Black beady eyes?

Hmm...I wonder if that might be due to the fact that their wigs have a fringe that might shadow their eyes a bit. Perhaps if you rearranged their wigs and turned their faces to face the sun, that might help. Also, from a distance, I've had the same sort of problem where it's hard to capture the brilliance of a doll's eyes--of course, that could be because I have a crappy camera rather than bad technique. ops: Some closeups show off their eye-color better anyway.

Also, on my computer monitor their eyes don't look at all black or really dark. I can tell that the one in front has blue eyes, at any rate--the one in the back is darker though. It could be that your monitor settings are off.

 

you could also try using a reflector of some sort. a large piece of white poster board is always useful (that's what i use; it's rather effective).

you can also buy an actual photography reflector (white on one side, grey on the other), but it's easier (and cheaper!) to just grab whatever's lying around the house.

 

Yep, the problem is there's not enough light on the eyes. Looking at the photo, we see that your camera metered for the dark clothing, which is exposed properly. The highlights are a little blown out. The harsh sunlight makes really difficult shooting conditions!

The reflector idea is a great one, and a good way to bounce some of that light back into the shadowy areas. White posterboard works well, but will tend to wash out the colors a little. Try a mirror or aluminum foil (or anything else silver). A gold reflector will give a warmer colour.

Alternately....use the flash to fill in those shadows! It is what's needed in this case. Shorten your exposure and turn that flash on! Aiming the flash at an angle will help to kill glare. Alternately, cut a 3 inch square of transluscent milk jug plastic and put that over your flash to diffuse the light.

In general, more diffuse lighting, like a overcast day, will yeild more even, saturated colors with proper exposure.

 

I use posterboard to get sunlight onto my doll, or I use different white fabrics (even fiber fill) to filter direct sunlight on her. I hate the effect of direct flash, and sunlight is really the only thing that brings out her eyes nicely. I've done all the photos I have online that way; have a look at my gallery. Metallic surfaces will work too, but they really just redirect the light without any diffusion. It's good for some effects, but I don't personally use it very much.