Photography Taking a nice profile picture

I think what would really help is some different lighting! It seems you're using indoor lighting which is generally warm white, and gives a yellowish tinge to everything, and since your girls wig is really light, the lighting just kinda makes her look allover yellow, and makes her features blend together. I think also using a darker backround will help her stand out visually, and taking the picture from a bit further away, you can always crop closer to her face! Also if you dont want to buy a little tripod for your phone, you can stack some books and place your phone on them propped up, so no need to worry about getting a shakey image! I hope some of this helps!

 

Looking good so far! I wouldn't have known you struggled at all to get this image. Personally, I think natural light looks best though! Anything really soft and diffused would really flatter her. (You can always diffuse artificial light with something translucent and white like parchment/wax paper to make it softer, but taking pictures by a window is easier imo.)

Think of how lots of youtubers have ring lights- by keeping light evenly distributed throughout and head on, it adds a professional, smooth finish (and smooths out skin, but dolls don't have that problem lol!). I think also maybe some color of background could help make her stand out! She's got a lot of light and white tones, so something darker would really make her pop.

I'm also partial to posing hands near the face since I feel like that adds a model-ish touch, but you don't have to! Maybe consider pushing her pose a little further? In general, looking at real human portraiture really helps you build a naturalistic scene! Pinterest can be super annoying with how many ads there are, but I would recommend studying some boards there! Here's one I found pretty quick.

 

I agree with natural light! I have a dark house and I pretty much HAVE to sit my dolls during the daytime by the window to have an even slightly crisp image. I would also consider adjusting eye positioning, I know there is some guides on this forum about it. But it can add a lot of life and personality even just adjusting them a bit. For me it looks as though she should be looking 'up' slightly more. The brush you have ordered should really help too, though even with brushes it can be very fiddly to get the wig looking just right, especially the fringe/bangs, I can spend a long time adjusting and moving strands. Your girl is very cute and I look forward to seeing what other pics you capture ^_^

 

In addition to the tips above:
I think some kind of blurry background looks good. Not a single color but maybe a meadow and sky. It's difficult to make it blurry with a phone camera, but maybe you can adjust it with Photoshop after that.
Take a look at real human portrait photography. I also think it helps a lot.
Put some light in front of her, but a little from the side. That way there's enough light but she also has some shadow on her face which looks more natural.
I hope that helps

 

Agreeing to the lighting tips.
Also the eye positioning is off. The thumb rule is the very top of the pupils should not be visible. Look as human faces, usually the pupil is partially hidden behind the upper lid while completely visible pupils express a look of surprise or shock.

 

I agree that lighting is the main issue here. You need more of it, even if you use indoor light (you can probably set white balance in your phone's camera app, or even after the fact in an editor, to offset the color imbalance). The low light is making everything look fuzzy and yellow.

If you have a newer phone, it probably has a portrait mode in the camera. Definitely use that if you've got it. You can sit your doll in front of a pretty background -- a flower bed, let's say -- and portrait mode will blur the background for you. That will help bring your doll into focus while giving you a bit of that "professional" flair you're after.

 

I think the most important is lightning. Choosing the good lightning in your house, and using a white paper or blank to lead more light to your doll. Good lightning is also making your photo not having grain.

Then, the background and props will make the photos more aesthetic, but don't put too much props or they will make the photos look busy.

After that, good phone camera or camera. I don't use portrait mode from phone camera because it is kind of looking fake in my opinion, so exploring the Lightroom CC/photoshop or VSCO app are the plus point to make the photos more vivid.

Finally, the more you take photos, the better you get.

This photo is taken by DSLR camera in bad lightning and retouched by Lightroom CC and PTS


This photo is taken by phone camera, and in bad lightning because it is grainy:



This photo is taken by DSLR camera but in bad lightning, but I was testing the blurry level of the background that the DSLR could create, and of course, it will be much better than portrait mode phone camera:


This is taken by DSLR camera as well but in quite good lightning, but I was using kit lense/basic lense so there is blurry in the background :