More thoughts on lighting dolls

Well I actually came up with another tip on taking photos of dolls that was still on the subject of lighting. It is THE FLASH... no not the super hero the camera's flash.

Try to avoid it. No, really at all costs. Please... I beg of you. Flash photography when not using what a professional photographer is using never is as great as it could be. However when you are talking a point and shoot, a phone or even a digital SLR and a doll... we look dead. It takes all the contours that our faces have and makes them look flat, our coloring looks gone, the gentle blush of our cheeks isn't visible.

Wait for good natural light. It makes all the difference.

Example A: a Family portrait. Beth Andya nd Kendall were at our cousins and they all got together in a group photo. It was night time and this was taken with a flash and well they all look more like dolls on a couch than the people you know we are. 

 Example B: Beth in strong sunlight. Her eyes are so reflective. They look more lifelike and this isn't even an example of good natural lighting. This is still better than the photo above. Yes, Beth changes her hair often. Right now she is a red head and it is super curly. I think she likes to look closer to me. We look cute together now with our blue eyes and red hair.

Example C: Candace with a flash. So every now and then you forget to turn the flash off and this happens. Ugh. Well there is a reshoot of it. She is in same pose but we cropped it differently. 

Exampe D: Candace in same pose but natural light. I don't think it was the best day either but you can see her eyes look pretty not scary.  For brown eyed dolls the light is imperative,

Example E: Kendall and Andy at the beach... super cute pose but the problem with this photo is the angle the light is coming from. It doesn't light their faces. Their faces are in shadow. 

Example F: Kendall lying on the beach. Much better his face is lit nicely. I think he is a bit of a beach bum. I hope Beth doesn't get mad that I went into her photo archives and have been critiquing them. Ummm Kendall what up with the hair? Wow that is curly on the top. LOL It looks like he does when he first gets up. He is a goof. You have to live with him to understand. ( I know he is my brother but he is actually sort of cute, you know for a brother.)

Last one, is Example G: Rosemarie with her eyes looking exceptionally pretty. Glad she gave up on that lip gloss color since then. This is a really old photo of her. I do love her freckles though..

Well I hope this helps with your quest to better and more artistic photos of your dolls. Remember we like to look alive so give us a hand in our quest to look as human as possible. Now it is really late and since our humans are asleep we are going to play some cards, you know Toy Story was absolutely correct. In fact many toys were mad that the cover was blown. Anyhow UNO time with the doll siblings. 

Saige