Summer photos

The past few months have been very busy and eventful, and the last time I took proper doll photos was in June. In this post, I will share those photos and some life updates, and afterwards, rant a bit about the issues I have with today's social media platforms.

I had not photographed Kuromi and My Melody together before, so I had to fix that:

I wanted to portray them enjoying a summer afternoon picnic in a forest, focusing on the friendly aspects of the characters' relationship instead of their rivalry. During this photoshoot, I realized that Kuromi's hair is actually very dark purple and not black as I had written in my review... I guess the purple hues are only noticeable under certain lighting, since most of the time I still see her hair as black. I added a mention of this to my review.

Here is another photo of Pullip Kuromi. In the first photo, I wanted to portray her as Kuromi, but here, I see her as her own character. I tried to combine the summery feel of the vibrant lobelia with a hint of gothic mysteriousness matching her character's aesthetic. I also wanted to photograph this top, since I had only photographed it once before three years ago... I originally made it for Rina (Pullip Noan), but I guess it belongs to Kuromi now. (I still need to come up with a name for her.)

 

Momori is wearing the crocheted bandana I mentioned in my last post. I really like this outfit on her! It was midsummer when I took this photo, so I wanted to create an image that blends the cottagecore aesthetic with storytelling inspired by floral traditions.

My autumn has been largely work-focused. Right after the summer, I had a couple of work trips abroad – for a person who rarely travels, that felt surreal! During my trips, I got to visit the Tartu Toy Museum, which had a lovely atmosphere and an interesting collection that was thoughtfully displayed. I can definitely recommend it to toy collectors visiting the city! :-) If I ever happen to travel there for leisure, I would also like to revisit the botanical garden and take some doll photos there. I also visited Ulm, and I am glad that I got to see the minster and stroll through the historic parts of the city, despite not having much free time. After all these adventures, it is nice to just stay home and get back to my crafting projects.

Some of you may have noticed that I have been somewhat inactive on Instagram lately (or rather, even more inactive than usual). To be honest, this is because I have had trouble finding joy in browsing the platform since the removal of its functioning tag system. That change kind of ruined the experience for me, since discovering and exploring niche hashtags – whether related to a particular doll I am currently obsessing over or an event I have recently attended – is what makes social media fun for me.

Without a functioning tag system, uploading photos feels like dropping them into digital abyss, where their visibility is largely determined by an algorithm, and browsing the platform is not the same either. I like to be able to systematically seek out content that interests me, rather than being presented with whatever the algorithm decides I should see. Curating my feed around my niche interest, keeping up with new photos, and connecting with people who share those interests is remarkably more difficult now. I also miss the discoverability and longevity of posts: being able to find not just the most popular posts, but all the relevant content, regardless of when it was posted or how many likes it received.

These are some of the reasons why I am considering leaving Instagram, and I am currently trying to find a suitable alternative. I have considered focusing on Flickr (I have a severely neglected account there: link), and creating an account on BlueSky, Tumblr, or PixelFed.

Does anyone relate to these experiences? Is there a migration of the doll community to other platforms I am unaware of?

On a happier note, I am looking forward to Halloween. I visited the Pumpkin Park last weekend, and I am thinking of ways to celebrate at the end of the month. I try to get Keres' review done next week or at least post some photos of her – I think she is a perfect fit for the season. 👻

Winter and spring photos

Midsummer seems like an appropriate time to post my winter and spring photos and make room for summer posts to come. As we are almost halfway through the year, it is also a good time to summarize what has happened along the way. In this post, I will cover winter and spring in chronological order, sharing updates and photos from each month. :-)

January 

 

I unboxed Keres on 4 January and immediately took her outdoors for a photoshoot. I will finish her review eventually, maybe next month. I am considering naming her Adriana, but I will have to see whether that name sticks or if I come up with something else. Her character is Vivian's younger sister, so I would like their names to have a sense of cohesion. 

