Photography Why so boring? Critique please!

Just from quickly looking at these, I think that part of the problem might be how expressionless the posing is. Your doll is just standing there and there isn't much going on, kinda a bit as if it was in a fashion magazine or something of the like. If you could explore different ways to pose your dolls, I think that your photos will benefit from it. You can try to picture how your doll could interact with the environment and start to get ideas from that.

For example, with that tree, maybe he could have been peaking from the side of it, or maybe sitting at the foot of it, looking at the nature around.

Other than that, I think that the technical aspect is well done here. Your doll is in focus and you seem to understand the dept of field, as shown in the last pictures.

 

Agreeing with DarksStars. Those are technically competent photographs. Exposure is good, no harsh lights and shadows, everything that needs to be in focus is. That is no mean feat, so well done on that. However, as DarksStars also says, there is not much going on there.

My suggestion would be to think about what you are trying to do before taking the shot. So, if you "just" want a nice portrait, what do you want to convey? You almost certainly want to convey the character of the doll, at the very least. You therefore need to chose the colours, lighting pose and angle to convey it. Use the pose to suggest how they are feeling, by using body language or angle. Shy person? Shoot from above, to make them look small and vulnerable and have them slightly hunched (if they can manage it) and looking up at the camera.

Also, you have done this in some of them, but break up your composition. Avoid centred compositions, where everything of interest is in the middle of the frame, as that looks static. Set the doll off to one side instead. Also avoid the body and head being in the same angle. Turn head or body so that the body line is not so straight. Finally, see if you can introduce some oblique lines in there, as most lines are horizontal and vertical, which is again static. Leaning the body or using the arms can help with that.

Why not find some doll or person photos you like and try and replicate them? It is a good way to kick yourself out of a rut, see things in a slightly different way and teach you something new. If they are close copies of existing doll photos, they might not be ones for show, but they will change the way you take the next shots.

 

DarksStars and MadameMauMau have already offered great advice, so I just want to add one thing:

The first thing that I noticed about your photos: Your boy is positioned as if he was supposed to look directly at the viewer - but he doesn't. I'm trying to "make eye-contact" with him, but it doesn't work. Maybe you need to reposition the head just a little bit, but maybe the eyes need a little readjusting. Your boy has this really cute and melancholic face which I think can be very expressive when photographed from the right angle.

 

I actually scrolled down to say basically what Evie did! I think the posing is fine for a natural, casual type photoshoot...but I think your boy would greatly benefit from you readjusting his eyes! Looking straight ahead tends to make dolls look emotionless, so maybe try turning his eyes so that he's looking to the side, or even bringing them up a little bit so that there's a little bit of white underneath the iris showing! I bet if you took these same pictures with that subtle change, it'd make a huge difference!

 

Definitely backing up the re-positioning of the eyes here, but you might also want to consider possibly thickening they eyebrow area? They're very light. Basically, and this is my opinion; for neutral sculpts (non-smiling...etc) you're going to be getting most of your personality from the eye area, and making the eyebrows a little more visible might help with that too (especially with how dark the wig is)

 

Maybe cropping to change? For example leave less background and rotate the camera. And yet, can warmer colors? I think so)))
Sorry to use photos without permission.

 

These are just some friendly suggestions and only my opinions so don't feel obligated to take my advice....to me, eyes are one of the most important parts of a doll. Its what makes them appear human and makes someone second glance their face, unsure if its in fact a human being or just a lifeless figure. Bjd photography that takes this into consideration is what makes the pictures pop. Try angling the eyes differently, you'd be amazed at how the emotions and mood of the photo will immediately changed to something you wouldn't have expected. what is your doll's personality? how would it want to be posed, if it was human, how and what would you want to capture about it? Lighting choices are also important, contrast adds an entire new amount of depth to the picture, bringing the viewer's attention to the contours of the face and how beautiful the sculpt actually is.
You've probably already heard all of this from the people above, just wanted to share my opinion. Hope that helps!

 

It helps to have an idea in mind before you start shooting. For example, my doll hasn't even arrived yet, but I know when she does I want to take a shot if it looking like she's sitting down pulling her stockings up, and another of her in a field of flowers bending down and reaching towards the camera. (I haven't taken any doll pictures, but I am an assistant wedding photographer )

 

I agree with MadamMauMau, look at some photos of people or dolls that you really like and try to figure out what it is about those photos that make them interesting. Whether its the angle, lighting, props, interaction or expression of the subject in the photo. Sometimes showing less in a photo can make it more interesting or can create a different emotion. Having him in half shadow, for example, can make him look more mysterious. Or if he's in a dark room with just backlighting you can make a neat silhouetted image. I haven't revived my first dolls yet (they're in the process of being made) so I don't have much experience photographing dolls I did do some modeling for a while. These are all things that any photographer can use to their advantage in making an incredible image

 

He's got a bit of middle distance gaze, lovely and thoughtful, but if you get tired of that, try tilting his eyes up a teeny bit so he'll make full eye contact with the viewer. Here's what I mean here.