Photography and editing feedback

Looking to get some feedback on some recent photos I took recently. Including the raw and processed for comparisons. Apologies for the imgur link, I can't upload images here yet

https://imgur.com/a/oVLVuvU

Image 1: 1/80 f/2.8 28mm 80iso
Only had a small led light as an additional light source for this outdoor shoot. I struggled with overexposure of the background and shooting in the shade. Unsure if I should have underexposed, upped the f stop, or gone for some stacking.

Image 2: 1/80 f/5.6 40mm 80iso flash 1/2? 1/4?
Indoor shoot with a flash. I feel like the lighting here is pretty flat and not dynamic. Probably should have upped the iso a bit and played around more with lighting angles.

Black hair is pretty challenging to shoot. I was also not that happy with the harsh light reflections in the eye. I probably needed to offset my lights to the side more?
I'm new to portrait and doll photography, any tips is appreciated. Also please let me know of other places to get feedback thanks!

Edited October 15, 2024 by kudoku

I would say the background is too bright compared to the subject so it pulls the eye away from the doll. In Lightroom you can use the masking tools to create a custom vignette that lets you darken the stuff around your subject and that may help the indoor image pop more. 

https://www.capturelandscapes.com/create-custom-vignette-lightroom/

Other tools should have similar features. 

For the outdoor image, I think you will need to do some adjustment brush work. 

For indoor images, I tend to overexpose by about a stop, but I am careful to make sure that the highlights aren't being blown out. Then I just pull the exposure down by a stop in post. Slight overexposure puts more data in the raw file and I get much better results with the contrast and saturation tools. 

https://photographylife.com/exposing-to-the-right-explained

I did a lot of testing with my camera to see how far I could push this, and it's going to vary camera by camera. Mine is a D800, which is old now, but it's a very good camera in terms of raw capture data.

That technique is easier indoors where I control the light, so I don't have to worry as much about blown highlights once the camera is set.

The lights in the eyes are a pain, but honestly I'm more bothered by reflections on doll glasses. The spots you have could be brushed out.

 

I'll critique a different but tough area to improve on, the posing itself. It's something that improves over the long haul and besides composition, is the toughest aspect to get right.

In the first image, she's not holding the stick. It's a pain because the optional hands are pricey, but Volks sells hands that have a secure grip for holding on to things.

The hand on the hip looks a little stiff to me (more the arm itself than the hand specifically). This is tough to get right, but following what JP doll owners do (on Twitter) is a good starting point for getting ideas of how to adjust the posing to look exactly right. Another source is to read manga or snap shots of your favorite anime at the right moments to get ideas.

Last but not least, try posing yourself facing a mirror and take note of how things look as you may naturally adjust your body's or arm's angle to look better. That's what you need to do with the doll.

For the second image, it's not clear to me what's happening with the (viewer's left) hand. The right hand is posed pretty well, but pop that hand joint back in (it's loose). It'd look even better if the head were tilted a little (like my avatar) to look cuter. In general, poses look cuter and more natural when there's asymmetry and variance to each part of the body. It's not a hard rule, but it's something that's emphasized a lot when learning to draw comics.

Hope this helps!

Edited October 18, 2024 by chef_mai

On 10/15/2024 at 5:21 PM, BeyondTime said:

custom vignette that lets you darken the stuff around your subject

...

That technique is easier indoors where I control the light, so I don't have to worry as much about blown highlights once the camera is set.

The lights in the eyes are a pain, but honestly I'm more bothered by reflections on doll glasses. The spots you have could be brushed out.

Posted an indoor low light image and tried to mask the highlights (candles). Still pretty challenging to get right and not have it be this unnatural blur on the masking border. Brushing out the eyes were a pain too, so much that I try to avoid them in the first place. The pupils are impossible to get right. I should also invest in a remote shutter so I don't see my own reflection
😄
https://imgur.com/fvQSKWxhttps://imgur.com/fvQSKWx

 

On 10/17/2024 at 11:15 PM, chef_mai said:

...the posing itself.

Very nice callout. I tried some more posing excercises. Posing and having them look at the camera was like mixing oil and water. What a pain!

https://imgur.com/wKws516https://imgur.com/wKws516



Is it better to keep bumping this thread with any new updates or start a new one every so often? It doesn't seem like this section gets much activity

One more thing I'll add to the mix, which I'll admit I need work on myself but it always improves a photo by a ton, is make sure everything looks the way you want it to look before taking the photo. The clothes' folds are correct, the wig is brushed and positioned correctly on the head, and—well, someone already went into that, so forget about that for now. But, basically, you want your dolls lookin' good. Also, refer to my critique here on photo editing itself. I hope that's a start!

Note: If you want a "natural" look, as I call it, like they've been out and about and not being photographed in a studio, perfectly styled hair and rim-rod clothes are fine! Just make sure the wig is properly positioned and it makes sense!

On 10/19/2024 at 1:43 PM, kudoku said:

Is it better to keep bumping this thread with any new updates or start a new one every so often? It doesn't seem like this section gets much activity

It probably makes more sense to keep one thread, since it's a critique thread.

 

On 10/17/2024 at 9:15 PM, chef_mai said:

In general, poses look cuter and more natural when there's asymmetry and variance to each part of the body. It's not a hard rule, but it's something that's emphasized a lot when learning to draw comics.

This is more on what @chef_mai is talking about.

https://animeartmagazine.com/using-contrapposto-to-create-beautiful-standing-poses-for-women/

 

On 10/19/2024 at 1:43 PM, kudoku said:

https://imgur.com/fvQSKWxhttps://imgur.com/fvQSKWx

These links seem to be broken, and it's not just the double link post, they end up redirecting you to the root of imgur.

Two blog posts from Volks add some details about posing.

https://dollfie.volks.co.jp/blog/2021/05/13/003692.html

https://dollfie.volks.co.jp/blog/2021/06/03/003762.html