Dolls vs People … effects of lighting with dolls

Wraeyth · Post by **Wraeyth** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 12:34 am

Good Evening everyone. Fairly new to forum, but I wanted to get other photographer’s opinions on how much difference there is between lighting a doll vs actual people. I’ve have been considering purchasing a doll to help with some creative concepts and help sharpen my skills with strobe photography.

Thanks in advance for all feedback and info!

Urdor Izajar · Post by **Urdor Izajar** » Mon May 02, 2022 11:07 am

I purchased mine to improve my photo skills as well. I've never used strobes but have used just about every other light source, including the flashlight on my phone. The only difference I can think of is that a doll will hold the same pose should you need to adjust your lighting.

john1972 · Post by **john1972** » Mon May 02, 2022 11:18 am

Shine...
That is the problem I have..
If your doll is TPE there skin is Matte and they seem to be much more easy to get the light right.
But if your girl is Silicone sometimes depending on the brand they can be a bit shiny at times..
My Zelex body is just fine and quite matte for Silicone but BOTH the heads I got I fight with shiny
problems on the face ..
Get good with your makeup and powder and you can dull this

Also a person can move into different poses in seconds but be ready for a whole new learning curve
of taking quite a bit longer to pose the doll .
Again depending on the brand some skeletons bend more naturally then others .
My Zelex I find her arms and hands to be a pain to get posed how I want but yet my Doll4Ever she
is cake to pose .
Again it all depends on the brand.
But I can say that with practice you will get better and better at posing them

Also be aware they are heavy..
I used to pick up my 100lb thin wife and could run with her lol.
I can tell you that my Zelex is probably just under 90lbs maybe and there is no way I would pick
her up and try and run with her lol.
Dead weight is sooooooo much different..
So be ready for that.

I hope you post your photos here on the forum as we all love great photos..

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Mon May 02, 2022 11:19 am

The difference in lighting is probably mainly between different skin tones of tpe. My gals range from light tan to dark cocoa and over the past few years I've collected an array of lighting to cope with these differences. Probably of most benefit for darker skin tones (for humans too) are bi colour LED panels with variable colour temperature. I have mine turned down to around 3600k and then my Nikon can capture the colour quite well. To be honest I doubt you can ever have too many lights and the more you have the greater your ability to adjust to the situation/environment. For outdoor shoots I'm now using my Neewer speedlite with a diffuser to get a nice even light and indoors I've recently purchased a 60w continuous light which has a Bowens mount for various modifiers which I can definitely recommend. Hope that helps.

Mr Franz · Post by **Mr Franz** » Mon May 02, 2022 2:45 pm

I use to produce videos for DVD and we used a mannequin to setup lights, establish camera angles and such. It worked out really well. As has been mentioned, the main difference between shooting dolls vs people, is the shine factor. For that reason, harsh lighting is best avoided.

One of the hardest dolls I've ever photographed is my plush doll, Dhila. She's made of a brown velour type fabric that catches light at odd angles, making it quite challenging to get an even skin tone in the image. Always a lot of trial and error lighting that one. So far I've found natural light works best.

Wraeyth · Post by **Wraeyth** » Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:23 am

Has anyone used continuous led lighting with the dolls to adjust color temperatures to help with skin tones?

nox2doll · Post by **nox2doll** » Sat Feb 03, 2024 5:31 pm

Wraeyth wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:23 am Has anyone used continuous led lighting with the dolls to adjust color temperatures to help with skin tones?

It's pretty much the only way to do it "right". I use strong led lights (natural white) to illuminate the room environment, through the walls or ceiling.
Any other method almost always goes horribly wrong with tpe dolls (I don't know with silicones).

Gimp or another image processing program takes care of the rest regarding the color saturation of the image.

Pussy69 · Post by **Pussy69** » Sat Feb 03, 2024 6:35 pm

You may need to buy a product to help light your room properly. My photos during the night seem abit orangey b/c of the room lighting. This makes my tan TPE gals more darker than they actually are. I’ll have to browse through Amazon to see what helps otherwise doing the photos during the daytime is an option.