Light Ring??

I've never used a light ring, but I have seen plenty of results from them. They are a great resource for portrait photography. So if you like taking portraits of your gang, than it would be a useful tool. But, if you like taking photos of scenes and photostories, then the ring light wouldn't do anything an ordinary light source wouldn't do.

As for what a ring light is, it's literally exactly as it sounds. It's just a light source that is in the shape of a ring or doughnut. It causes a circular catchlight in the subjects eyes or in reflections.

examples:




Edit: There are plenty of DIY methods to make this. So I suggest that before shelling out money for the actual light.

 

I think that just means, you need to work on angling her head some or the camera. If you post an example of what you mean, I'd be able to help more.

 

Oh yea. A lot of people have this problem. I usually put a piece of white card under my doll or next to him (experiment to find the right spot) in order to bounce light into him/her face. Or you could try diffusing the flash: This thread had a good, cheap tutorial for making one out of foam.

 

Ringlights are actually a relatively expensive proposition. The ones you're seeing are probably the Ray Flash or Orbis, and those actually attach to a normal speedlight-type flash to be used. There are stand-alone ringlights as well, but they're very expensive, starting at around $800 or more.

 

I don't know much about photography or anything, and I use a pretty small digital camera from Kodak, but I got a tip from a friend, and I tape a bit of white tissue paper from a wig ball (or you can pick up a small pack for a dollar at the dollar store) over the flash, and it sort of diffuses the light a bit, so instead of washing my dolls out or giving them a weird stare, it makes them look normal. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to show example photos though. >-> I usually just lurk here....

Also try playing with the eye positioning if you can, sometimes that takes out some of the (O-O) stare. Try them looking off to the side, or up a bit. Just, a thought.

 

Can you tell us about the camera you are using? We might be able to offer tips specific to your camera. I noticed in your photos that at least the bottom one is having a depth of field issue. i.e. the hat is in focus but the eyes and face are not. Camera and if SLR, lens info will help in giving you tips to over come the darkness and focus issue.

Best Regards,

Bobby

 

I hope no one minds me jumping in here. I've also been having problems getting my dolls eyes to not be dark. I've been trying to reflect more light into them with various reflecting objects (e.g. white foam board, mirror) but it doesn't seem to work well. Granted my dolls all have small eye openings so I'm sure that's not helping.

 

One thing I have found that can help is to use fill flash to light the eyes. Another option is to light the eyes with small flash lights. I use the mini mag light with LED bulb. Those are available at Home Depot for about $23.00. Another option is to set a longer exposer. You may need to use a tripod to get away with this. I have set the focus and let a camera sit for several min in a dimly lit room to get great quality photos.
The last option is to lighten up the eyes in photoshop are something similar. Especially if your camera can take raw photos, that is a very good option.

Best Regards,


Bobby

 

Thanks for the tips Bobster! I did try with a flash light, but I had to use my dad's big one with the tungsten light in it, as I couldn't find his small one with the LED light, and it did help a little. I'll try it again while doing a longer exposure. And if all else fails there's photoshop. I recently got a T1i so now take all my pictures in RAW, and have to say I love it.

 

Another thing that might be helping that dark-eyed look is that some Puki eyewells can be pretty deep. This sets the eyes back in the head and so away from the light. If you are feeling daring, and the eyewells do look deep, you can try bevelling them a little. Alternatively, silicone (so, soft and flexible) eyes can be squished into eyewells rather better than rigid eyes. Another reason why the eyes may be set too far back is that they might be slightly too big for the head, or have deep paperweights (the dome of glass/acrylic over the pupil that adds visual depth to the eye, but also adds bulk). Both would push the pupil away from the eye opening and so away from the light. It might be worth experimenting with different eyes and see if that makes a difference.

Otherwise, I second the suggestion for reflecting a little of your light up into the eyes with white or silver card. It takes some fiddle-faddling around to position the reflection where you need it and therefore really works best when you can see where you are directing the reflection, so with continuous lighting (a lamp) rather than a flash.