How to Pose and Photograph a Sex Doll

Every guy with a decent iPhone camera thinks he’s Herb Ritts until he asks a real woman to put her ankle behind her ear and give him a natural smile. Human beings come with inhibitions, and “Spread my WHAT?” is a perfectly reasonable response to some artistic direction. A sex doll has no such reservations. She’ll hold the pose, let you find the angle, and never wonder why you need 37 pictures of her ass.

First, Learn to Pose Her

The biggest mistake in doll photography happens before you ever pick up the camera. If you’re not sure what looks natural, cheat: find a photo of a real woman in the pose you want and copy it. Notice the small stuff—her weight isn’t perfectly centered, her shoulders aren’t level, and her arms and legs aren’t arranged like a GI Joe fresh out of the box.

Start with the torso and hips, then position the arms and legs. Bend the joints enough to lose the stiffness, turn her head slightly, and give her hands something natural to do. If she has articulated fingers, take the time to position them naturally rather than leaving them perfectly straight.

Learn to See the Details

Check for twisted straps, bunched fabric, crooked seams, stray lint and flyaway hair. If you’re a guy, some of this may not come naturally. Women have been trained to notice tiny appearance details practically since birth; a crooked bra strap can register before we consciously know we’ve seen it. You may have to teach yourself to look for them.

The details are what separate an erotic photographer from a horny dude with a camera™. You can always spot the latter: awkward posing, dirty feet, a tag sticking out—all the little details he missed because he was too busy licking his lips at her labia.

Before you shoot, stop looking at what turns you on and look at the photograph you’re actually making.

Dress Her for the Shot

You do not need to build your doll an entire wardrobe, but a few good outfits can completely change the way she photographs. Start with the measurements supplied by the manufacturer—bust, waist, hips and height—and buy by measurements, not by the size printed on the tag.

And don’t automatically assume every hot body wears a size SMALL. There’s a good chance your doll is packing curves in all the right places, which means she may not fit into a size 0. Women’s sizing is notoriously inconsistent anyway, so trust the measurements, not the number.

Dresses, lingerie, stockings, skirts, stretchy tops and robes give you plenty to experiment with. Look for soft, stretchy fabrics, loose sleeves, adjustable straps and anything that opens easily in the front or back. Avoid stiff, unforgiving fabrics like denim when you can—they’re harder to get on and off and can make posing unnecessarily difficult.

Think about the photograph you want before choosing the outfit. Heels and lingerie create a completely different image than a tank top and short skirt. And don't assume less clothing automatically makes a photograph sexier—a half-buttoned blouse or a skirt riding slightly up her thigh can do considerably more than complete nudity.

Be careful with new dark fabrics, particularly on TPE. Black, red, dark denim and other heavily dyed materials can transfer color to the doll's skin. Wash questionable clothing first and don't leave dark clothes on her unnecessarily.

Find the Light

You can spend a fortune on photography lights, but you probably already own the best place to start: a window. Soft natural light is flattering, brings out detail in silicone and TPE skin, and is considerably easier to work with than a pile of equipment you don't know how to use.

Put your doll near a window with the light coming from the front or slightly to one side. Avoid harsh midday sun, turn off ugly overhead lights, and skip your phone's flash. If the light coming through the window is too strong, a sheer curtain makes an excellent diffuser.

Move her around and watch what happens to her face. A few feet—or even a slight turn—can change the shadows dramatically. You don't need to understand lighting ratios. You need to look at her and decide whether she looks good.

Your Phone Is Probably Good Enough

Unless photography is already your hobby, start with your phone. Modern phone cameras are ridiculously good, and learning how to use the one you already own will improve your pictures more than buying equipment you don’t understand.

For portraits, don’t shove the camera right into her face. Back up a little and use a modest zoom; wide-angle lenses used too close can distort facial features and body proportions. Try shooting from around eye level first, then move higher or lower and see what actually flatters her.

And then there are the eyes. Every sex doll comes standard with a thousand-yard stare. Don’t fight it by photographing her dead-on in every shot. Turn her head slightly, change your camera angle, or have her looking past the camera. Small changes can make a surprisingly big difference.

Take a lot of pictures. Change one thing at a time—a shoulder, the tilt of her head, your camera angle—and shoot again. Digital photos are free. This is not the place to exercise restraint.

Look Behind Her

You can pose her beautifully, nail the lighting and still ruin the shot because you forgot to look at the rest of the frame. Pick up your boxer shorts, Buddy. Make the bed. Move the laundry basket. Get the half-empty water bottle off the nightstand. Your bedroom doesn’t have to look like a hotel suite; it just needs to look like you meant to photograph it.

Keep the background relatively simple and watch the edges of the frame. Lamps growing out of heads, chopped-off feet and piles of random household crap are surprisingly good at becoming the first thing you notice once you see the finished photo.

Before you shoot, look at the background first, then look at her. It takes five seconds and instantly makes your photos look more deliberate.

Take the Damn Picture

The nice thing about photographing a sex doll is that you can experiment without making anyone uncomfortable. Try the weird angle. Put her in the ridiculous pose. Take the close-up you’d never have the nerve to ask a human model for. Some of it will look terrible. Delete it.

The more you shoot, the better you’ll get at spotting what works before you ever touch the camera. Eventually you’ll start noticing the crooked strap, stiff wrist or bad lighting automatically—and that’s when you’ve graduated from horny dude with a camera™ to someone who can actually take a damn good erotic photograph.

And when you get a shot that’s so hot nobody gives a damn whether she’s real or not, that’s the shot.