Got a $25 (USD) Amazon gift card for Christmas and might be able to redeem another card soon from a rewards program. I was thinking of using the money to potentially getting some supplies to improve my photos. Some of my ideas were to get one of those backdrop curtain things or maybe some kind of light.
A lot of y’all on here take way better pictures than me, so I’d love your opinions!
A good way to improve photography would be to start with lights. Maybe just one LED constant light with a softbox. But this will easily be more than the gift card.
Neewer and GVM have some nice starter kits. Light, stand, softbox. The better ones are more expensive but you go a long way with good lights.
Later you could think about getting a second light or a better light and later maybe some backdrops.
I couldn’t agree more with Puppy70.
Light is the most important of all ,best with a softbox.
For your first softbox I would say a srtipbox. These are not to big, but are very functional.
But, be aware, once you start, there is no end, lol.
Yea definitely lighting. Thats one of the most important tools for reals
Thanks for the replies! I found this one offered at only $20 with “damaged packaging”
Would this work? I did notice this particular model doesn’t seem to have a dimming function; should I try to find a different model that does?
Perfect! Two would be nice if you could add another one on your budget.
Agreed, lighting is the absolute most important area to start. Also, wouldnt hurt to have a backdrop for a more professional look, and that can be cheap - i just hang up dark bedsheets
Yea definitely this would be fine. I pretty much use 2 of these with great results
I use multicolor Christmas lights. Not these but similar. If you get the kind where you can alternate blue and green from red and yellow, you can get warm and cold looks.
I purposfully try to spend very little on photography equiment because I seem to have a serious Jinsan head habbit. As such my equipment has grown very slowly and largely just essential purchases.
By far the best investment in photography equipment I made was a tripod for the camera. So many shots that I had taken previously were ruined by a slight blur. A National Geographic tripod cost me around £20 and pictures ruined because of blurring pretty much disappeared. Plus it made low light photography possible (when I can remember the right settings on a camera!)
The other thing was a pair of softbox lights. Not expensive. Think that were £55 for the two from Amazon. Pretty sure that I could have got them cheaper but they do the job.
Next purchase needs to be a new camera as think that the light sensors have deteriorated on my 2010 SX30is powershot that Samurai let me have back in 2018. But, for a new camera I’m looking at at least the price of a head so down to the old which do I want more, another girl around here eating all the garibaldi buscuits or a camera that I can set up to catch the little buggers in the act.
I just looked up the specs on that camera, Judging from the images you post of your girls, I’m inclined to think there’s nothing wrong with the camera you have. In fact, it looks to me like the perfect starter camera, and as long as the photos are turning out so well I see no need to upgrade.
That said, It’s my belief that your images are great “Not because of what you own, But because of what you see”
Keep up the fantastic work! 
Thankyou so much for the kind words matey. I just get frustrated sometimes that the images I take don’t do the subjects that I can see justice. Pretty sure that all of us do the same in that no matter how good others think our pictures are we still find issue in our own images.
Of course, hardest part of taking pics of Elves is that they keep wandering off to the kitchen to check out the cookie situation and once one wanders off its like trying to herd cats. 
Remember dolls dont move so if you cant afford expensive lights then get a tripod and use a timer on your camera. Any lighting will work. Watch youtube tutorials and just use some cheap leds.
Doll pics aint just about how technically good the pic is. Its about the content of the photo. The most important thing is to just enjoy yourself. Dolls come first, pics are just a bonus.
