Prompted by some members, I've put together a photography tutorial. Please bear in mind that I'm not a professional - I'm entirely self-taught, what I know, I found out by trial and error. Please feel free to contribute so we can complete this article and learn from each other. This tutorial follows my method of picture taking, ending with photo manipulation (but about that later). I'm kind of assuming that the audience that  has little experience with a camera, I don't mean to be condescending so if you know your camera well, just skip the parts you know and do share your knowledge instead 



This is down to personal preference or your need (like, you want to take a closeup of a hand). I always try to enclose the whole subject without cutting off any part of it, ie, when taking closeup photo of the face, I make sure no part of the head is chopped off, like the ears, top of the head, etc. I can always crop in later on in PhotoShop should I want - it's easier than trying to paint in the missing parts. The same applies when taking shots of the full body, I try not to cut off toes  .  In the past, I've regretted not paying attention to something like that in otherwise perfect photo...

When photographing Pinkies, the position of the camera can influence the mood of the photo. For example, a photo taken from above (looking down at the subject) can reinfoce the feeling of small, innocent, cute, childlike, etc. Photos taken straight on won't have that quality, the subject will seem normal or the viewer's height. Photos taken from below or looking up at the doll can make the subject seem tall, larger than in real life. Those shots are more difficult to take, sometimes they can come out looking just weird. But when done right, the photo will be very dynamic and striking.

An example of a photo taken from below:

She looks like a giant, doesn't she? 





I assume that most of us are using digital cameras, that's what I use and my experience with film cameras is much less and I'm not the person to talk to  . Most of recent digital camers will come with a macro feature, if yours doesn't and you're in a market to buy a new camera, do look for macro to be included, as it's what you need to sucessfully photograph Pinkies.

Here are some examples of photos of the same set taken with and without macro (for now please ignore the bad lighting). The photo immediately below was taken using macro:

As you can see, the Pinky is perfectly in focus, with the background slightly out of focus.

This photo was taken without macro, you can see the camera couldn't focus on the Pinky, it focuses on the background instead. This would be fine if we wanted to focus on the Pokemon balls, but the set up of the photograph and our intention was the Pinky:


To compensate for lack of macro, the only way to take a photo with the Pinky in focus is to move away from the Pinky, as I've done on the photo below. Unfortunately, a lof of unwanted area was photographed, and finer details of the Pinky (like the text on the t-shirt, detail of the hair, etc) was lost. Yes, you can crop in on the image in PhotoShop, and this will work to a certain degree, depending on the camera you're using, the lighting conditions, etc. Often, the photo will just look grainy.


General tips:

Learn how to use your camera, it takes a while, but it's well worth it. For the sake of Pinky photography, the first thing you need to figure out is how to set the camera to macro. This will be different on different cameras, sometimes it's a button you press, sometimes it may be a slider or a wheel you turn. The setting is often marked with a picture of a flower.

Next, find out how to focus, some cameras have a manual setting, if you know how to use it and prefer it to the automatic focus, by all means, use it. I usually end up just leaving the focusing to the camera (perhaps out of laziness *LOL*), I do this by partialy pressing the shutter button, this makes the camera focus on an object without taking a photo. To see what the camera has focused on, I look at the LCD screen, it usually will be indicated in some way, on my camera, the object in focus is enclosed by a green rectangle. If I keep half pressing the shutter button, the focus may shift and I'll see the green rectangle move on the LCD screen. If you can't get the camera to focus on a bit you want (this usually will be the face or an eye), you may need to move the camera further away or closer to the subject, change the angle (move the camera up or down or sideways) - this usually doesn't have to be much distance wise, a few cm will suffice. A neat trick I figured out recently is to flip the camera completely upside down, somehow this makes the camera realise that there are other things it can focus on!   

Built in flash - forget it. It's the bane of Pinky photography! Flash has its uses, and the best flashes are the external ones because you can point them where you need them. It's best to disable your built-in flash, a lot of the time you do this by choosing a setting on your camera. You're not losing much by not utilising it, usually photos taken with built in flash tend to be over-exposed when photographing close subjects and the flash doesn't provide enough fill in light for the background. Obviously, you'll have to compensate for the flash in different ways. About that in a minute.

