Getting your doll's eyes to stand out

I'm no photographer but it seems that (at least in the first photo) your doll is not in focus. I lack a lot of the proper terms and do not really know how to fix this, but if you look at it the background is sharper than the doll. I think if you could get your doll in focus it would be easier to see the eyes. I don't know how you feel about editing your photos but I found this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PK5NFwuTv4 It shows how to edit the eyes to get the color to show. Again I am a complete amateur so I could be wrong, but that is how I would go about it.

 

The main issues I see with the eyes is partly, as BlackAmera points out, the focus -- if you want the eyes to stand out, it's a good idea to focus the lens on them when shooting the picture.

The other issue is that the eyes are in deep shadow. Getting a bit of light on them, and a catchlight to reflect in them, would certainly help them stand out some more.

To achieve this, you can either use a reflector to direct ambient light, or a flash which, when properly applied, would give you more creative control.

Hope this helps!

 

Using a dialed-down on-camera flash, preferably with some sort of a diffuser, just as slight pop of fill light would achieve both purposes: get some light into those shadows, and create a nice twinkle of a catch light in the eyes.
How, exactly, to swing that depends a lot on what kind of a camera — and what kind of a flash — you have.

 

A diffuser is something that goes between the subject (whatever you're taking a picture of) and the light. It softens it so you don't get harsh shadows and over exposed spots (called hot spots). There's a whole science behind how it works, but that's the jist of it.

Using it completely depends on where your light is coming from. If your light source is your flash, you'd use a while cloth, or tissue paper, or a real diffuser over your camera's flash. This setup is harder to explain because I don't know what camera you're using.

If you're working with light that does not come from your camera (sun light, lamp light, etc), you'd use some white fabric stretched around a frame. Kinda like this: http://www.diyphotography.net/files/blz/sfp_04.jpg (this is a large scale example).

Since you're usually outside, I assume you use more natural light than the camera's flash? You'll want to get into using reflectors too. (White foam board works well!) I don't wanna overwhelm you, so I'll leave it at that. :3 Good luck!

 

Welcome! Good luck!

 

It's worth trying to set the flash to on (The camera may call it "forced flash" or something similar) when shooting pictures like this. Flash can be combined with natural light very effectively in these kinds of situations.

 

first of all, in your case, it looks like you're shooting in bright day light. What time of day did you go out and take those photos?
Try to avoid taking photos when the sun is really harsh. The morning is going to be your best lighting, or when it's cloudy.
If you can't avoid going out when it's this sunny, then try and be in a really shaded area while taking photos.

Your doll's hair is also casting shadows on it's face and that's what's really darkening the eyes. You can see in your photos how the shadows go right over the eyes. Trying pushing the hair a little outof yoru dolls face and then also shooting at a different time of day will cut down on the harsh shadows.

Finally, make sure you're focused on the doll. In PICT0034 you're actually focused on the ground and thus your doll being out of focus and not much detail being there.

What camera are you using, also? You seem to be shooting at rather low quality which makes me believe you are using a cell phone?
Unfortunately most cellphone cameras are just not made for artistic photography purposes and are simply for just "hey look what I saw" purposes to just snap a photo to show someone something. It's ability to photograph in non-perfect situations and the over all quality of the photographs is going to be lacking, and make it extremely difficult to get the details you want out of the photo. If you really want to pursue photography as a hobby, I would suggest investing in a camera. It can be a low end point and shoot ( I'd suggest trying to find an older model that way you can still get a great camera for a liquidated price) but you'll get more tools and way better quality and that alone will make it much easier to bring out the eyes, as the details in the photo will be there.


I don't think this will work for you photos, since there's the lack of detail, but this is what I do:
use the dodge tool around the iris and then use the burn tool around the top and lower eye lid, right at the edge.
Set the exposure of the tools down to around 30, and just keep swiping to build up.

I use that technique constantly, but you can see a before/after here: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?371926-Edit.-Before-and-After.&p=8711384&viewfull=1#post8711384

I also brightened up the whole photo so it wasn't JUST burning and dodging that brought the eyes out ni the end, but it really does help give them the final pop in the photo.

If you're confused, I can do a video tutorial for you quick xD

 

1) Get a gray or black umbrella
2) back away from the doll and use the camera to zoom in
3) turn flash on

Use umbrella to diffuse direct lighting. Use flash to create additional lighting in front of the doll. You may need to get a better camera..!

This should at least make your photos a little better but I dont know if it will help the overall problem.

I recommend watching this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx-Q_dQAeFA
It is for filming but it applies for photos too!

 

I think we would probably be able to give you somewhat more directed and qualified advice on what to do and how to do it -- especially when it comes to playing around with the flash -- if you could tell us which specific camera (brand & model) you are using.

