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Photographing BW dolls/taking pictures using natural light?

Sep 16, 2005

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    1. Mmm, two things.

      Well, Lukas came home the other day and while I love him and posing him and taking pictures of him is a joy, the result often isn't. Indoors with a flash it's fine, oddly. He shows up just fine, isn't washed out at all(Our walls that drive me mad for anything else may help this, though - They're peach and everything I ever take indoors is influenced by that colour. >_>)... And then I take him outside and turn off the flash. And. Um. Ack? His eyes show up great, but his nose and lips kind of disappear except for the deepest, most shadowed creases of them. X_x; Is there a way to try to fix this short of getting a less crappy camera? Like... Maybe some way of diffusing the light without blocking it our or casting shadows on him? Or is he doomed to blinding glowingness in outdoor photos and I should just wait for semi-cloudy days? ^_^;;; I was doing it about an hour and a half before sunset, so it wasn't like... You know, high noon or anything.

      Though the other thing is that sometimes my camera does that with my NON-BW dolls. I was taking pictures of Alisa and Lutz outside recently and the sun was out and half the pictures had to be deleted because they were unusably washed out. I wasn't using flash, so what gives? It was mid-afternoon when I was doing it then.

      Clearly I just need to hang a sheet up in the dining room here as a backdrop and forget about taking pictures outdoors. >_>;;; This is where pictures turn out best. Turn on the overhead light, and there's big open windows on two sides of the room that get the morning sun and still get a lot of light even in the afternoon.

      Mmm, not sure about the model of my digicam. It's made by Sony, it's a couple of years old.... Maybe if I give you some of the text from it? On the front it says '3.2 Megapixel' and then below that 'CyberShot', then on the top it's got 'MPEGMovieVX'(Yes, it takes movies, which is nice since I've got video footage of one of our cats no longer with us, but I tend not to trust things that try to multitask like that. >_>), and then below that it says 'Smart Zoom DSC-P8'. I should probably start by getting one that sucks less, but other than the washed-outness it does a good enough job.

      I know crap about cameras and photography other than that I had to take a brief photography class once and I hate developing my own film. XD;;;
       
      #1 Ian-KunX, Sep 16, 2005
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    2. What are the settings on your camera right now? When you take pictures outside on a clear afternoon, try having the camera set as follows:

      Metering : multi
      ISO: Auto
      White Balance: Sunny (otherwise, if cloudy...use "cloudy")

      The time of day you take pictures can also be an influence. I find it best to take pictures closer towards sunset when light becomes softer.

      Next time you have a washed out picture taken outside, post it in this thread. I'd like to see what you mean by "washed out".
       
      #2 nikita, Sep 17, 2005
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    3. You're taking the outside photos in the wrong places, that's all. :oops: Direct sunlight is one of the hardest lighting situations for photos. The pictures you've taken in the shade look very nice. ^_^

      Even normal-resin dolls get washed out in direct sunlight on a bright day. I'm not much of a photographer; as a cosplayer, I'm accustomed to being on the other side of the camera, but after studying hundreds of photos of myself in various settings I've learned that the best lighting is pretty strong yet also soft. As a general rule of thumb, if the light is strong enough to cast a dramatic shadow, it's too strong for an amateur to get a good photo. Cloudy days are pretty good. If the sunlight is very bright, move both the doll and your camera into a shaded area. You'll still get plenty of light, it'll look natural, and it won't make your dolls glow blindingly. High noon on a bright day is the absolute worst time for photos because the highlights are blinding and the overhead sun casts terribly unflattering shadows. But even at other times of day, even in the evening, the direct sun can be too bright.

      I think it takes an extremely skilled photographer to get good results in bright sunlight. The rest of us with ordinary cameras do better in the shade... :oops:
       
      #3 inertia, Sep 18, 2005
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    4. Yeah, unfortunately all photographers hate it when the sun is up there at 'high noon' so to speak...or in other words, bright as hell...heh. I usually just set my digital on manual and fidget with the exposure by 'stopping down'...reduce the aperture to allow as little light in as possible.

      A great time to take photos believe it or not is 1 hour after sunrise (yeah, like I ever see THAT!) or 1 hour before sunset. The "magic hour". Cameras read light the most accurate at this time of day due to the wavelengths of light going toward the warmer spectrum...you can get some amazing lighting results...

      I think if someone set up a location shot with their dolls like aznbutterfly usually does at these times, the results would be really interesting!

      More here:
      ronbigelow.com/articles/magic/magic.htm
       
      #4 Christy, Sep 26, 2005
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