I found myself smiling and often laughing aloud while reading the many responses to my questionnaire. The e-mailed replies were wonderfully interesting and many digressed from the questions to add personal information and links to their photos. After narrowing down the responses to just the first question, Why do you photograph your dolls? I still had twelve pages of single-spaced text! There were, however, certain themes which stood out. Presented here are the unscientific, subjective, non-quantitative results of the questionnaire along with some of my own doll photography.

Why do you photograph your dolls?
Have you had professional instruction in photography?
On a scale of 0 to 5 with 0 being inexperienced and 5 being a professional photographer, where do you rank yoursef?
If your camera is digital, do you know how many mega pixels the camera has?
Have you read the manual?
Do you use photo lights and if so, what kind?
Do you have a tripod?
Do you set up background and or scene settings?
How do you feel about your pictures? When you post a picture do you apologize for some quality about it?
Do you use any image editing software?
Do you print your images or have them printed?
What is your major photographic problem (or problems) - if you have any?

The majority of respondees photograph their dolls for the fun of it and to share their dolls' beauty with other collectors. Many find that it makes for interesting on-line conversation. One collector stated that doll collecting can be "such a solitary hobby" and that "photos attached to posts provide a much more interactive experience." She added, "The fun of playing with dolls as a kid, was interacting with other kids."

Photographing the dolls is part of the play experience. Others take pictures because they'd rather see their dolls do something other than stand on a shelf. We photograph our dolls to preserve moments in time, to remember outfits and dolls which we have stored away or have sold and to keep records of our collection for our own or insurance purposes.

Re-painters get feedback from other artists when they show their work and many said that "flaws" become more apparent when seen in a photograph.

There are those whose dolls seem come to life through photography. Some use their photos to tell stories, to make scrapbook pages and to illustrate websites. Some enter competitions and must submit photographs for jurying.

Here is what one collector/photographer said:
"I make and sell clothing for dolls.  I found that photography was enjoyable even if I didn't have anything to sell.  Posing the dolls in realistic positions, playing with lighting and scene set-ups is easier with dolls than with human subjects (though a human subject is less likely to take a nose-dive into the shrubbery!)"

And finally there were individuals who replied that they photograph their dolls because:
"It is an escape from housework,"
"I was so excited at being able to frame my dolls in a shot; like sinking a great putt."
"To show off what I have."
"To boast about a doll or an outfit and draw oohs and aahs."
"They {the dolls} don't complain."
"Insanity has something to do with it." {according one collector's husband.}
What could he possibly see as 'insane'?

Green dolls in extravagant ensembles?

Worldwide collector near-hysteria over a limited edition gift-set from a toy company?

It all makes perfect sense to me. :-)
Most collectors who had professional instruction in photography did so with a 35mm film camera. 27% answered Yes; 73% answered No.

71% rank their photographic experience or skill between a 2— 3-1/2
19% rank themselves below a 2; 10% rank themselves at 4 or above.

All who responded use digital cameras with a mega pixel count ranging from 1.4 to 8. One person responded, "What's a mega pixel?"

41% have read their camera manual; 36% have read some of it; and 23% never read it, don't know where it is or rely on others to tell them what it says.
Questionnaire participants use a large array of lighting ranging from one to several extra house lamps, gooseneck lamps, halogen lamps, Ott lights, daylight bulbs, professional photo lights, fluorescent bulbs, light tents and according to one respondent, "anything I can find."

The rest rely on entirely natural light.

53% of respondees use their tripod and 47% either don't have one or don't use it.

Elaborate background scenes are set up by 51%. Simple or plain backdrops are used by 41% and 8% don't set up any background at all.

The answers to the next two questions ranged far and wide:
How do you feel about your pictures?
When you post a picture do you apologize for some quality about it?

Quite a few said they would apologize if they were in a hurry or the lighting was bad or the quality was poor. Some of the replies went like this:
"My pictures suck."
"I'd always apologize for any flaws I saw in the photo."
"My pictures are pretty amateurish."
"I know my pictures aren't great, and don't much care."

Most replied thus:
"If the photo is not good, I don't post it. I re-shoot the scene."
"I usually take pictures until I get it right."
"I never apologize for a picture when I post it because I won't post unless I'm happy with it."
"I try to take care of that with a photo editor before showing others."
"I won't usually post a picture that I would have to apologize for."

77% use image editing software; 23% do not.

40% do not print their images; 32% sometimes print and 24% never print.
The majority of respondents felt that lighting was their biggest photographic problem. They either didn't know how to use light indoors or outdoors and/or didn't know how to control shadows, glare and color casts.

Many felt that their equipment was not good enough or just didn't know how to use it. There are problems with close-up photography and cameras without macro capabilities.

A big issue is how to get the doll to stand without the stand and creating a good composition.

And last, there is what I call the 'environmental problem.' Many stated that their big problem was not having enough time. Some said they had problems with criticism from their families, interference from their cats and space limitations.

And now, a little bit about me. As an art major in college and graduate school I studied photography. We didn't have digital photography back in the dark ages (hey, we didn't even have calculators). My first camera was a Yashicamat twin lens reflex. We used Tri-X, a very popular black and white film and there was no such thing as RC paper - we used the real thing in the darkroom. For me photography was a magical art form. The darkroom was fun and I could never get enough!

I worked as an art teacher in the public school system for many years. I moved from of New York City to Woodstock about 10 years ago. I now have my own photography business which I have allowed, in the last few years to take a back seat to my hobbies.

As I look back on the early photos of Tyler, for example, the posing is stiff and they have snap-shot quality as opposed to photographic quality. When I began visiting the doll boards, I was inspired by others to begin to use my skills on my dolls. Asked by another board member recently, "How did you do that picture?" I replied, "Practice, practice, practice.

I want to thank all the Doll Board members who took the time to answer my questionnaire and to write lovely personal comments. I'd love to hear from you and if I can help with a photographic issue, please don't hesitate to ask. You can find me on Prego or Doll Divas as Terri/NY.
Terri Karen Gold - Gold Photo
Woodstock, New York
February, 2006