Sunday, October 12, 2014

Dalicious Challenge 3

Dear Readers,

The third challenge of the Dalicious Photo Contest was: VINTAGE! One single idea came to my mind and I did not have any other so I went ahead with that initial plan. Can you tell what is going on in this picture?



Gerda (Dal Dotori) is having a yard sale and she is horrified to see Scout (Dal Tweety) fighting with Dal Cinnamoroll (She does not have a name yet!) for a much sought-after Kenner Blythe doll.

The inspiration for my photo came from two sources: one is from reading stories about doll collectors hoping to find a very rare Kenner Blythe doll for cheap at yard sales.  They Kenner dolls were the very first Blythe dolls but they were discontinued very early on.  It's extremely difficult to find them nowadays, especially when they are in their box.

The other source of inspiration was from my own experience at a Tuesday Morning store.  I spotted a DAL doll and took her in my hands to see.  Suddenly another customer ran toward me and took all the remaining dolls on the shelf!  Then she looked at me and my doll.  I thought that she was going to snatch it from my hands LOL  She asked me if she could look at it and I showed her. She complimented me on my find and left.  I then realized that I took the ONLY DAL doll from the shelf... all the other dolls in her shopping cart were J-dolls for which I did not really care to buy.  Well I like J-dolls but I am very particular about which one so I only like a few models.

So that was not a fight but it was such a surprising reaction from a buyer.  I never had seen somebody so eager to get the dolls!  I think she regretted that she could not get the DAL!

The most difficult hurdle I had for this challenge was to position my dolls to stage a realistic fight!  I could not make them stand up on their own.  So I put Scout on top of Dal Cinnamoroll.   Posing them was so much trouble because I could not get them to look like they were really fighting. I had to re-position them at least 10 times.  I took at least 50 pictures this time, more than I have ever done before in the contest.

Many of my pictures came out blurry during the two first challenges but for this one, I received some help!  My husband bought me a tripod from a garage sale (we do love going to yard sales!).  It was only $5 and in excellent condition.  Thanks to the tripod, I didn't have as much blurry photos.

Here is a behind-the-scene photo :)



I was excited for this challenge!  I got to use THREE of my Dal dolls and I took some time choosing among the "vintage" toys I have.  This picture also marked the return of Gerda (Dal Dotori) who had a broken arm.  I gave her a new body (an Obitsu 21cm).  She is a lot more sturdy now but her neck is floppy so I might have to cut the neck in half to fix that problem.  Otherwise, that new body is a dream compared to the Dal stock body.

It was a very fun challenge and I love having three Dals on display!  But I am terribly unhappy about my photo.  I wanted to redo the scene but time ran out so I sent in the best pictures I had.  I hope the judge will like it enough T_T  Wish me luck :)


EDIT: All the contestant's photos are now up!  You can view them HERE.


34 comments:

  1. Ta photo est géniale. Ce n'est pas facile de simuler une bagarre avec des poupées... je l'ai fait dans mon article "cour de shopping" et crois moi j'ai refait mes photos plus d'une centaine de fois avant que ça paraisse suffisamment violent pour moi! hi hi
    J'adore aussi ton éclairage, tu as quoi comme lumière? J'ai justement passé mon samedi à régler mes éclairages pour mes photos et je ne suis toujours pas satisfaite... je rêve d'une lumière comme dans les sitcoms...c'est à dire très vive.
    Ton histoire dans le magasin m'a beaucoup fait rire, on dirait un film comique... je n'ai jamais vécu cela mais j'avoue que j'aimerai bien! lol
    Bonne semaine
    bisous

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    1. Merci beaucoup! Je ne sais pas comment appeler mon éclairage. C'est mon mari qui a installé tout ça au-dessus des cabinets. Je vais lui demander des détails et je te réponds plus tard!

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    2. Je te remercie pour l'éclairage, mais ne t'inquiètes pas, Jennifer m'a donné son lien pour les lumières qu'elle emploie, je vais voir tout ça et essayer de faire pareil! :)
      Quand tu dis " au dessus des cabinets" tu veux parler des "toilettes" ?

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    3. Non non LOL Cabinet c'est-à-dire mes tiroirs accrochés sur les murs. En dessous des tiroirs est un espace libre. Mon mari a installé des lumières qu'on appelle LED fluorescent 6000 Kelvin. Je ne sais pas si cela s'appelle ainsi en France. C'est un long tube et la lumière est blanche et non jaunâtre.

