Reacting to a preference in the marketplace for more natural, spontaneous-looking images, today's portrait photographers are spending less time in the confines of the studio. This has serious implications for creating professional-looking lighting. The key to success lies in controlling the existing light - being able to harness it, redirect it, shape it and intensify it. Fortunately, with the advent of digital photography it's never been easier. Here, Bill Hurter covers all the tools and techniques in using existing light to create great images.

The author of Create presents “an all-in-one, easily accessible handbook . . . [that] will show you how the pros do it. Study this and take your best shot” (Chase Jarvis, award-winning photographer). In Advancing Your Photography, Marc Silber provides the definitive handbook that will take you through the entire process of becoming an accomplished photographer. From teaching you the basics to exploring the stages of the full “cycle of photography,” Silber makes it easy for you to master the art form and create stunning pictures. From thousands of hours of interviews with professional photography masters, you will learn valuable insights and tips on beginner, amateur, landscape, wedding, lifestyle, sports, animal, portrait, still life, and iPhone photography. Advancing Your Photography features: · Top tips for making outstanding photographs from iconic photographers and many other leading professional photography masters of today · Numerous step-by-step examples · Guidance on training your eye to see composition with emotional impact · Tips on mastering the key points of operating your camera like a pro · Secrets to processing your images to professional standards Photography and the technology associated with it are constantly evolving, but the fundamentals remain the same. Advancing Your Photography will help to bring you the joy and satisfaction of a lifetime of pursuing the art of photography.

Covering every aspect of creating portraits in available light, acclaimed professional photographer Doug Box provides tips for finding great natural light, practical approaches for optimizing exposure, and techniques for posing subjects for the most flattering effects. For those situations when “perfect” available light can’t be found, readers are shown how to modify ambient light to suit their purposes—or give it a bump in intensity with a little pop of flash. Additional topics touched upon include proper lens selection, calculating exposure, managing ambient light both indoors and out, shooting at night, and more. A discussion of applying the many techniques to nature and wildlife, travel, and sports photography rounds out this all-encompassing guide to working with available light.

IMAGINE THE ADVANTAGE YOU’D HAVE IF ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP WEDDING SHOOTERS SHARED HIS SECRETS WITH YOU World-renowned wedding photographer, and one of the most widely acclaimed instructors in the industry today, David Ziser brings his no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point teaching style to a book that totally rewrites the rules for how wedding photography is taught. This groundbreaking new book is the first of its kind to focus on the exact areas that wedding photographers have been begging a top pro like David to cover, including how to create professional quality light and beautiful images in every situation, how to compose wedding images that sell, and how to create amazing images in the limited time and at the fast pace of a wedding. But David doesn’t just stop there. He covers every aspect of what today’s brides and wedding couples want from a wedding photographer, including poses that work every time and can’t-miss lighting setups you can use again and again, and everything is laid out in a brilliant step-by-step method that makes learning these techniques so easy, you’ll be able to pull off these same looks yourself (without spending thousands on expensive equipment). Plus, the book is packed with David’s tricks of the trade that he’s picked up in a career shooting all over the world. LEARN HOW THE PROS REALLY DO IT Each year David trains thousands of photographers on how to shoot weddings like a pro. He knows the problems and challenges today’s wedding photographers face, and that’s exactly what he covers in this book. You’ll learn everything on the list here and much more: Professional posing and composition tips Simple on-location lighting setups that are specially designed for the wedding photographer How to get gorgeous images using a minimal amount of time and equipment Creative lighting techniques that anyone can use to create dramatic wedding portraits that will set you apart David’s own camera settings and lens selections (which lenses to use when, and why), and how to get the best results with your existing gear How pros use on- and off-camera f lash, and a host of tricks of the trade that will make you more profitable and have you delivering the type of wedding shots you’ve always dreamed of! Plus, the book includes the complete cover-to-cover layout from one of David’s wedding album designs to help spark your creative juices and give you ideas to take your own layouts to the next level. The wedding photography industry has been waiting for a landmark book that would become “the book” that finally changes everything, and that’s exactly what you’ll be getting with the purchase of this book.

Providing readers with a study of learning how to turn poorly lit images into finely crafted, masterfully lit photographs, this guidebook instills photographers with the self-confidence to think on their feet and photograph any portrait subject anywhere. Acclaimed photographer Neil van Niekirk presents seven distinctly different lighting scenarios—available light, exposure metering, a touch of flash, bounced on-camera flash, off-camera flash, video light, and hard sunlight—to show readers how to manipulate the direction and quality of light, the subject’s and photographer’s position, and numerous other variables so as to turn a bad image into a stunning, professional-level portrait. Packed with dozens of instructional, full-color photos, this work also features 10 sample photo sessions, allowing readers the opportunity to see the seven lighting scenarios put to practice.

With lighting techniques beneficial for professional photographers but also accessible for those less experienced with a camera, this handy reference offers insights into utilizing “hot lights” (tungsten-based continuous light sources) to achieve glamorous, Hollywood-inspired shots. This “Hollywood” lighting—characterized by dramatic contrast, sharp shadows, and a sultry mood—is simple to create and allows photographers to “sculpt” the subject, accentuating their best features while minimizing flaws. Though the focus is on nostalgic lighting style, the book acknowledges modern advances in photographic technology and discusses how to produce these dazzling retro effects using both digital and traditional film cameras. Throughout the book, lighting diagrams showing the photograph’s setup accompany nearly every image, carefully illustrating the lighting techniques for easy re-creation.

Techniques for creating flawless lighting show photographers of all levels how to take full control of their photographic atmosphere in this indispensable guide. Illustrating the physics that govern light; the visual difference between the eye and camera; the qualities of incident and reflected light; and the effects of the size, intensity, direction, contrast, and ratio of light, this manual offers tools for sculpting the face for remarkable portraits. The three desirable positions for the main light are described in detail, as well as how to use those arrangements to accentuate all types of faces—oval, long, angular, heart-shaped, and square—to create portraits with a variety of different effects, from romantic to edgy to high fashion.

Infuse your images with glowing, luminous light From high-profile wedding and portrait photographer Elizabeth Messina comes this beautiful guide to shooting lush, romantic portraits exclusively in natural light. Whether you’re photographing children, weddings, maternity and boudoir, or portraits of any kind, The Luminous Portrait will inspire you with Elizabeth’s personal approach and award-wining images, sharing the art to making flattering portraits that appear “lit from within.”

When referring to the 'key' of an image, photographers are describing its overall tonal range - including the subject, background, clothes and props. In high key portraits, these tones are primarily light or white. Achieving this classic look, however, presents photographers with numerous lighting and exposure challenges. From studio to location shoots, the techniques in this book will show readers how to meet the challenges of high key portrait photography and create flattering images that clients will adore. Includes 100 full-colour photos.

Most photographers love photographing people—but they will also readily admit that there are a lot of challenges to making great portraits. In this book, professional portrait photographer Bill Israelson explores the skills that lie at the heart of a successful approach to portrait photography. First, he helps you set your overall objectives for the image and your depiction of the subject, which will determine the equipment you’ll need. Then, he lays out a simple six-step process designed to help you achieve your objectives(from location selection through lighting and posing) and create a great-looking portrait of any subject in any situation. Delving further into the process, he presents individual chapters dedicated to meeting the unique challenges of creating portraits outdoors, in the studio, and at indoor locations. Concluding with tips for editing your images, Israelson charts a simple course to more appealing, more flattering portraits!