A caricature needs more than a good selfie
The single most common reason a figurine does not quite look like the person is that the reference photo showed only their face. A sculpt is a three-dimensional object, and everything below the chin — shoulder width, posture, build, how clothing falls — has to come from somewhere. If it is not in your photographs, it gets estimated, and estimation is exactly where likeness quietly disappears. Send a clear front-facing photograph for the face and at least one full-length photograph for the body. Those two together will do more for the result than any amount of resolution on a single close-up.
Light, angle and the things that ruin a reference
Even, natural light is what you want — a shaded outdoor spot or a room with a window works better than a bright flash, which flattens features and blows out skin tones. Avoid heavy filters and beauty modes, because they smooth away precisely the details that make someone recognisable: the shape of the nose, the line of the jaw, the asymmetry of a smile. Sunglasses, a mask, a hand across the face or a heavy shadow across one side all remove information that cannot be recovered. And a photograph taken from below or far above distorts proportions in a way that carries into the sculpt if it is the only reference available.
Tell us what matters, because we cannot guess
Photographs carry appearance but not intent. If the glasses are part of how people picture them, say so — otherwise a pair worn in one photo and not another is a coin flip. The same goes for a beard that comes and goes, a favourite jersey, a watch that is always on that wrist, a hairstyle that has since changed. Tell us which photograph is the most like them right now, and which details are non-negotiable. It takes one line in a message and it is the difference between a figurine that is accurate and one that is recognisable, which are not the same thing.
