Shooting in Sunshine
Taking doll photos in sunshine can be tricky, especially considering sunshine is not good for resin.
No one wants their dolls to turn yellow or green. So here's some tips....
No one wants their dolls to turn yellow or green. So here's some tips....
Limiting Exposure
In order to protect the dolls from the sun, it's important to keep them covered as much as possible. This is especially
important when setting up scenes with multiple dolls. Keep the ones you haven't posed yet in their box, covered by a
cloth, or shaded by an umbrella. You can also shade the dolls with your own body as you lean over to pose them...
important when setting up scenes with multiple dolls. Keep the ones you haven't posed yet in their box, covered by a
cloth, or shaded by an umbrella. You can also shade the dolls with your own body as you lean over to pose them...
A large golf umbrella also works well to shade a group of dolls. I pose the dolls shaded by the umbrella, then go position myself to take the photo. They stay covered by the umbrella as I check their poses through my camera, and Jan makes any final adjustments. Once everything is to my satisfaction, Jan lifts the umbrella away, steps back so his shadow doesn't fall across the scene, I snap a couple of photos, and he immediately covers the dolls with the umbrella again, to pack them all away....
In White Sands, New Mexico, we used the RV to shade the scene. It was early morning with the sun low in the sky, so I found a spot along an undisturbed, plowed, north-west edge of a parking lot. Jan parked right beside the 'sand bank' (like a plowed snowbank, but in White Sands they are sand). The RV cast a big shadow, and I set up the dolls. When I was ready, Jan backed up the RV, I quickly took some photos, and then he moved forward again to put the dolls back in the shade. Here's one of the photos....
The only problem with this kind of photography, is that photos must be taken quickly in order to limit the doll's exposure to the
sun. I can't take my time and readjust or change poses much, as I want to get the dolls out of the sun as quickly as possible.
sun. I can't take my time and readjust or change poses much, as I want to get the dolls out of the sun as quickly as possible.
the Direction of the Sun
With doll photography it's important to pay attention to the direction the sun is coming from. For best results you
should have your back to the sun when taking a photo of your doll. Shooting into the sun gives rather unsatisfactory
pictures making your doll look like a dark silhouette against a light background.....
should have your back to the sun when taking a photo of your doll. Shooting into the sun gives rather unsatisfactory
pictures making your doll look like a dark silhouette against a light background.....
If you turn the dolls around and take the photo with the sun behind you, the dolls will no longer be silhouettes...
Also not great, is shooting at midday when the sun is high overhead. When the sun is overhead it casts
very unattractive harsh shadows on a doll's face. If you have no choice, it's okay for wide scenic shots like this....
very unattractive harsh shadows on a doll's face. If you have no choice, it's okay for wide scenic shots like this....
........but not very good for nice portraits, especially if the doll is wearing a hat........
Because of the harsh shadows, midday sun, especially in summer when it's overhead,
is something I really try to avoid, especially for doll close-ups.
is something I really try to avoid, especially for doll close-ups.
Morning and Evening Sun
If you are going to be taking doll photos in the sun, the best time of day to do it is either first thing in the morning or late in the evening. Then the sun is low in the sky so you won't get unattractive harsh shadows as you do if the sun is high overhead. The light is especially nice if there's haze on the horizon to soften the light even more. Here's Nami & Byuri first thing in the morning....
They are in full sun, but the light is a lot softer so shadows aren't nearly as harsh. Here's Bonnie in late day hazy sunshine....
Again, the shadows are nice and soft. Here's another photo of Elin taken in very late day hazy sunshine....
..and a late day scene just as the sun is about to set into some clouds on the horizon....
The light gets stronger the higher the sun gets, and shadows get stronger as well. Once the sun is higher and shadows stronger,
it works best to have the doll facing directly into the sun in order to minimize shadows. Here's Elin later in the morning.
it works best to have the doll facing directly into the sun in order to minimize shadows. Here's Elin later in the morning.
Here's another shot taken a bit later in the morning with really bright sunshine in a completely
white environment, while the sun was still low enough to shine right into the doll's faces.....
white environment, while the sun was still low enough to shine right into the doll's faces.....
What if there's No Choice?
What if you are somewhere and you want to take a doll photo and you have no choice but to shoot into the sun? Go ahead and take it anyway, just be careful not to shoot directly into the sun (as in having the sun in your picture) because the sun is not good for your camera sensor. It won't be a very good photo, because the doll(s) will be little more than dark silhouettes, but if you are shooting with an SLR with RAW capabilities, the image can be fixed in Photoshop. However if you just have a point-and-shoot or phone to take pictures with, the photo won't turn out very well. But maybe it's still better than nothing.
I was at the lake recently and the lake is to the south of me, so I had no choice but to shoot into the sun. Here's the photo as taken..
I was at the lake recently and the lake is to the south of me, so I had no choice but to shoot into the sun. Here's the photo as taken..
With a little Photoshop work involving Layers, I managed to turn it into this.....
Same with this scene taken in Waterton Lakes a few years ago - I had no choice but to shoot almost directly into the sun......
This photo isn't quite as bad as the one with the penguins because it was taken much further back, but I did improve it in Photoshop..
Unfortunately teaching someone how to do this kind of photo manipulation in Photoshop is beyond the scope of this Tutorial.
*The key thing to remember is that when taking photos with the sun overhead or behind the doll, that taking photos
further back and including more of the scene, will give better results than trying to shoot close-up portraits.
*The key thing to remember is that when taking photos with the sun overhead or behind the doll, that taking photos
further back and including more of the scene, will give better results than trying to shoot close-up portraits.
Sunsets
This is the one time that you do want to be shooting into the sun, or better yet, shooting into the bright sky after the
sun has gone down. This is one of the few times you do want a brightly coloured background (the sky) with the dolls
as mere silhouettes. But it's best not to have the actual sun in your picture, as it's not good for the camera sensor,
so wait until the sun is behind a cloud or sinks below the horizon.
sun has gone down. This is one of the few times you do want a brightly coloured background (the sky) with the dolls
as mere silhouettes. But it's best not to have the actual sun in your picture, as it's not good for the camera sensor,
so wait until the sun is behind a cloud or sinks below the horizon.
Don't use a flash to highlight your dolls, because in my opinion it ruins the entire feel of the photo. Compare these two photos....
The one with flash might show the dolls better, but the photo without flash is a much nicer picture. Taking photos in such low light can be challenging because of 'camera shake' when the shutter speed gets really slow. I can shoot hand-held down to 1/8th of a second and if I take several shots I have a pretty good chance at least one will be reasonably sharp. Slower than that and I really have to use a tri-pod. So familiarize yourself with your own camera so you know how low a light you can get away with - or use a tripod.
Copyright © 2015 Martha Boers
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All Rights Reserved