Tension Points

This is not exactly a very inspiring time of year for taking doll photos. It's all dead and brown outside, and we are supposed to get freezing rain today. Sewing is going very slow, so there's nothing new to share.  So what better time to tackle another photography tip - tension points.

How often have you taken your dolls outside for some photos, then when you downloaded them on your computer, there were distracting things in the background? We tend to focus so much on getting our dolls posed just right, that we can easily overlook, or not notice what's in the background. Like this photo taken this past January......

It was so cold, and I was in a hurry, so never even noticed the windmill blades sticking out of Ringo's pompom.        Then there's those sneaky trees that stick up through a doll's head.....

Or how about this photo where I wasn't paying attention to what was in the background?

You can unintentionally take some rather funny pictures!  

I had to really watch the backgrounds in my recent series of photos at the Ruins Garden. I never even noticed the large, concrete fruit protruding from the top of Rosy's head....

The horizontal edge going right through her head isn't attractive either. When I moved to get another angle I didn't notice the curls spiralling out of the top of her head at first either.....

There were also large numbers in the concrete - the date on an old building facade - and they also were rather distracting....

To minimize the tension points, I moved over a little more, and took another photo. There's still a concrete curl on one side of her head, but at least the huge spirals are not coming out the middle of her head anymore...

So next time you are out and about taking photos of your dolls, try pay attention to what's in the background so you don't end up with distracting tension points.....