Kappa!
Thanks to my darling husband for being the photog on this expedition.
A while ago I ordered some Japanese amigurumi books (and one embroidery book) on eBay. They arrived in two weeks, on an estimate of 3-6 weeks, wrapped splendidly with an origami paper crane. (On a related note, I wholeheartedly recommend Books Toron for all your Japanese book needs.)
One of the books was purchased almost entirely on the strength of the kappa pattern above. I learned a lot about amigurumi photos just from looking at the pages posted on eBay.
- Accessorize! Shawls, hats, sunglasses, purses. Look at the little monkey with his banana-shaped satchel. Ack!
From Books Toron. - Make an army of your little guys and pose them all together. The only pattern in the book with the kappa that I cared about was the kappa itself, but I had to have that one, based on the cuteness of the picture.
Lions from Books Toron. - Make the background fun even if it is completely unrelated. My favorite was possibly the page below with amigurumi ostriches. The poses and background have nothing to do with ostriches, but they made me squee.
The four page pictures above are from various volumes of Amigurumi Collection, published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha.
I haven’t put any of these lessons into practice yet, but I’m certainly thinking about them. Between these sorts of observations and the various online photography courses and graphic design books I’m taking in, the way I think about composition of everything has changed. Once I am done with the curtain sewing job, my next major endeavor will be a light box and photography setup.