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    4. LOL tu me rassures, je voyais ça au dessus des toilettes et je me posais plein de questions! ;)
      Je suis allé voir sur le net, ces lumières portent le même nom en France, je vais analyser tout ça! :) merci beaucoup

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  2. I think it's fabulous! It made me laugh out loud. Very clever. :)

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  3. "je la veux ! non, elle est à moi" ... c'est une scène réaliste. Une belle photo !
    Pardon Jane, mais le temps me manque pour commenter tous vos messages !
    Bisous. Joce

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    1. Pas de souci Jocelyne! Je suis contente de lire vos commentaires mais il n'est pas nécessaire de commenter sur tout :)

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  4. I love this photo! I could tell what was happening right away - it's very funny, and cute! The behind the scenes photo was great too, very helpful for me when I think about shooting photos of my doll. Thanks for sharing both :)

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    1. Thank you Annabelle! A great place to see behind the scene photos is this Flickr Group: https://www.flickr.com/groups/2299089@N21/

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  5. It is truly set up wonderfully! And very realistic!!! Tell me when is the results known, or is it just for fun and no winners?

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    1. There are 6 challenges for this photo contest! We get points for each photo submitted and the winners are the people with most points. The top three will each get a full-size DAL doll :) We don't know how much points we get until the end but the top three contestants are shown after each challenge.

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  6. Gorgeous photo! I love it!!!! :D You've chosen a great background, the photo looks very realistic :)

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  7. Why don't you like the photo??? It's fantabulously great! and what a great idea you had! love love love, I think you did a gorgeous job!

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    1. Thanks Melissa! Because I feel it could have been so much better! I could have added more items in the background and the dolls could have been positioned better. The angle of the camera was not perfect so I wished I could have shot it differently. I like the idea but I wished my execution was better :)

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  8. Hi Jane, hahaha, this is a great picture! And it can happen too if a vintage boxed Blythe was spotted by two persons LOL! You don't have to doubt your photographic skills, you make lovely pictures. I wish you luck with the contest!!! x

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  9. Wonderful pictures. Lol they really look like they are having a fight.
    Hugs Maria

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  10. What a fun idea! I first guessed what you meant in the photo and your story in the Tuesday Morning confirmed what I thought. It's very cute and vivid. I like the theme of yard sale. I like yard sale in real life too. I heard many people say tripod helps photo shooting a lot but I never try one. I may get a tripod too after reading this. Your photo looks great Jane! :)

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    1. Thanks Chloe! My husband told me a good tripod can go for as cheap at $15! I hope you'll get one. It has helped me tremendously!

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  11. Haha this is so funny!! I often dream about making great finds on yard sales =) (It's extra fun that you made a yard sell find for this photo, the tripod) And when I was at the miniature fair before, I took up a plate, and another girl behind quickly got all the other plates. And then the same girl appeared behind me, snatching the same thing as me again.. I think having a costumer at your table (or store, shelf) actually make other want to buy things too, it seem more desirable when you see others having it =)
    I love this photo, maybe because I could see myself in it ;) Hope the judges can too =)
    Hannah

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    1. Thanks Hannah! Oh that person was quite rude LOL I know what you mean though!!!

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  12. I ADORE this photo, Jane Cherie! You are so talented at setting up cute scenes and taking fantastic photos! This is my favorite one yet, because it is so funny and cute! Great job!!!!!!! xo Jennifer

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    1. Thanks Jennifer!!! It's my most creative scene so far and I hope it will go well again for the next challenge and I won't be stuck!

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  13. Beautiful setup, it looks so real - and I love the way you have used the mini doll :D

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  14. Hello from Spain: fabulous photo. Great fight. Very real. I really like the house and the grass. Keep in touch

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  15. Beautiful photo!! Haha, I want to find a Kenner Blythe doll at a yard sale! I love the vintage rotary phone toy in the back! :)

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    1. Thanks Paige! The phone is actually a key chain! It is also sold as a Hallmark Christmas Ornament but with a hook on top! I have both versions! I will probably give the ornament as a giveaway soon :)

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  16. Hi !
    Nice photos and blog !! I loved the story of when you saw a DAL on the shelf ; lol ☺
    I'd LOVE to find a Kenner blythe, I'd even LOVE to see one !!!
    Your DAL dolls are so cute ♥
    Bye !
    PS : can I write my comments in french next time ? ;)

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    1. Hi Candy Floss! Thank you for your kind comment! Yes you can write in French whenever you want :)

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