Illusion of BJDs being in proportion with the real world settings

someone makes a doll stand that's set up on a stool basically, so that the doll is higher up. I think that's one of the biggest tricks. If you want an upper body shot, you can just hold your doll up high... or you can put a normal doll stand on a stool... there are probably several ways to go about this.

Thats if you want backgrounds to be in proportion. Many people have entire dollhouses though of things in scale so.. yeah...

 

sometimes it's just the type of setting you're in. take trees for example. trees come in all different sizes so there's no telling how big the tree actually is in the picture. even if you can tell that it's a Huge tree and it tiny person it'll still look good and natural.
also, take pictures looking UP at the doll instead of down.

 

This, but be careful you don't get too far below the doll -- upnose shots aren't flattering to dolls at ALL. XD It's a delicate balance, I think.

 

Angles and lighting will play a big role in how inscale your doll looks. I did a photoshoot using a human sized slide and using the right angles in look in scale for the most part. It's take some work (and several photos...sometimes) to make sure that everything looks right.

 

lighting and, depending on he camera, flash, and the scenery. i found that when i use flash on the camera(ginormous Sony) my dolly looks like shes from a horror film. when i don't,it turns out beautiful.
also, natural lighting looks really good, and makes ur doll seem more life-like. dont be afraid of shodows! they just may help!

 

I also find using a good bokeh effect makes the background less noticeable and pulls the picture together. You want your doll to be the center of attention anyway.

 

I agree for scale issues, blurring the background, tricks of perspective, and objects that are in-scale are important. Another thing that's really important in making a photo look realistic is the posing. The little details count! I'm no expert so I'm not pointing fingers - there are things in my photos that pass unnoticed too... but I can't count the number of times I've seen an otherwise wonderfully realistic photo but the wig's slipping backward or the foot is twisted in a painful-looking way or the hands are in awkward positions or the head is tilted funny or something like that. Joints don't really take away from the realism for me at all, but an odd foot position pulls me out of the photo every time.

 

Sorry ahead of time if this question has already been asked, I did a quick search but I'm not 100% confident there isn't a post about it, so I'm covering my bases. :p

But anyway, does anyone have any pointers or tips about giving the illusion that backgrounds are in proportion to BJD subjects? I'm one of those people who aren't too crazy about taking pics with full scale objects in the background making my dolls look more like...well, dolls. I don't have the room to keep 1/3 size props hanging around unfortunately, and I hardly have enough room to even make small sets beyond what space I have on my drawing desk.

I've seen a few posts in the gallery where the illusion has been very successfully achieved. I'm also not heavily experienced with DSLRs but I've been getting some practice in lately and I've wanted to experiment with this kind of situation especially.

Is this sort of problem just something you learn to do with experience or are there some real tricks involved?

 

One trick is elevation. Raise the doll more closely to human height and then take a picture. There's a company that sells a doll stand that mounts on a tripod expressly for this purpose. It's rather expensive though. (Can't remember the name of the product.)

Another trick is to control the background. Eliminate size cues when possible. Simple backgrounds are better. It's harder to cue size when the background is only a few fields of solid color (like a grassy field).

Another trick is to use depth of field. If you can't control the background, blur it out instead. Use wide aperture lenses (f/2 or larger). Telephoto lenses will also produce a similar effect.

Another trick is deliberate distortion. If you use a wide angle lens, you will exaggerate the visual difference between near and far. Place the doll up close and everything else far away. If you go the fisheye route (the logical extreme of this method), it's pretty easy for a viewer to lose track of size. Combine with the elevation trick for best effect.

 

The big secret is keeping the doll in the same "space" in the frame's perspective that a human subject would fill. Look at the following illustration:



Where a human would stand still against the background and only the camera would move, the doll needs to follow the camera to be in the same position with regard to the horizon and the background as the human would be. Hence, a doll needs to be elevated from the ground.


The rest is a question of optical trickery. A shallow DOF os useful in obscuring the background, hence making it less obvious that the doll isn't in scale with it.
On the other hand, a very deep DOF can make the doll be in focus together with human scale items in the background, making the doll seem in scale with them.

The same thing with focus length: a wide angle lens can be used to exaggerate perspective, hence confusing the eye. On the other hand, a very long lens can be used to flatten perspective, making the distance between the doll and the background seem shorter.

Play around and experiment! That is the way to see what works best for you.

 

That is the most ridiculously awesome and helpful image. Thank you.

 

I think this effect can also be achieved with the right lens and settings... I forget if it's the bigger the number or the smaller? I dunno, 100mm lens maybe? (I'm fairly new to DSLR photography, so I haven't gotten my head round it yet...so I'm really not sure! Someone help!)

~*Mystaia

 

I can try to answer this by explaining what I said in my previous post in a bit more detail:

This splits into two main categories. The illusion can be created either by using depth-of-field, or by using focal length to play around with the perspective:


Manipulating depth-of-field (DOF):


Very shallow depth-of-field

Effect: The background becomes a blur, obscuring the fact that the doll is not in the same scale, hence enabling an illusion of "reality".

Achieved by: Shooting with a very wide aperture (i.e. smaller f/stop numbers — say f/4 or less), and/or by using a longer lens, and/or by shooting at very close range.​

Very deep depth-of-field

Effect: The background is more or less in focus at the same time as the doll, obscuring the fact that they are far apart, hence making the doll seem in scale with the background.

Achieved by: In essence the opposite of shallow DOF in all particulars, but chiefly just by using a very narrow aperture (larger f/stop numbers — say f/18 or greater)​

Using focal length:


Exaggerated perspective

Effect: Distances become visually distorted, making the distance from the doll to the background seem extreme and therefore difficult to judge, hence making the viewer assume they are closer together than they are.

Achieved by: Using a very short (i.e. wide angle or fisheye) lens; perhaps 20mm (effective; bear in mind the crop factor!*) or shorter.​

Flattened perspective

Effect: Distances are seemingly compressed, hiding the distance between doll and background, making them seem much closer together than they are, hence making the doll seem in scale with background objects.

Achieved by: Using a very long (i.e. telephoto) lens; perhaps 100mm or longer.​

* The crop factor is a measure of how much smaller than a full 36mm film frame the camera's sensor is. Nikon's DX sensors, for instance, have a crop factor of 1.5, making all lenses effectively seem 1.5 times longer (e.g., a 60mm lens projects the same image onto a DX sensor that a 90mm lens would onto a full frame sensor).


So, arm yourself with your camera, and go forth and experiment! See how it works, and what you can make work best for you.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks dragon! I'm sorry, for some reason when I read this thread, your post didn't show up, so I hadn't seen it before. Great explanation!! Thanks so much!

~*Mystaia

 

No need to apologise — you hadn't seen it before because it wasn't there before. The thread you posted on got merged with another one on the same subject.

Glad I was able to clear it up a bit, though.

 

Here are a few photos where we tried to make our dolls look in perspective with the surroundings by just simply holding them up in the air (They were touring Seattle)

 

Wow, there is a lot of really helpful information in here. Thanks for both the post and the replies, everyone! I can't wait to go out and take some pictures!