 

I looked it up... it looks like you have a video camera (that can take stills)?? not a photo camera.
http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/supacam_dvx_video_cam_with_11_megapixel_sensor.php this?

Reading more on it, it looks like the whole camera was a scam (extremely poor quality sold at a high price) and the company went under? :/
It's a 3-in-1 mp3 player, video recorder, and still camera. I'm finding stories of people saying it was sold at technology trade shows where it's target audience was those who didn't know any better and could be sold on the "3-in-1" capabilities and not pay close attention to the quality product they were getting.


My only advice would be invest in a new camera, unfortunately it looks like your friend gave you a piece of junk.

 

Yeah, you're not going to get anywhere with that camera, as much as I hate to say it.

My advice is to go on Amazon or similar, and buy the best Canon Powershot you can afford. Look for one with a manual mode if you can. This one looks like a decent bet for a pretty good price: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...HNG8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330494513&sr=8-2

It's definitely worth getting a cheap tripod to go with it. If you can spend $50 or so, getting one with a ball head is a good bet, but with a little camera like these even a $20 tripod is usable.

 

Indeed; invest in a new camera, absolutely.

First of all, figure out how much money you can invest.
Then figure out how much more money you can invest if you save a few months, add birthday money, work extra hours ... it is inescapable that if you want to turn doll photography into a hobby, more money will buy you better equipment, meaning — at the very least — that you probably won't have to upgrade as soon.

After that, start shopping for the "right" camera. You won't find a dearth of advice on this forum; you can find a number of threads here already on the subject of which camera to get for doll photography, and members will be eager to give you options to select from.
My advice: listen carefully to all the tips, then take them all with you to a good, specialised camera store, and handle the cameras yourself, see what suits you best. At a good store, the staff will be able to assist you properly, too.

But it all begins with determining your budget.

 

Don't know if someone pointed it out yet, but I did see an interesting tutorial on YouTube about how you can get someone's eyes to stand out better. It involves photoshop, and requires you to slightly lighten the area just outside of the iris, and slightly darken the area just inside of the iris. It really does help a lot when I want to use it. The beginning talks about changing the eye color of the model, but the middle of the video shows the lightening/darkening of the eyes.

[video=youtube;-kIkarvhoa8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kIkarvhoa8[/video]

 

looks like the same thing I was saying above in my first post
Good video for it though explains it better than I could probably XD

again, though, I don't think this will work with the photos taken so far.

 

Then it seems you're already on the right path!
My personal tip, based on experience expensively bought and paid for, is to shoot as high as you realistically can. If you can afford one, a good DSLR will in the long run be better than any compact or bridge, since a good DSLR is basically infinitely expandable. This is just my personal advice however; I know others here will not agree.

Here are two older threads with discussions on what kind of a camera to look for:

What kind of camera is best for BJDs? (a combination of several merged threads and hence somewhat disjointed, but well worth reading through)
Taking pictures of faceups (somewhat less generic in scope)

Don't hesitate to ask for further advice if you feel you need it!

 

*raises hand* I'm someone who doesn't quite agree with going straight for a SLR, especially because you don't seem to know much about photography technically. I personally think you should start off with a bridge camera before you end up with something that's too much for you to handle. I totally agree that SLRs are infinitely expandable (lenses, filters, flashes, etc), but it can also become infinitely frustrating if you don't know where to start.

Edit: Also, if you don't plan on making photography anything more than just a means to get good pictures of your dollies, I wouldn't recommend dropping hundreds of dollars on a camera. The photographer makes the photo, not the camera ^_^

 

this this this.
DSLRs are made for those who want to learn about how to take a good photo and will do more than just "point and shoot"
a dslr will take pretty boring photos when you just point and shoot, and you'll have waited several hundred dollars on functions that you're never going to use.

there are other fantastic options of point and shoots that are much cheaper than are fantastic at taking great photos in auto.
So if you just want to take photos, are aren't interested in serious photography - that's probably a better route.

 

Indeed, everyone will not agree. But going by these earlier posts by the OP...

...it is my experience that going for a capable compact or a bridge — as I did to my regret, once upon a time — as a first camera is very likely to turn out to be a waste of good money. If you're determined to make doll photography into a hobby, and not merely point-and-shoot, of course.

This point is amply addressed in the "best camera for BJD's" thread, so suffice it to say, that the cost of even a middling compact can buy a very useful lens for a DSLR. The cost of a bridge or superzoom will buy a really advanced flash and a fast prime lens! I for one really wish I'd gone for a DSLR straight away and saved the money for something along those lines. That, I'd still have use for ... the camera I did buy, I do not.

