help a noob Doll Photography + Pose Advice?

My third post already! I'm sorry if I'm posting too much, I'm just very excited to get to actually discuss things with the community!

So! I was hoping to get y'all's photography advice! So far I've figured out just how important lighting is (though I haven't quite perfected actually getting that right quite yet). I would love to hear what tips and tricks you guys know, though! Big or small, any little tidbits help! 

I've also struggled a bit with posing, if you have any advice there! 

1 hour ago, froggubi said:

My third post already! I'm sorry if I'm posting too much, I'm just very excited to get to actually discuss things with the community!

You need 20 or 30 posts to become a full-fledged member, so knock yourself out 😂 

For photography, you might as well meet up with @Tierparkzone at some point and get him to explain everything in person. He has all the equipment to show you and regularly takes his dolls outside for photoshoots.

For posing, try to replicate poses you see in photos.

@ragnamuffin I hadn't thought of trying to find poses to replicate! That's a great idea!

Yup photos are what I look at. I just go on pinterest and look for poses. Or you can look at magazines/ads/models or whatever.

I find for posing, once you have a general idea of what you want, it helps to try doing the pose yourself.  See how your body moves and where the joints should be.  This has helped me a lot, especially with hand/wrist/elbow placement in photos.  

Edited June 14 by DesertPhantom51

25 minutes ago, DesertPhantom51 said:

I find for posing, once you have a general idea of what you want, it helps to try doing the pose yourself.  See how your body moves and where the joints should be.  This has helped me a lot, especially with hand/wrist/elbow placement in photos.  

This can be very helpful as well! But do be careful if you happen to be hypermobile (overly bendy/flexible). I am very hypermobile and so a lot of times I'll do something that actually seems unnatural to most people but I'm over here like "I can literally do this tho?" And then I remember how much my everything hyperextends or something. (Reasons I no longer use my own hands as drawing references if I can help it lmao)

@GirlWiththeDragoonTattoo Oh, starting an inspo board on Pinterest is smart! I'll do that for sure! 

@DesertPhantom51 Yeah, the elbows have definitely been the bane of my existence, so that would probably help a lot, thank you! 

7 hours ago, GirlWiththeDragoonTattoo said:

This can be very helpful as well! But do be careful if you happen to be hypermobile (overly bendy/flexible).

I am, in fact, hypermobile though haha! So I do need to be careful with that sort of thing.

7 hours ago, GirlWiththeDragoonTattoo said:

lot of times I'll do something that actually seems unnatural to most people but I'm over here like "I can literally do this tho?" And then I remember how much my everything hyperextends or something. (Reasons I no longer use my own hands as drawing references if I can help it lmao)

I've had a similar problem when trying to do art poses too XD! Glad to know I'm not the only one LOL!

16 hours ago, froggubi said:

I've had a similar problem when trying to do art poses too XD! Glad to know I'm not the only one LOL!

Haha same hat then! I've sometimes posed my vinyl girls with their elbows hypertextended or wrists bent a certain way, because it looks fine to me! But then I'll look back at my pose reference and remember it's not normal actually and adjust accordingly 🤣

When I first starting doing doll photography back in 2010, I used fashion magazine photos as a guide to posing my girl Manami.  Replicating those poses gave me a better idea of what looked natural and what she could and could not do because of her frame and joint systems.  Of course, finding photos online is way easier than finding magazines so just google fashion models and I'm sure loads of photos will pop up.   

 

Billy