In With The New (News and Gushing Over a Photoshoot)

Hey guys! I am SO excited for this post today. First of all, happy new year! I've decided to ring in 2025 with a post for you, featuring the news I teased at in my last post! 

So, where to begin? I think you guys know that I love photography. I post a lot of photography here on my blog, but I do photography stuff outside of AG as well. I do an occasional paid gig, and am planning to launch a photography nonprofit soon. I've done a couple programs for teens, had one of my photos displayed in our local art museum (not as exciting as it sounds, but looks good on a resume lol), and just generally try to practice any chance I get. I've been shooting on a Canon EOS Rebel T5 for a few years, and as I've watched my photography improve, I personally have felt for a while now that I've reached the limit of what that camera is capable of. Within the past few months, I've been unhappy with a lot of little things in my shots that were the fault of the camera, not my skill. Soooo... an upgrade was due. 

I'm not going to lie and say photography is a cheap hobby, because, um, it is not. Especially as a person who has like $30 to her name. 

Y'all, I genuinely have the best parents ever. They gave me a NEW CAMERA for Christmas. And for the record, I cried. And then I went and took pictures and cried again. I'm a mess. 

For anyone curious, I am now shooting on a Canon R6 Mark ii. 

I also received a white body Samantha for Christmas, as I have mentioned already. I just finished cleaning her up, so I decided she was a perfect candidate for a photoshoot! I'm still figuring out how to use my new camera so some of the framing is a bit wonky, but I am super happy with the quality of the images. I recommend looking at this post on a mobile device because my Chromebook is really killing the quality of the pictures and does not do them justice like my phone does. I left these photos unedited since they were kind of an experiment.

Can I just say right now that this might be the prettiest Samantha I have ever seen? Samantha doesn't seem to be super popular with the blogging community (granted, there are not that many of us) and maybe younger collectors in general, but look at this gal. How can you not love her? 

This photo!! I mean, y'all. She is literally GLOWING. I love this camera omg. The depth perception is delicious. 

Here's where you can really tell I was trying to work with angles and framing. I think this was one of the first photos I took. My new camera has a touch screen which might be the coolest thing ever. 

I definitely had a Samantha phase. She was my favorite doll for a year or two, I think mostly because of her aesthetic. (And, I mean, she's literally insane in her books. She would be the most fun character to roll with, you can't fight me on that. Sam is too spontaneous to get bored around.) My other Samantha is from the mid 90s, and don't tell her, but this white body has stolen my heart. 

I don't care a ton for this photo, but Sam is looking gorgeous. I've always wanted a white body Samantha to cameo as a ghost for Dolloween specials (Don't ask), but this girl is almost too sweet looking for that. Regardless, I adore her so, so much. Also we're finally acknowledging the fact that Piney Grove is super haunted and I have several pages in a notebook dedicated to the town ghost lore. I actually scared both myself and my best friend reading them out loud at a sleepover, despite the fact we both knew I made it all up. Fun times. 

I always hate how my pictures turn out when I get more than the doll's torso in the image. Luckily, the new camera has better technology for focusing on subjects, so I think with practice, I'll really start to get results I love. This one isn't bad. :) 

GUYS, HER HAIR. Her hair was a little dry and tangly (and smelled like attic) so I washed it, and now it's the SOFTEST doll hair ever. Also idk if you guys look at a lot white body dolls or if you're normal, but white body Samanthas have this gorgeous lighter brown hair and the real showstopper is THE LAYERS. I should have taken pictures of her hair from the back, but she has the most stunning thick curly layers in her hair. Like, I need to show her to my hairstylist and be like, "I want this hair!!" I've decided that her wig is my favorite hair on any AG doll. She actually came with her original hair ribbon, but I liked her hair down too much to tie it up for this photoshoot. 

Can we just appreciate how good of a deal my mom got on this doll? I found this girlie on Facebook Marketplace in July (I think?) for $125. GUYS, MY MOM TALKED THE LADY DOWN TO $100! It's even more insane because she's in PERFECT condition. I did clean and restring her, but none of her flaws were anything other than age-related. I'm pretty positive she's a slate eye Samantha, which is a very desirable variant. So yeah, she's super special to me and I haven't stopped raving about her. 

I can't decide if this photo is good or not. I like how she's framed, but I think she needs to be straighter or at least looking at the camera. 

This one's better. :) The new camera has Bluetooth and I can upload photos directly to my phone, which is... uh, a lot easier than how I was doing it before because that was a mess. 

My mom just told me that since she's had this doll waiting to be given to me since July, she would occasionally bring her out of her hiding place and check on her. 😭 If that isn't the sweetest thing ever, I don't know what is. (I know she's reading this, shout out to her.) 

No words. I love Samantha and I love the camera. 

I'm ending this photoshoot with my favorite picture. Everything is just gorgeous here. I cannot wait to use my new camera more and play around with some editing. And I doubt this will be the last you see of this Samantha. :) 

I hope you have an amazing start to your year! Remember to eat your veggies! Bye! <3