 

dslr =/= best camera or best quality.

dslr = camera built for people who want to learn about cameras, not necessarily people who want to make doll photography a hobby.

You have to want to make your camera your hobby, as far as I've seen.
You're going to spend more time and energy learning your camera and how to adjust it than you are spending with your dolls.

So I don't often assume that people who want to "do doll photography" often mean "I want to learn photography" as with doll photography there's a whole different world on the other side of the lens, with your doll, how it's styled, what you're attempting to portray, etc.

You can take a mediocre point and shoot, having an amazing doll, costume, and scenery and blow my portraits with a high end DSLR out of the water.
I have my high end camera because I love cameras, not because I love doll photography.

The OP really needs to convey what direction they see themselves going with photography.
If they're interests lie more in the technological side of photography, or the "modeling" side, and then go from there.

a DSLR is not the only camera for enthusiasts - I think this forum often forgets that.
You get quality from a DSLR when you know what you're doing and put energy behind the effort, you can buy a point and shoot that just does quality because it was built to be a fantastic camera for people who just want to take fantastic photos and let that be that.

 

DSLR ≠ camera for camera nerds only.
DSLR = the most versatile, flexible, adaptable, and expandable camera type around.

The statement that if you are to have a DSLR, you have to make the camera your hobby is simply not true. The difference is only that with a DSLR you can, should you for some reason wish to. But for the vast, vast majority of DSLR users in the world (not least, pretty much all professionals) the DSLR is neither more nor less than a tool — the means to an end; the end being making good pictures.

Nor do I agree with the assessment that a DSLR must by definition be more complex to learn to handle than compacts. Rather the opposite, I'd say: I find that as soon as you want to do something with the shot that goes even slightly beyond point-and-shoot — play with depth-of-field, fiddle with lighting and flash, and so on — it is much easier to do on a DSLR than anything else.
Yes, you can take fantastic pictures with a compact, and many people on these forums do. You can also take crappy pictures with a DSLR, and I often do. But a huge part of the versatility of a DSLR is that it also gives you artistic freedom no compact can ever give you.
For most DLSR photogs, it's not about the camera! It is all about the pictures [of dolls or whatever triggers your creative impulse] you can make with it. And in that respect, a DSLR gives you infinitely more options.
Yes, the more you want to do, the more of a learning curve there will be. But if you have a hunch you want to do more than point and shoot, and you get yourself a DSLR, you can.

(The obvious corollary being: if you have a hunch you'll only want to point and shoot, your first option probably shouldn't be a DSLR ... but be prepared for an expensive upgrade if you change your mind!)

More to the point: I know plenty of people in our local doll community who aren't camera enthusiasts in any way, but still use DSLR's to good effect — and are entirely happy doing so.
That being said of course, I know plenty of people in our local doll community who are stellar doll photographers, and use compacts to good effect — and are entirely happy doing so. But it seems to me most of these use compacts because they feel they couldn't afford a DSLR, not because they honestly feel they really, really don't want one.

 

I wasn't trying to say a dslr is for camera enthusiasts, but for people who don't have interest in learning about operating a dslr or photo editing, they're not going to get the quality photos you see in the photos they show to advertise the camera.
With point and shoots, you can generally shoot closer to quality in advertisements.

I'm surrounded by people constantly who buy a dslr because they know me and my photos, and then get confused/frustrated when they're photos don't look like mine. Yet they don't appear to have any interest in getting to know their camera.
This is why I've stopped recommending dslrs for the average beginner hobbyist who expresses an interest in just "taking photos of *whatever*"
More often then not - they end up disappointed and either give up and revert back to their point and shoot, or drop more money on lenses and things when they don't understand really how they're used.

We have many amazing photographers here that have top of the line equipment, both bodies and lenses, that they know how to manipulate and master editors who take their photos from average to stunning with their editing software.
I've seen too many people get to thinking that the camera gets the shots they're looking at on this forum, when it's just not true.

Does that make sense?
Don't let photos you see here be the reason you pick a camera, is I guess what I'm getting at.
The photographers behind them put a lot of work in behind the scenes to get their photos to be top quality.


So buy the camera if you're ready to put in that energy.
But if you're not ready to put in the energy for editing and manual settings, then you can get higher quality shots with a higher end point and shoot that is made to work better while putting minimal thought to it.

 

For my own part, I find that a huge part of the fun is trying to get the image "right" already in the camera.
Photo editing software, I want to use only to rectify things when I've outright failed at the camera. Occasionally though, I do find myself doing some very minor tweaking of levels just to make an image "pop" that little bit better, but that's about it.

I steadfastly believe that DSLR's, especially the higher-end ones, are better tools for this — for getting the whole image, with depth-of-field, the whole shebang of lighting, exposure, perspective, white balance and tone of colour, anything and everything, as "right" (i.e. consistent with your inner vision for the image you're shooting) as possible already when you release the shutter.

