Dolls and bears make good photo subjects. Why? They don't move for one thing.
Don't get red-eye. You can go back and back . With today's digital cameras you can
see immediately if your shot succeeded and re-do it for other effects. You can cheat
with an over-large outfit folded around behind the doll or use a "real" prop like an
actual cookie with a child doll and fool the eye of the viewer. Dolls and bears in photography take us into other worlds, other lives. Visual fairy tales. How wonderful to be able to glimpse a moment of someone else's story?
Let's face it taking pictures of dolls and bears is just plain fun. Yes, it is also
work. Sometimes, like with any other subject the picture just does not come together
and all the photographer ends up with is a headache. But lots of times the camera
"sees" and you come away from the experience with a picture of magic in your hand.
What elements do you put in a photo? Well, as with any kind of photography simplicity
is best. Let's consider the photography done on Annette Himstedt's website for a fairly
well-known example. There are not a lot of distractions from the doll! While her
work endeavors to capture "real children" in her doll creations, so does good doll
photography of any doll. A simple prop like a ball or a toy to be held, a seat on a
bale of hay, a real guinea pig at the feet of a boy doll such as I have done...this
helps make a good composition. Background of things in the same scale as the doll.
Good light ,simple composition-remember your subject is not going to run off in the
middle of your shoot! Believe what you see when you are all through.
How can you use the photos for something besides filling boxes and albums for your
own delight? The possibilities are endless. Wall art, greeting cards, posters,
advertising photos, gallery work, shows--one thing can be said with absolute certainty.
While many many people are out there taking garden shots, macro insects, nature, urban
blight, buildings, weddings, headstones and cute pets, a good doll and bear
photographer is hard to find.
