Virgin_Doll's miniature dolls

OlmanOz · Post by **OlmanOz** » Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:46 am

Wow.. She does look nice kitted up.. Those red tinted glasses look fantastic, and those guns are nice too..

No sure what type of camera you are using but if you have manual focus that is 100% better.. I always use that..
If you use a cell phone download an APP called open camera by Mark Harman if you phone does not have a manual focus. I photographed 3/4's of "My teddy bear won't talk to me" using that app. It works great.

Also a little trick, move back a little and zoom in. You will find that increases the depth of field.. ie; more of the items at different distances from the lens will stay in focus.
Here is a very quick sample I just snapped in a hurry to show you.. This is a 1/12 scale bike and phicen figure.

The first shot was taken at 10cm (4 inches) from the bike, you can see the back of the bike is out of focus because I focused on the fuel tank..

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Move the camera back to about 20cm (8 inches) and zoom in.. Now you can see the pic is a little more grainy but more of the bike stays in focus, because there is a "greater depth of field".. I still focused the lens at the fuel tank..
Stronger light means less "grain" and better focus as well.. Also this trick will be easier on the 1/6th scale figures. 1/12 scale is more difficult to focus the entire picture.

Hope this helps.. Oz..

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Virgin_Doll · Post by **Virgin_Doll** » Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:53 am

Thank you LoneRanger and OlmanOz.
I will definitely try out your tips
I have a Nikon D50 camera with 18-55 mm lens.
Manual photography is very difficult for me because of the wrong master eye (that is why I also have problems aiming well with weapons ) and poor vision to focus

hollows+fentiman · Post by **hollows+fentiman** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 3:42 am

Yeah, the camera focuses on centre spots generally! If you can use a manual mode, try to light the subject well and narrow the F stop as much as possible (like F22 if you can!). That way, more depth will stay in focus.

Nice lady by the way!

Cheers, Hollows.

Post by **LoneRanger** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:10 am

Oh my...You have fallen down that rabbit hole after all. I want that French Foreign Legionnaire!!

I pushed my soul into a deep dark hole and I followed it in. I watched myself crawling out as I was crawling in!!!

Excellent start to being totally broke!!

Virgin_Doll · Post by **Virgin_Doll** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 2:12 pm

The introduction of Lotte, with composite equipment

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My girl Lotte has also joined the armed department of my collection

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My new girls want to be both beautiful and dangerous ..... don't be fooled by their looks .... they are lethal

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I have photographed both automatically and manually, the results are good but not always

OlmanOz · Post by **OlmanOz** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 6:34 pm

Lotte looks great.

If it makes you feel any better I take from 6 to 10 photos at least almost every time to get one really good one. And sometimes a lot more. Sometimes it's the focus that's wrong and sometimes it's just the angle or how I have framed the shot. And then sometimes when I think I have the perfect shot I take a closer look and realise one of my figures is looking the wrong way or dropped something etc...

carlys_guy · Post by **carlys_guy** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 6:40 pm

girls time to request a troop transport from HQ.

carly snugglemore

hansdampf21 · Post by **hansdampf21** » Tue Jun 11, 2019 12:57 am

She's beautiful!

One tip though, from a friend: try to not put the lights in front of the model.
If you put them on the sides and / or above, you can avoid shadows and reflections on the model and the background.

And now, hopefully she wont fire up the gun on me.

Best regards,
HD

OlmanOz · Post by **OlmanOz** » Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:28 am

hehehe.. yes good tip..

Lotte looks like an S28A. Am I correct..? I love these new bodies..

wonderful shape...

Post by **LoneRanger** » Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:44 am

Very Nice... I have that HS and she is a hottie! Anchor's Away!!

Congratulations!! Again!!

Virgin_Doll · Post by **Virgin_Doll** » Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:42 pm

Thank you all

If it makes you feel any better I take from 6 to 10 photos at least almost every time to get one really good one. And sometimes a lot more. Sometimes it's the focus that's wrong and sometimes it's just the angle or how I have framed the shot. And then sometimes when I think I have the perfect shot I take a closer look and realise one of my figures is looking the wrong way or dropped something etc...

I know OlmanOz.
To be honest, I gave up a bit to make the perfect photos, there is always something that is not good.

One tip though, from a friend: try to not put the lights in front of the model.
If you put them on the sides and / or above, you can avoid shadows and reflections on the model and the background.

I know hansdampf21, and no I will not shoot at you.
Shooting is only done in self-defense.

I've already mentioned this problem, I never get the pictures without shadows, wherever I put my 2 lamps or even without flash shooting.

scooter_ca · Post by **scooter_ca** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:57 am

Great pictures of Lotte.
Cute but dangerous.

My photographic method is similar to the ones described above.
At OZ's suggestion I just recently converted to using Open Camera on my Samsung A8 phone.
Going forward, that is what I will use from now on.

For depth of field, I tend to take all my pictures from a distance where the subject is fully in the frame, maybe about 12 inches.
I don't use zoom but in post processing I crop heavily.
On most camera phones the zoom is digital anyway so this is the equivalent of cropping.
By doing cropping in post production I have better control over features such as the "rule of thirds".

I also take around 30 or more pictures of each pose and choose just one.
I like my dolls to make eye contact, so even moving the camera up, down, left, or right a tiny fraction can affect the results.

My next plan is to start using stronger lighting to try to get rid of some graininess.

Thanks,
scooter

OlmanOz · Post by **OlmanOz** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:39 am

This light is my best friend..
A rechargeable dimmable LED light on a magnetic swivel base placed onto a big steel washer..
Works a treat..

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Post by **LoneRanger** » Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:34 am

My weapons...They have a magnetic base and you can move the light up and down AND they also rotate left and right. Simple work lights from Lowes about 3 years ago. They also hve 3 settings. High . natural (my most often used position) and spotlight (the tiny light on the end lights up and the main light is off, great for effects).

hansdampf21 · Post by **hansdampf21** » Thu Jun 13, 2019 12:40 pm

Virgin_Doll wrote:
One tip though, from a friend: try to not put the lights in front of the model.
If you put them on the sides and / or above, you can avoid shadows and reflections on the model and the background.
I know hansdampf21, and no I will not shoot at you.
Shooting is only done in self-defense.
I've already mentioned this problem, I never get the pictures without shadows, wherever I put my 2 lamps or even without flash shooting.

Oh, i see. Don't rely on your 2 lamps alone!
I always make use of either daylight, or regular room lighting as a basis.
I would never shoot in a dark room with only 2 lamps.
Hope that helps

@LR: perfect solution!