This is an older video, but it has been somewhat popular on my YouTube channel. Since, during the month of September, I’ve been following a theme of doll photography tips and tricks (rather than my usual posting of free, printable doll clothes sewing patterns and tutorials), I thought it wouldn’t hurt to revisit this helpful … Continue reading
Fashion dolls are typically made of hard plastic, and yet we want them to look life-like in our photos. So how do we avoid the glossy look of a doll’s hard-plastic “skin?” This doll photography tutorial video helps you problem-solve this notorious problem for doll photographers. This is the last of my NEW doll photography … Continue reading
Indoor photography can be a real hastle when you have to set up the kitchen table for a photo shoot right after breakfast, hurry though your photos, and then take the kitchen-table-studio apart again in time for serving dinner. About a year ago, I moved all my doll photography stuff out to the kids’ playhouse. … Continue reading
We’ve all taken them: the photo that’s too dark or too bright. This video tutorial suggests ways to counteract problems with light and shadows. However, if you want to know more about how to adjust your DSLR camera and its ISO, aperture settings, etc., the place to look is Chelsea and Tony Northrup’s book, Stunning … Continue reading
In the image above, I’ve included dolls from both a 1:6 scale (i.e. Mattel’s Barbie®) and a 1:9 scale (i.e. the Breyer® dolls). For a brief period, I used this image to demonstrate that ChellyWood.com offers FREE printable doll clothes sewing patterns for dolls of — as my catch-phrase states — many shapes and sizes. … Continue reading
Where do you take photos of your doll? Is it indoors? Outdoors? In a studio? On the kitchen table? No matter where you do your dolly photo shoot, the setting needs to be believable to get a really good photograph of a doll. In this video, we’ll compare shots of dolls that lack that believability … Continue reading
A lot of you know that between times when I’m creating free patterns and YouTube tutorials, I’m also filming a stop-motion version of Romeo and Juliet with dolls. In filming stop-motion, I’ve come to realize that certain doll poses are more active than others. For example, look at the Ever After High® doll in the … Continue reading
What makes a doll look human-sized? That’s what I mean by “perspective” in this doll photography video. Whether you’re in a studio or outdoors, one of the best things you can do to make the doll seem larger is to get down on the ground and take photos from the doll’s eye-level (or even below … Continue reading
As I started typing today’s blog post, it occurred to me that I’d chosen the “Photographer” doll–how ironic for a post about photgraphy! But she really is one of my favorite dolls to photograph. She has those adorable dimples and such a genuine smile! So even though Monday’s post was about the importance of choosing … Continue reading
In my doll photo videos, you’ll notice that I mention my favorite photography book: Stunning Digital Photography, by Chelsea and Tony Northrup. Let me just say that Tony and Chelsea Northrup have been super helpful for me, as I attempt to master my DSLR Nikkon camera, and as I’ve slowly learned the skill of doll … Continue reading
For my doll photography tips and tricks series, I’m going to start out with what I think is the most helpful tip of all in doll photography: use an articulated doll. “Articulation” is a word doll enthusiasts use to mean flexibility. Does the doll bend at the wrist? Does she bend at the waist? Can … Continue reading
A doll stand gives you a chance to take photos of your doll without holding her up with your hands. But how do you keep the stand out of the picture? This video shows you what I do to hide the doll stands in my videos and doll photography. This video tutorial has been remarkably … Continue reading
