Improving photography, Tips?

A large majority of pictures with other "real life" items are actually doll sized props. Nevertheless, a lot of making them look proper size even with real life items does also rely on angles. Separate the doll from the object, put some distance between them and let perspective do the work for you. As well, like myself in sport photography, I can take someone who has barely a foot off the ground look like they're flying ten or more feet high just by angle; being down low enough but not so low that it looks like a "child taking pictures" - the whole "straight up" syndrome. Another thing to work with in your favor is depth of field (DOF) but that already seems to be realized in the picture you posted. ...let the doll be the primary focus and, again as long as there's enough distance, separate it from the background. If something is deep enough, it will blur out of focus while at the same time leaving enough detail that "something" is there. -this though depends highly on the type of lens being used too.

Any other sample photos of what you're wishing to accomplish vs what your preliminary attempts are?

 

Considering I'm a fan of DOF, I like the photo as-is overall. You've got something in the "middle" in that you've got things out of focus both in front of and behind your main subject. I may have turned the head a little more to be looking more at the camera but that's just a personal preference. You followed rule-of-thirds as well in that you kept the main subject out of the middle of either x or y thus giving you working space in your negative space too - and you filled it well by letting the hand show through. If you have a DSLR, for low-light, consider an f/2.8, f/2.0, or f/1.4 lens though note too that these will most certainly give more DOF which can be a problem if it isn't desired. Another thing to note on anything less than 1/80 (though true, it's possible at less, considering flash photography is often at 1/60), remote shutters (or timer) and certainly tripods or another stable placement are your best friend. Even the vibration and shifting of the camera as you press and release the shutter manually with your finger can throw off the focus, giving motion blur, of your final image.

 

The big thing I would critique with this photo is this:

His hand/arm in the foreground has so much contrast with the background that it stands out as a focal point. This causes it to fight with his face for the eye's attention, and having the negative space between two focal points I think is hurting your composition. This could work, but you need to compose it in such a way that the arm leads you into his face, or vice versa (it is also possible at times for the negative space to guide the eye if it has a dynamic enough shape, for instance if it curved between his arm and face it could lead the eye back up into the portrait). Right now they both lead the eye outside of the photo and so they fight for attention.

I hope you don't mind me shopping your photo a bit, but I think this sort of thing is sometimes easier to explain with a visual (apologies for the horrible arrows, I'm on a break at work and only have a mouse at my disposal):





It's a good idea to keep the eye moving around your picture rather than leading outside of it (but I have trouble with this myself XD).


Other than that, I think it's a really good shot ^^ I don't mind his hair at all, windswept isn't bad--it's frizzy and unkempt that can be distracting.