literally got my start here, and I don’t post my pictures anywhere else.

Are there any last words you'd like to leave us with?
I’d like to say that all you people are awesome! I probably wouldn’t have the energy to keep posting photos without your support. Don’t let yourself get discouraged, even if you think your pictures stink! If you really work at it, you’ll see improvement from month to month anyway. At the same time, don’t work too hard, because beating yourself up about unsuccessful shots just drains all the joy out of it, and photography should be fun! And never underestimate the importance of prayer when trying to keep your subject balanced, and your camera balanced, and your contrast balanced, and your sanity balanced all at the same time. Heart