Kingdom Doll Star and Turn on Your Lights

The third in a series of three Kingdom Doll "Angel" dolls, Star, arrived last week and I am very happy with her.

She is super photogenic. Here's a shot taken with my iPhone.

She is wearing her own lingerie and wig. Her necklace had opened which escaped my eye during the picture taking.

Her beautiful silver shoes zip up the back. I have a vague memory of being told these are her 'signature' shoes. They are the same style that Liberty came with and the pink suit from the Liberty event also used this style.

 I never leave my gals dressed in lingerie and Star's first redress was into this beautiful, slinky dress from one of Sandra's conventions. It's a favorite of mine and looks great on many of my girls.
The wonderful, curly wig is a Cheryl Wood creation. You may recognize Tonner's Snow Leopard from his Golden Compass line.

 The whole scene is very jungle-tropical. I really didn't plan it this way. These days most of my studio photos use very simple backdrops and props. I'm too lazy to do elaborate dioramas.  But I do have a bunch of different artificial greens and in this case, I just pinned a few to the huge bulletin board I have in back of my shooting table. There were some empty spaces and I Photoshopped that away. I also used PS to darken the background because I thought it competed too much with the foreground. I kept the focus on the doll's face to draw the viewer's eye there.

I see loads of indoor photos in which there is barely any light on the dolls' faces. So many people with beautiful dolls don't know how to light their photos. I just want to scream, "Turn on the damn lights!" You don't need professional equipment.

There is a false belief that using a flash is anathema. Seriously? Have you ever been to a professional studio? We're not aiming for Annie Leibovitz here; we just want to see your dolls!

As I stated, the top photo on this page (and the shoe shot) were made with my iPhone - using it's built in flash. In many cases, the phone's flash doesn't do what I want it to, but there's a way to make it work. Admittedly, it was daylight in room - actually it's in the bedroom. I opened the shades and the room was pretty bright but I knew I'd need some highlights and the only way to do that was with some direct light. I didn't hold the camera directly aiming at the doll, instead I angled it a little off to one side.

Here's a shot that did not work:

 The angle is all wrong. Her hair is too bright. It's a discard.

The beauty of digital photography is that you can keep going until you are satisfied. You get instant feedback. In my studio, I constantly move the lights and change their power and/or the settings on the camera until I'm happy (or until I'm so tired I can't go on.) You can take multiple shots with your phone as well. But do us all a favor, don't post all of them. Pick out the three best,  then toss two of those.  I look back at the last 15 years of my own doll photography and really should toss 80% of the images but I'm keeping them as a record of what I've had in my collection. Of course there are days when I can't take a decent picture no matter what.

EDIT, EDIT, EDIT.

There are websites, books, ezines and loads of information out there. The problem is, you may not even know you need one.

A great all around source of tips and tricks:  http://www.digital-photography-tips.net/

Picture of the Day: Ernesto Padro-Campos

It's always a joy to look at Ernesto's photography. Today he sent this charming shot of Agnes Dreary to me in an email. Isn't she just wonderfully creepy?

Pay particular attention to the lighting - how it models her face. Also, see how the lighting on her hands and her face get your eyes to travel back and forth between these two most important parts of the image. Masterful work!

Sybarite Swallow Has Arrived

Swallow is a dream to photograph. These pictures were taken with a point and shoot camera and I don't know if I changed some setting but I haven't taken such good pictures of a doll with this particular camera, ever.
I shot four ways: in sunlight, in shade with flash, in shade without flash and indoors with flash. Three of the ways are represented in the images below. Can you tell which is which?

Swallow is dressed in Apple's outfit which is tight across the bust as you can see. I prefer the newest body type better than this as the newer body poses better and the legs are more secure feeling.

Swallow's original black fashion stained the dolls and I knew in advance that this gal was arriving with stains on her feet and legs mostly with a few across her lower back and a spot or two elsewhere. I spent about an hour with a Mr. Clean eraser pad on her legs and lightened the stains a good deal. I also learned that when sanding resin one should wear a dust mask. Duh.


Spoiler alert below...don't continue unless you are not planning to guess about the pictures.

.

.

.

.

.

Answers to Question:
1. Shade with flash;
2. 3. & 4. Shade no flash;
5. Sun (Photoshopped;
6. Sun;
8. & 9. Indoors with incandescent lamp light and flash.

Of all these my favorite exposures resulted from the photos shot in the shade. It was bright shade as the sun was still shining. Pictures shot in full sun have a yellow cast as do pictures shot in incandescent (regular light bulbs) light. The camera flash on this point & shoot is not strong enough to overcome the yellow cast of house bulbs although the yellow is less than those shot in sunlight.
Is all of this color of light talk gobbledygook? It's important for accurate color rendition. It is also important if you are still using regular bulbs at home to light your images.

Next I will shoot her in my studio with strobes and my DSLR. I really should use the same camera first as I used today because most digital cameras read color differently. We shall see how ambitious I feel.

Seen on Studio Commissary

"What a difference flash makes," said Vicki Walker, who posted these identical images of Ivy Jordan. In the first, no flash was used.  The immediate difference one sees are highlights and shadows but there is much more.
I'm guessing her camera was on Automatic. When a camera reads the available light (even when using flash), it will adjust the length of exposure and aperture opening to properly light the subject. The longer a shutter stays open or the wider the aperture, the greater the effect on sharpness of the image.  With a camera that's not on a tripod, there is more of an opportunity for a blurry photo.
I'm trying to explain this simply but I realize that many will not understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture opening and the like. These images speak volumes.
The reason I think these photos are so important is that many collectors are afraid of using flash. There are many more reasons to be afraid of not using enough light or only using existing light.

Focus is soft, distracting spots of light and shadow on nose, chin and chest, eyes are dark.

Face is beautifully clear, eyes have enough light, highlights on hair sparkle, vinyl and dress fabric look like their actual color, overall sharpness is very good.

The only issue in this photo is the shadow cast by the flash behind the doll, but that is a topic I cover in my next FDQ article.

Seen on "That's My Foto!" A Tip from Mel Odom

On my friend MJ's blog, That's My Foto!, is a great tip from Mel Odom concerning doll photography. Click on the photo to go to the article.

Spotted at The Studio Commissary - Ivy and Ernesto

The Studio Commissary is a wonderful doll board to which many Gene Marshall doll lovers belong. Every day there is a vintage Hollywood image posted on the header and every week there is a theme. This week's theme is "Out of the Closet...Bring out a doll long in storage or take the time to de-box a doll this week!"

I am a great fan of Ernesto Padro Campo's photography and his post today really blew me away.

"Glammed Up Ivy comes out the winner in Madra Lord's Scarlet Temptress"

I can stare at this image forever and follow the lighting as it traces the ripples of fabric of the roses and courses down her profile and back of her neck. The doll is lit perfectly. I like to guess at the settings on the camera and how effects were created. A blurred background is created when the lens aperture is open wider creating a shallow depth of field.

Wonderful!

See more of Ernesto's fantastic photography at his flickr photostream.


You can sign up to receive a daily list of postings at the Studio Commissary. It's not just for Gene fans. Lots of us collect other dolls as well.