But yes: for me, "making doll photography your hobby" contains a large proportion of "making photography your hobby". And to me, this entails an interest in learning what aperture does, what shutter speed does, why fiddling with them can throw your white balance off in one moment, and turn your background black in the next. And hence learning to manipulate the final result by knowing how to fiddle with them, and with everything else.
I just find that DSLR's are much better fiddles than other camera types.

But sure: you should only get one if you think fiddling is something you may want to do. Otherwise, they probably aren't for you.


(PS: BTW, I am sure they use just as much — if not more — photo editing in P&S camera ads as in DSLR ads. That part of the business is by no means inherently more "honest".)

 

It seems your images are overexposed(or however you say it) and are out of focus like many mentioned. To have the eyes stand out you want them to catch the light, which isn't the easiest thing to do if you can't control the lightsource, but, try to direct his head so that the eyes catch a bit of the light. o: Also try a bit mellower light so that his pale skin doesn't suck up all the light and wash out the details.

Erh, yeah, that's about all I can think of. XD

 

Sounds like a good goal! If your ambition is to learn the ins and outs of photography, I think you'll probably be better off with a camera that allows you to freely and easily manipulate the basic parameters. It is my experience that only SLR's (digital or otherwise) do that in the way that I want.

Overwhelming is something that you are in danger of if the features you want and need are hidden among multitudes of features that only confuse you — but that's a question of ergonomics and interface design, and what suits you best.
To wit: you are equally in danger of being overwhelmed by a badly designed (for you) compact as by a badly designed DSLR — and equally little in danger of the same from a well designed compact or well designed DSLR.

That's where my earlier tip to go find a good camera store with competent staff and ask them to help you comes in: Explain to them what level you're at, what you want to do, and how you will want to develop. Make it clear that you are not only looking to take pretty pictures now, but rather looking for a camera that gives you plenty of headroom for growth and discovery for some time to come.

Then it is a question of finding a camera that you feel comfortable with: one that sits well in your hands, one that has all the buttons and dials in a configuration that makes sense and is comfortable to you, one that has the menu trees organised in a manner that you find logical and easy to navigate. That's where actually physically handling the cameras before making your choice is invaluable.


Throughout, I've been making referencess to my own experience in this matter. I might as well give a somewhat more detailed account, in case it helps anyone not repeat my mistake:

I was still a total noob at photography when I got my current camera — a $3,000 semipro Nikon. Some years earlier however, I'd made the mistake of getting myself what on paper seemed a very good choice at the time: a pricey, capable Sony superzoom compact, with good reviews. I knew (since I had an ambition to develop in photography) that I needed manual adjustment, and it had plenty of possibilities for that. Or so they said.

What happened in reality was that the compact only frustrated me. I felt I wasn't able to do what I wanted, and I didn't understand how to take control of the picture. Taking photos was no fun, because, beginner though I was, I still felt I wanted control, I wanted to know what was happening, I wanted to know what I was doing, how changing parameters affected the result, how doing this could help me achieve that ... and the compact simply didn't let me.
Having that camera taught me nothing. Technically, there is little or no difference between the first pictures I shot with it, and the last.

But eventually I realised that while it is true that nine times out of ten, it isn't the camera, but the nut behind it ... there is also that one, tenth time when it isn't the nut, but the camera. It was time to admit that I'd made a wrong choice, and had bought myself a camera that was holding me back, not helping me grow. Time to go back to the drawing board.
Only this time, I was going to do my homework...

Getting the Nikon was like opening the floodgates. On paper, the camera was way, way beyond my level. By rights, judging by what others have said here, I should have been overwhelmed straight into a coma.
What really happened was the exact opposite: all of a sudden everything made sense! Photography was fun!
Sure, the camera had lots of features that I didn't understand, but it was so cleverly designed, that at that point, I didn't need to! I had easy access to the adjustments I needed and wanted, I could easily choose to take manual control of this and leave that to auto, or leave everything on auto, or everything on manual ... all the other stuff, I could just ignore; it didn't get in my way.
But with this camera, I started climbing the learning curve in earnest. As time has gone by and I've learned more, I've been able to make use of more and more of what the camera can do. There are still a number of features that I've never used; most of these, I doubt I ever will. But that's the nifty thing: I don't need to!

In the end, with the Sony compact, during the just over three and one quarter years I used it, I shot a grand total of a bit over 1,200 pictures.
With the Nikon DSLR, I'd surpassed that number in five months! Today, less than four years later, I'm well on the way of lapping the camera's image counter the second time.

To me, those numbers pretty much tell the whole story.