Makeshift Home Photo Studio

I get asked a lot how I manage to take such good photos and my main answer is "good light". 

Good lighting is essential but it needs to be the right kind of light, direct sunlight may sound like a good idea but really it's not, its harsh on vinyl, bounces off causing shadows and shine where you don't really want it.  Bright but dull days are my favourite days for taking photos. 

I take mine mostly in our conservatory, it has lots of windows, although I do close the shades on a lot of those depending on where the shadows are coming from. 

Contrary to popular belief you don't need a massive amount of space to take good photos.  In this example I am going to use just a corner of a sofa.  But I use lots of other set ups including crib style set ups which I will demonstrate in another post.

So starting with one bog standard 2 seater sofa, notice the shades are closed behind the sofa as I don't want light and shadows bouncing in from that direction. Obviously if I didn't have lots of other windows bringing in light I would be forced to leave open these shades as the light would be essential.

 

Using cushions of a stuffed roll create a base, cover this with a white cover, as you don't want the colours to show through. 

and then use a white sheet to cover the whole area you plan to photograph, the white will help bounce back the light in a low light environment.

This is the basis for all of your photos.  You can of course also use a black background but that will reduce how much light bounces back from your background. 

All you nee now is a selection of blankets and cloths to pop on top of your background to take your photos. Choosing different textures and colours makes for interesting eyecatching photos.

All of these photos were taken using this technique.

Brighton Photo Booth

One of the hardest parts of Reborn Art is the final photography, the photographs that we use for our auctions and to show the quality of our work on our websites.

We are always striving to create a natural, realistic photograph. A lot of what we do as artists is about illusion and the photographs at the end of the process are as important to us as the creation of our dolls. That is not not an easy task.


At the upcoming Brighton Show I will be co-womanning a photography stand with a dear friend Cassie Peak of Baby Dust Nursery where we will be taking quality photographs of visitors dolls.

We will be bringing along proper lighting equipment, backgrounds and props so that we can create beautiful photographs.

Examples of Photographic work:

There will be a nominal charge for photographs.

3 Photographs for £5
10 Photographs for £10
20 Photographs for £15

Photo sessions will last approximately 20 minutes, pop along to the booth (Stand 27) and book your session.

Make sure you bring the outfits you want your photos taken in and your email address.