As I have mentioned before ideas for photoshoots can come in many ways. The concept for my Barbie shoot actually started when we bought a new treadmill. It arrived in a very large box that I realised was big enough for a person to stand inside it. That got the ideas flowing. 

I had shot a model as a doll a number of years before. I did not want to repeat exactly the same concert. Then the idea of Barbie in a multiple outfits came to mind.

I knew that I needed someone who could embody the doll, so Devon was the obvious choice. Her acting experience meant that she could pull off the expressions I wanted.

I have a large collection of gowns so I selected a number for the shoot. But when Devon arrived in a colourful outfit, she had made herself, there was no hesitation that we would use it as well.

The shoot was relatively simple. I placed the camera on a tripod ensuring that all of the angles would be the same. I then positioned the box and took a series of images in each outfit.  

As with the previous images on this shoot day, there was no need to change the lighting. The main light was in a beauty dish positioned above the camera. A second light was positioned camera right. This was shooting into a 7′ umbrella with diffusion to fill in the shadows.

Having shot the main images I now had to shoot the background plate. This had to be done in a toy store. Therefore, there was no way that I could go to a full set up including lights.  Also I had to be somewhat inconspicuous so I could not shoot with my camera.

Fortunately everybody today carries the camera in their pockets so I used my cellphone. I knew that I did not have to worry too much about the resolution. The overall image would not be large enough for anyone to pick up the differences.

The boxes provided a very easy border in which to mask the studio images into the composite. I then had to some graphics to go over the front of the boxes.

The studio images in this post were shot with my Lumix G9. The settings were 1/200s, f10, and ISO 200. The focal lengths ranged from 26mm to 50mm. The setting ensured that I had full control of the light while also giving me a good depth of field.

The shoot was only in ever intended to be a bit of fun and I was happy with the results. Obviously, it would have been better if the box had been white. However, when you work with found props, you often don’t have the luxury.