Chefneil

Does anyone in Hoggville have any suggestions for books on portraiture? I may be shooting a friend and her BF soon. This will probably be an outside session, around dusk. Or sun-up.

Thx olc

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

You tube.

CrackerMag Loc: Titusville, FL

Photography Life just had an article yesterday on portraiture story telling. https://tinyurl.com/y7dfhufz They always have straightforward talk with pictures to illustrate.

FreddB Loc: PA - Delaware County

Can't wait to see all the suggestions for where to hide the bodies

Sunnely Loc: Wisconsin

Ha, ha, ha. Great line. You can be a script writer for a movie. Reminds me of "Airplane!"

CO

I was looking at a book in Barnes & Noble called: "Portrait Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots" by Erik Valind. It's excellent. Most of the book is about doing outdoor portrait photography. There's also information about the do's and don'ts when it come to cropping photos of people. I thought I might buy it soon.

https://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Photography-Snapshots-Great-Shots/dp/0321951611/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1533049866&sr=8-8&keywords=portrait+photography+books

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Any books by Roberto Valenzuela.

Also he's got an invaluable video series that's worth buying.

He's the best there is and a fantastic teacher.

https://www.youtube.com/user/robertophotography/videos

Chefneil

Thanks CO, I'll have look at it.

olc

Chefneil

Nice! thx.

CO

Here is one more book that I could recommend. It's "Master Posing Guide For Portrait Photographers" by J.D. Wacker. I've had the book for about a year. It's very useful. It covers useful topics such as:
Posing from the ground up
Diagonals, Triangles, and Balance
Key Posing Points - Feet, Hands, Eyes
Key Posing Lines
Key Posing Planes
Corrective Posing
The Finishing Touches
Posing Tools
Activity/Involvement Style Posing
Posing on Location

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Posing-Guide-Portrait-Photographers/dp/1584280573/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533075179&sr=8-1&keywords=master+posing+guide+for+portrait+photographers+by+j.d.+wacker&dpID=519e3bemO-L&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

Vietnam Vet

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

If we presume that the techniques that were successful in film days are still valid teaching tools, I felt that the best books were several by Gary Bernstein. His wife was an international model and he photoed many Hollywood stars who, of course, always want to look the best that they can. Don't know if they are still in print. Amazon would be your best bet.

RLSeipleSr Loc: North of Boston

We all have our favorites ... mine are 'Joe Edelman', 'Tony & Chelse Northup' and 'Manny Ortiz' ... all are on YouTube and all have books ...

Bob S

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Peter Hurley's "The Headshot" is a very good read! He sure has a very unique approach in taking portraits! He's not for nothing the most successful portrait photographer!

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I am sure that most of the books that were recommended here would be beneficial- it's certainly a good plan to read about portraiture and compare the approaches, techniques and styles of many accomplished photographers.

As a long time professional portrait photographer, a guy who earned my living for many decades, photographing people, I will make this observation. Many of the books, AV tutorials, and even classes in advanced portraiture seldom if ever, especially lately, get into the basics- the rudiments of classical portraiture. There is a lot of information about style, approach, philosophy and the newest trends- all good. When, however, I see an overview of much of the work, in this specialty, I see a lot of glitz but very little substance. Things like proper perspective, camera position in relation to the subjects' faces and bodies, finite light technique and so much more are often lacking. Many portrat are not flattering and even somewhat distorted, There is no attention to line, form and body mechanics in the poses.

Unfortunately enough, the guy who was probably the best teacher of contemporary classical portraiture, never wrote a book although he was known for his extremely comprehensive classes and detailed seminars. His name was Joseph Zeltzman. Joe was one of my most influential teachers and mentors.

The good news!: If you Google his name you will find all of his lessons online. Download them and study them carefully! So here's; the thing" Of course some of this theory is
"old as dirt" and came for way back in the film era. Well so is classical music- we still listen to it and appreciate it- well at least some of us, and much of the more contemporary and up to date, jazz, rock and all kinds of popular music is still derivative of the old stuff and the theory, harmony and ear training still applies.

No matter what style or mode of portraiture you wish to pursue, the basics still apply and if you know the "rules" you are better equipped to change or break them. If you absorb much of the Zeltsman theory, you will know exactly how to pose, light and compose a subject for a portrait. You will know how to set up and arrange group portraits, create flattering images, create portrait in various "keys" and much more. Thing is, if you know exactly what you are doing, you won't be incessantly fiddling with your equipment, fumbling with your lights or "torturing" your subject by putting the in and out of various poses and positions. This way, you can REALLY concentrate on all the aesthetics, relating to the subjects, and capturing the very best expressions.

This theory transcends film photography, digital imaging and whatever the future has to offer going forward.

I co-manage the the "Advanced and Professional Portraiture" section, here on the HOG. I have been teaching and training portrait and wedding photographers for decades and I have had the honor of judging many professional print competitions. I have observed that so many images that did not score well or where the photographers or students themselves were frustrated or not satisfied with their own results, all have something in common. Their concepts were perfectly fine, the efforts and hard work were very much apparent but many of theses images were the result of photographers running before they could walk. They get right into the more sophisticated and complex techniques, equipment and special effects withou the foundation of the basics. The classica basics needn't be stodgy, stiff, unimaginative or boring. Learning this does require patience and practice but once you get them down pat- your creativity can soar.

Joe, passed away some years ago- he was nearly 100 and was still known to offer critiques on Monte Zucker's website and seminar programs. Many of the foremost portraitists andothere specialists the of past and present have passed through Joe's classes. There is no othere teacher I know of, and some of them are first rate, that go in to as much definitive detail as Joe did.

Read into the lessons, you'll be glad you did! No cost or obligation! There are more than 10 FREE lessons. Download them and print them out- y'll have the best BOOK!