So, let's recap, you've set up your scene, posed your Pinkies, etc. Your camera is on macro, the flash is off and you're focusing until the camera has focused on what you want, and finally you take the photo. It's a good idea to take doubles, as in, take a shot and then do another - you never know, your hand might have moved or you nudged your tripod when you hit the button, all resulting in a blurred, out of focus photo. This is especially important when you're shooting on location, during vacation for example and you may not be able to come back to re-take the photo. I tend to take several photos, from different heights and sides, this gives me a wide choice once I start choosing best photos to post/upload. I know you can preview the photos you've taken on the LCD screen, but often this can be misleading, because the photo will be shrunk down to fit onto the tiny screen - it may look sharp and in focus, when in reality, once you look at it on a computer, it will be just the opposite.

So that's the camera part 





Outdoors
The easiest way to take good photos is daytime outdoors. There is lots of ambient light, you won't have to worry about much, all you have to remember is that when there is sun out, you'll get sharp shadows, meaning that the visual difference between light areas and dark areas will be high. When the sky is overcast, the difference is less and the contrast softer. This is a rule of thumb only, for example if you're shooting under a leafy tree in a shade even if the sun is out in full force, you won't get as sharp shadows. Shooting in full light, also means you won't have to worry much about camera shake, unless you're swinging the camera around. Photographing in full sun does bring some problems with it, technically speaking, sharp shadows are a bad thing, but they can make a striking/dramatic photograph when handled properly. Other problems include overexposure, which means that certain areas look "bleached out". The perfect day to photograph is when it's slightly overcast - the sharp shadows are minimised and there is less danger of overexposure because the light is more even.

Below are photos taken on a slightly overcast day:

Notice how there is not dark shadows - this is especially visible if you compare this photo to the photo of Yoshiko below.


This photo was a hybrid, the sun was very strong, but because the Pinky was under the umbrella, the sharp sunlight was filtered resulting in much softer lighting conditions - the same happens when the sky is overcast, the clouds act as an "umbrella".

... and in full sun:

Notice the ugly shadows on her face...


.. and here, the sun bleached out partially Yoshiko's face and t-shirt.


Indoors
Shooting indoors also brings some challenges. First, you need to remember that the indoor light tends to be yellow, as opposed to outdoor light looking slightly blue. That's why a lot of photos using artificial light can look overly yellow if left uncorrected. You can buy daylight bulbs for your lamps, fix the photos afterwards in a program like Photoshop (which is what I do) or if you understand how to set "white balance" on your camera, you can correct it that way. Also, come cameras come with presets, if you have one for "Indoors", the camera will automatically adjust the settings.

Uncorrected photo taken indoors, notice the overly yellow colouring:


Setting up the lighting
Unless you're going for a dramatic "arty" photos, you really want your lighting to be even, set up lights on both sides of your set/doll, maybe with a third light in front. You can use white shiny surfaces to reflect light onto your subject, these could be sheets of paper or card, mirror even white fabric. Setting up lights this way will ensure that the shadows are soft and the subject is evently lit, this not only looks pleasing, but also helps the camera to focus. Note: If you have an external flash, utilise it! Sometimes an external flash bounced off the ceiling is all you will need to sufficiently light your scene.

Here, the photo below was taken with a lamp directly above the scene and the Pinky. While not bad because the photo is in focus and can be lightened up later, unfortunately there are sharp shadows, most noticeably on the Pinky's forehead and under his chin.


Here, there are 3 light sources, to each side and above. You can see the Pinky's face better now, can't you? It's easy to see that this photo shows off the Pinky better compared to the previous photo.

Also, you will notice that the shadows on the "ground" are hardly noticeable.

The less light you have available, the more work you'll have to do in Photoshop to correct it. Low light also means that when you take a photo, detail may be lost because some areas are just too dark (just like detail is lost when photo is over-exposed). However if too much detail is lost, no amount of work will bring it back.

