Equipment Lamps for indoor photos

I don't know what photo lights you have but my favorite lights for
doll photos are actually photo lights. Specifically LED light panels.
They're about the size of an iPad so not huge by any stretch. The
stands collapse when not in use so not really space hogs. I use two,
a key light and a fill light. As they're variable brightness I have full
control of the lighting ratio.

 

Sorry my friend... The smaller the area of the light source, the worse the shadow cast. Small warm-tone LED lamps with flexible goosenecks goes - but with ghostly shadows.
Even with our beautiful little model - the professional photo lighting can only be replaced with sunlight outside.

 

Has anyone thought about using one of those ring lights people use for streaming? They seem to work pretty well.

 

I've used a small one that attaches to my phone, and it does help a little with my phone pics! Gotta be careful not to get too close with them, since the ring light can reflect in the eyes sometimes. I imagine that the stand mounted ones that are bigger might work nicely too.

 

I was going to suggest a ring light - there's one that has a suction cup and a mirror in it (one of those seen-on-tv products) that you can use for doing makeup. So I think if you can get a ring light that you might use for personal face care as well, it might be worth it?

 

ChilmarkGryphon posted using a ring light. Then bought a "bastard amber" lighting gel & cut a ring of it to fit into the ring light for much better results.
Since then they gifted me an amber gel & I've been simply taping it to my flexible floor lamp for improved lighting. Mine is nothing as professional as the suggestions from TomB...but help a bit.
The gel with the ring light gave Chilmark nice results.

 

Don't forget the usefulness of white poster board panels, or even one of those white tri-fold panels put opposite to the light source to add bounce light to even up the light. You can even use white typing paper taped to a piece of cardboard, and angled on the back of a chair to provide fill-light from below. Plain white will provide the most bounced light, but silver or gold wrapping paper can provide some saturated shadows (people say even aluminum foil; ymmv, try wrapping paper both smooth and crumpled-up-fine-then-spread-out for differing effects.

And with a smaller, intense light source, try bouncing it - aim into a white panel behind it rather than aiming it at the dolls.

 

@VampireAngel13 The name of the mirror we have is: My Flexible LED-Illuminated Mirror, Distortion-Free 10x Magnification with Bendable Neck, As Seen on TV. I've never used it for doll photos but it is flexible and with a fresh pair of batteries, it can be really bright!

@hobbywhelmed Those are the best tips I have ever heard!!! Thank you!!!

 

I have a very nice ring light that I use occasionally.

Ring lights excel at product or craft photography where the objective
is shadowless light. Portrait photography done correctly requires some
shadow cast by the nose onto the face. If you are interested in formal
portrait lighting applied to doll photography I have a preliminary draft
copy of such a paper at

http://www.photosbytom.net/PDF/Doll_Portraiture.pdf

 

@VampireAngel13 How'd the ring light go?

Just for some additional lighting I use these small LED spotlight lamps from Hampton Bay, very similar to this model, https://www.amazon.com/Lcaoful-Dire...sprefix=hampton+bay+led+indoor,aps,217&sr=8-5. But I mostly use them for background and fill lighting.

Also here are some nice videos on different ways you can use a ring light.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4wsrW0VpLE

 

That's an interesting light.
Is it like a spotlight or broader.
It looks rather broad...

 

@TomB For dolls it's more broad, and for humans slightly less so. I believe they're calling it a spotlight because the head of the light can be swiveled from side to side and moved up and down.

 

@VampireAngel13 any update on your experiences using a ring light?

 

Here is how I use my ring light.
I will select her from the final image and composite her into a different image.
The ring light provides the main light and the side lights give improved definitiion
of the edges.

Lighting for compositing by Tom Beach, on Flickr

and a resulting composite.

Outdoor girl - 2 by Tom Beach, on Flickr

 

Ring light, umbrella light, any light with stand. I even use regular floor room light and wrap white tissue to defuse the light.

What I really care is CRI. I have a studio which does not have access to natural light source. I have super high CRI light from multiple angles to imitate natural light. Also, have a bouncer. I use white foam board from craft store to bounce the light, it's much cheaper than buying actual bouncers. I always need foam board for my work if I don't need bouncer. (Black foam board if you want high contrast)