Any tips on photographing Plushy ladies?

Hi when I saw the photos of Kani ( BratPrince's doll ) this morning and how good she looked in her photographs. I wondered if there were any tips folks could give on photographing plush ladies.

I only have a Samsung A40 phone and some of my doll photography is a bit naff. I mean the tips could be about posing and anything that could be useful. I haven't set up a general photography thread because I don't own any TPE or Silicone dolls, just plushies, well Thea has a TPE head.

Cheers

I'm not the best one to give this advice because I am not a great photographer myself.
however, I think with the plushy dolls it helps if you can get them to sit up to a table or in a comfy chair.
I have done a lot of photos in the past with dolls that have no skeletons. I used stands and fishing line attached to the ceiling.
This picture below is a good example of that. She is a foam doll with no skeleton at all.
In this next one, I hung Lesly from the ceiling with fishing line.

Well, in the case of photographing Valentina Girls, lighting is probably more important than the camera. The velour's nap catches light at odd angles, creating uneven dark and light spots. Especially with the brown ladies. So it's important to make sure the nap is all going in the same direction before each shot. I just smooth it out with a thin strip of cardboard.

I find it works best to shoot Valentinas from slightly above with the camera angled down, rather than from below angled up. Preferably with your lighting source coming from above or off to the side. Direct lighting and flash plays hell with velour fabric. Although, you can compensate for that by altering your shutter settings. Most camera phones have some manual adjustment available or at least a decent pre-set. So experiment a little to see what works best.

Posing a standard Valentina is a little tricky to be sure. Besides being floppy, they're sewn in an odd spread leg position. I have several little cheats I employ to counter those. A shoestring hidden under clothes tied around the thighs to bring the legs together. A small throw pillow hidden behind to better position them in chairs. I've even tied them or their clothes to the chair itself to keep them from slipping. Rubber bands to hold their fingers around objects. The nap of the fabric usually hides them. One time I safety pinned one of my VG's hands to her head to make it look like she was propped up on her elbow for a shot. I've even used a stick hidden by their hair to better position the head. Neat thing about fabrics, they're light and it doesn't take much to prop them up.

Still, because the legs and torso are slightly bent, not all poses work. I find the ones that work best are seated, kneeling and laying on their side. Standing and positions with them laying flat or with their legs stretched out, just don't look right.

We don't know much about the Valentina Girls as we don't have them, but with the short Teddy Babes, we use very simple stands, that you can make yourself, would think they would work with the Valentina Girls as well.

Most all you can get from a DIY shop, board, broom handle, and corner brackets, and something for the saddle, saddle goes between the legs and broom handle up the clothes at the back of the Doll, holding her upright for photos, Lady-J (y)

The problem with stands and upright props for standard Valentina girls is the way they are made. Unlike Teddy Babes, there is no internal armature and the bodies are not straight. The knees, where the the thighs meet the torso, the lower back and arms all have a permanent bend to them. Further complicating things is the spread leg positioning. Great for it's intended purpose, but not so great for photographs and posing.

Yes can see the trouble there, the Teddy Babes do stand well, and don't have that trouble, is this why we don't see standing Valentina girls, maybe in time they will address this, Lady-J (y)

Well, VG does have options available for straight bodies, even a full skeleton. I've altered mine and two of them can stand, but it's a complicated mod. You can't just add a skeleton and straighten the legs and body as I found out on my first attempt. Valentinas are meant to depict a 5 foot 2 inch woman in a reclined position. When you straighten it out though, the body sort of binds where the bends are and ends up only being a little over 4 feet.

Now on my second attempt, I had the legs and thighs lengthened, but neglected to do the same for the torso. So while this one can stand, she ended up only being 4 feet 6 inches tall instead of 5 feet 2.

Looks really nice all the same :) , can see it's not an easy road to go down and it all ends in a major mod of the doll, seen the head mods you did for Megan very impressive, Lady-J(y)

Thanks. That's a prime example. Four dolls ago all I wanted to do was give a Valentina acrylic eyes. Ended up redesigning the entire head! 😁

Yes it's a bit like that here with the home made dolls, Cinema Theatre props and the plane, and Movies, to do a really nice job is a lot of work, and you have to put the time in to do it, but can be really rewarding, Lady-J (y)

Would a standard VG be able to sit up to a table or in comfy chair for portraits?

Sure. Dhila here is an unmodified standard Quintina Cuddle with VG's Solina "Real Head" option. She sits quite nicely unassisted. Although, more leaned back than upright. Now VG's legs are on the short side, so low chairs with short seats work best and VG's are pretty light, so they have a tendency to slide around on smooth furniture unless anchored in some way.

Those sitting photos look really nice:), and love the basket chair, that's what Mr Bobby needs to photo Coco, but Coco needs nice clothes as well, may be something will be at the open day, for Coco, Lady-J (y)

Thanks. That's a great old chair. Belonged to my late mom. Makes a really nice photo prop. Priya has since taken it over for her afternoon naps. 💤

See what I mean about the velour fabric catching the light at all sorts of weird angles?

Yes your right, never thought that would be the case, Lady-J.

Well to be fair I have purchased some dresses for Coco in the past, but she doesn't look great in them, they look more like a sack on her.

She would like a minidress, or that's what she says, but her boobs are the problem, they are huge😯 as you saw on the Mild Chilli the other day when the ladies took advantage of me🤣🤣

Yes, bodacious tatas can be an issue for both dressing and photographing. Camera angle is critical. I've had pretty good luck shooting such figures in 3/4 view from above the head. A good bra to wrangle those rascals in a bit helps as well. 😉

This is my "plushie" cousin Holly. She has a VG body without a skeleton. Yet she knows how to pose.

Here she is leaning forward and slightly to the side. She manages this very realistic pose by just being propped up by a short dowel rod from her back to the bed. Because she and the bed are soft, adjustment is really easy.

Taken with a Samsung A25
NoFA / NoAI / No Filters / No Photoshop (you can find the stick)
.

Looking good there Holly👍

Well I did a few photos of Thea in some knickers and a bra that Jed gave her if anyone wants to take a look on her blog👍

Yes I have Bobby, Lady-J (y)

Hiya Bobby,

I think the best tip is to point the camera in the right direction and click 😆.

Seriously, the more photos you take, the better you get. And you need to be critical of yourself and try different things. Also, learn from what other people are doing. And enjoy the taking of photos, don't take it seriously 🤗.

Mr Flibble is a very amateur photographer. He doesn't take it seriously. And he is quite lazy (he doesn't put much effort into it). But he does feel like the more photos he takes the better he gets. And he's taken thousands of doll photos.

So get the camera out and start snapping or I'll give you a big spank! 😆

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO

PS Mr Flibble doesn't have Cordelia any more - he's a naughty boy - but she was quite photogenic:

PPS I think this photo of Cordelia standing up with friends is okay because this is a member forum:

Mr Bobby will have the chance to take some great photos here at the open day, so may props and photo backgrounds, and photos outside as well, that many don't get the chance to do where they are, lots of dress up and outfits too, and lot of help at hand, Lady-J (y)

Cordelia looked really cool😁

Loverly shots there :D