To take photos in low light, you'll need a tripod. This is a necessity because when the light is low, the camera needs more time to take the photo and no matter how strong your arms are, they will shake in some way during that time. I used the word "tripod" but what I actually mean is "support". This can be anything, a stack of books, a tin can, someone's shoulder - any of those will work. When I take photos in low light, I often use  a technique called bracketing. This means taking the same photo with different exposure times. You can adjust the exposure manually, my camera has a setting that lets me choose different exposure times at certain intervals, so later on, I'm able to pick the best photo out of several. Seasoned photographers can judge the exposure times without having to do all that, but my technique is just as effective if more time consuming.

Note: Do experiment, you can get very interesting results once you understand how to use light to your advantage, this photo below is by no means evenly lit, yet, if it was, it wouldn't be half as interesting!





That's pretty much all I can offer, unless I'm forgetting something!    I'll add more when I think of it or learn something new. I hope this was helpful, and if you have something to correct, add or comment, please let me know!

I'm a tinkerer, so I never leave the photos I've taken as they are. I know my photographic technique is not perfect, so playing with the photos afterwards is a good idea (also made me learn Photoshop quick  ). If there is interest, I can certainly come up with a Photoshop tutorial for photographs, I've learned from The Photoshop Ninja, so I guess that makes me Trainee Photoshop Ninja if anyone wants my credentials 

  Thanks Inga - that's a really comprehensive look into photographing Pinkys - it taught me a lot !

  awesome tutorial on photo-taking techniques! This is so useful...thank you 

Inga,  great idea.  I know I will be referencing the lighting section once my new girls come.

Another good compositional trick is the rule of thirds.  If you divide the photo into 3rds vertically and horizonally,  it often looks good to put your subject where the lines meet,  like where the head of spooky Sumire is in your last example photo.  I don't know why it works,  but it seems to make the photos look very dynamic.

  Oh my goodness...It's the Pinky version of The Ring! Sumire looks sooooo scary in that shot! All you need is a well and you'll be right there!

Great tips on camera work Inga. Cheers 

Wow Inga great tutorial!!  thanks a lot for sharing 

   Yay!  Thanks, Inga!  This will be very helpful for lots of people!  I love your photos!  I already do pretty much everything you do, but I do have a few of my own tips.

1.  When I'm having a hard time getting clear photos because of camera shake, I use my camera's self timer.  My camera has a 2 second timer (as well as the longer, standard 10-second timer), which eliminates the shake I sometimes get just from pressing the shutter button (especially in macro mode).  If you find yourself getting blurry pictures, try using the timer and hold the camera as still as you can.  You may be surprised.

2.  Play around with lots of things.  The beauty of a digital camera is that you can take pictures to your heart's content and just discard the ones that you don't like.  I heartily endorse Inga's suggestion of taking several photos of the same thing to ensure that you get the shot you want.  I usually take at least four shots of the same thing and they will all have slight differences.  I just pick the one that has all the right elements and discard the others.  I can't tell you how many times I've wished I'd taken more shots of the same thing because I rushed and got a shot that wasn't quite what I wanted.

3.  Photo editing software is your friend!  Even my best shots are slightly enhanced in Paint Shop.  A while back, I read a good article about the minor tweaks everyone should do to make their photos "pop."  If you don't know what these things are, look around in your photo program a bit and you'll probably find them.  Simple programs may not have these features, but if you're using Paint Shop or Photoshop, you should be fine.

--Histogram Adjustment: Looks like this.......

The settings shown are what I usually use, with the color range just slightly below full.  For photos that are over- or under-exposed, this feature will allow you to fix it.  For photos that are too dark, slide the upper range down (the higher number) to leave out the darker colors.  Respectively, for photos that are too light, slide the lower range up to leave out the lighter colors.  Play with it and see what happens.  For normally exposed photos, settings like the ones shown will tweak the colors just enough to punch them up.

--Curve Adjustment: Looks like this......

