Photography 101 courtesy of Deanna Hogan

Oh am I ever so thankful that Deanna Hogan (Blue Heron Dolls) posted some photo tips on her blog. Her pictures are very professional looking and have always been my favorite. Perhaps the biggest problem I've had with my pictures is the background. In the past, I have used a sheet of white muslin. The dilemma I had with it was the wrinkles. Countless passes with a hot iron and even the use of vinegar just couldn't get rid of all of the wrinkles. So to hide them I opened up the iris on my camera just a little, and it worked...sort of. Back in January I was experimenting with different backgrounds and nothing worked for me and I would have to resort to the old sheet of muslin. Then a few days ago I visited Deanna's blog only to discover her blog entry about photo tips and there was the answer my heart ached for-- vinyl varitone graduated background. I immediately googled it and found an online store, Adorama, that accepted Paypal and the rest is history as they say. Four days later I received my brand spanking new vinyl varitone graduated background. I chose one that faded black to white..."gray thunder" they called it.

Here are a couple of pictures of my latest doll, Dreary Dandelion, with the new background. Thank you so much Deanna for posting your miraculous photo tips.