I also ended up buying Timeless Treasure Bloody Red Hood after all. Last year, I felt she might not be a good addition to my collection. However, she appears on my earliest wishlists from when I started collecting Pullips, so I am not quite sure what caused that momentary hesitation. I have not unboxed her yet, but I think Ylva would be a fitting name for her. 

February

Merori Tear Ver. is such a perfect winter doll with her fluffy coat and colour scheme that I had to unbox her for a photoshoot. This photo was taken on 22 February, right after unboxing her. Even though it was just a quick photoshoot, I am happy with how this photo turned out. While I was at it, I also took a quick photo of Keres (Adriana?):

March

I was busy and did not do anything doll-related that feels worth mentioning...

April

I unboxed Momori on 4 April. I wanted to photograph her for Easter because her colour palette and outfit fit the season perfectly. 

I have a few dolls that were purchased before Momori and are still in their boxes. So far, I have unboxed them systematically in order of purchase. In this hobby (and maybe in life in general, although I am not ready for that level of reflection yet, haha), I have a tendency to set myself arbitrary "rules" like this. I am trying to slowly move away from that. As a result, I have decided not to worry about the order anymore and instead unbox whichever doll I need for my photo ideas. 

It is the same thing with naming the dolls: I tend to overthink names, as if they could not be changed later. I am trying to adopt a new approach where I come up with a name that feels at least somehow suitable, see if it sticks and if not, try something else – no big deal. 

That said, my Momori does not have a name yet, but her character is Anette's younger sister, who loves animals and occassionally helps Anette on her farm. That is why photographing her with a chick felt especially fitting.

 

May

May was the month of cherry blossoms. Here, my Shiranui Nendoroid is photographed on 6 May with my phone:

I also unboxed Callie and Cassie on 10 May. With their seasonal outfits and distinct springtime aesthetics, I wanted to photograph them with the cherry blossoms before the season ended. Here are some photos: 

June (and what is next)

I have not taken any doll photos this month yet, but I am going to. What is nice is that I have been doing more crocheting and knitting again. I made a crocheted bandana headscarf for my dolls and a knitted pullover for my Taeyangs. They are going to be featured in future posts. I will probably attempt to crochet something in a tiny scale next or craft something completely different, like jewelry. 

I also finally bought wigs for ReonHardt and Albireo. While they are not the originally intended wigs – both were sold out and not restocked :( – I believe they will be a good fit, and I am looking forward to their arrival. I am going to customize ReonHardt first, since I realized that I do not have proper photos of Albireo wearing his complete stock outfit. I usually take those when unboxing a doll, but since Albireo was bought without his box, I kind of forgot to do something similar for him. It is the same thing with Anette, who was bought out of box: I have her new eye chips and wig ready, but I want to take proper photos of her in her stock outfit first, so I will start my customization project with ReonHardt. 

I think I will unbox some of my Timeless Treasure releases next, maybe Bloody Red Hood. I have not been in a hurry to unbox some of my dolls, since they look great even in their boxes, but I do not like the fact that I must take the Timeless Treasure releases out of their boxes whenever I want to look at them. I get that Groove wanted to make a simple box design, distinct from the original releases not to upset collectors opposing the re-releases, but I do wish they had opted for a windowed box.

While I do not usually talk about my personal life here, I can share that I started my doctoral studies in January. They have been great this far, but I can also see them affecting my hobbies: having spent the workday writing, editing texts, and reading, spending free time doing the same suddenly feels less appealing, haha. This has led me to limit writing these posts mainly to holidays (like I am doing now). On the other hand, I find crafting to be an excellent pastime after work: it is something completely different, does not involve staring at a screen, and can keep me engaged enough to take my mind off work-related thoughts. I also find it balancing and refreshing that while academic work often requires very long-term effort before bigger accomplishments, crafting offers a more immediate sense of completion as the progress is tangible at all times.  

Until next time – my next post will most likely be either a review of Keres or me sharing photos of ReonHardt's new look (and maybe rambling a bit about his character).