Again, these settings are almost always what my photos are subjected to.  Adjusting this to a very slight s-curve will even out the colors a bit.  Sometimes, I don't use this adjustment as it will wash out colors that are similar to each other, but in combination with the other adjustments here, it usually makes the end product look very nice.

--Brightness and Contrast Adjustment: Looks like this......

Don't go crazy with this one, since a little goes a long way.  I don't usually touch the brightness at all.  I use the contrast.  I usually use a setting of 5, but sometimes I'll go to 10 if I want to punch it up a bit more.  Adjusting the contrast is a great way to finish off your photo, since it adds a nice bit of "pop" to it and is usually the last adjustment you need to make.


I'll make those adjustments in that order.  They are not necessary, but they do give a really nice finish to a photo and can make a good photo great.

One more thing I should mention is the Automatic Color Balance adjustment.  In Paint Shop 7 this is under the Effects > Enhance Photo menu, right at the very top.  It looks like this......

This is where you can adjust the overall colors of the photo according to type of light.  Since outdoor photos can have a slight blue cast to them, checking the "Remove color cast" box will eliminate that.  I don't use this since I got my new camera a couple months ago since it doesn't have as big a problem with that as my previous camera did.  If your outdoor photos are significantly blue, try this adjustment with the slider at "Sunlight."

I hope this helps!  If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.  Like Inga, I'm not a professional, but I have learned many things from just experimenting and taking lots of pictures.

thanks for taking the time, inga! this will be a great help to the forum!! 
i'm going to take a photography course soon (and get a DSLR), and i was wondering how you get the foreground and background to be in focus? i know it's possible, but with my regular consumer digital point & shoot i can't manage it no matter how i tinker. is it an advanced type of setting?
it makes me really sad because i wanted a pic of emi in times square at night with both in focus, but i just couldn't do it. i really wish we could get our pinkys AND our backgrounds in focus! please help!

Itachi,  what you want is a large depth of field.  This means you will need to take the photo will a small aperture.  With p&s camera it is hard to control this.  If you zoom in you will get usually get a smaller aperture with a p&s camera.  Otherwise see if you have any manual modes.  However,  you probably need f/11.  My p&s camera ranges between f2.8 and f5.4. 

If you were far away from your pinky you could have everything in focus.  But that's just not the same.

Yay this is very helpful.  Thanks so much Inga.   

WOW thanks inga and poohki for the tutorials, very impressive, I have learned a lot!

I love your last photo, Inga

cool!!!!! thanx for all the tips!!!!  it very useful for alot of us!!!

thank you all  I'm glad it's helpful 

thanks for the tips, inga. btw -- i have a quick, lighting-related question: i usually shoot indoors, and require a spotlight to augment the bad lighting; to bring out the paint and background colors, would you suggest using white (flourescent/halogen) or yellow (incandescent) light? 

I think this is down to your preference and what bulbs you can buy. Yellow light can be interesting for some special effects, but I guess you don't want all your photographs to have that. Most normal bulbs we use in our lamps give off yellow light so as long as you can light your subject well, you can do minor adjustments later on, in PhotoShop or similar to get a natural looking light.  If you know how to use PhotoShop and have it available, it's the cheapest way.

Flourescent light is very bad for video because it flickers - I don't know how much of a problem would that present for photography, I guess the worst would be that if you snap the photo at the exact same moment as the tube goes darker, then you'd get less light, but the difference is probably negligible.

If you want natural looking light for your indoor photography, you need to see what colour temperature the bulbs are. You can buy daylight simulation bulbs, there are different types, output different watts, etc and they even can be energy saving if you get the right type. They tend to be more expensive, but well worth it. They light they give off is usually white tinted with cold blue to neutralise the yellow.

Since we don't know the temperature of your light bulbs, the best way would be to photograph something white and compare the results. Whichever looks more natural, it'd be the one to go for.

Oh, one more thing worth mentioning is if your light bulbs are very strong, it's a good idea to diffuse the light with some paper or fabric so they don't bleach out your subject (or parts of it).

I hope I didn't waffle too much