Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography [Reader Book Review]
Damien Franco | Mar 05, 2009 | Comments Comments
This is a reader review of the book Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography from ted @ndes for the Photography Book Club. Join the fun and submit your own review of any of the books read in the Your Photo Tips Photography Book Club!
Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography
“…My photography career didn’t begin with people as my main interest. Waterfalls and forests, flowers and bees, lighthouses and barns, sunrises and sunsets drew 99 percent of my attention…” – Bryan Peterson – Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography
As my flickr photostream will confirm, people aren’t exactly my main photographic interest either. So why did I decide to get this book on portraiture? I had been exchanging e-mails with Damien regarding YourPhotoTips, and the topic of the book club came up. I had meant to get some of the past books, but I kept putting it off… I decided that now was as good a time as any, and that I should at least give the current book-of-the-month a read… and a quick review.
The quote above confirms that Peterson is really aware of his audiences. As with his Understanding Exposure book, he strives to maintain a balance of personal experiences and instructive information. I think that balance is what drives the appeal of the books he has written.
The first two chapters of the book are all about “Understanding People” and “Working with People”. If you are a “non-portrait” person like me, or just starting into it, I think these chapters will be the most valuable. What holds a lot of us back is not knowing how to get started, and the best ways to approach people. Peterson offers tips how to build that confidence, on choosing the right people, ‘candid’ photography, and on breaking though the shyness for both you and the people you would like to photograph. He also writes about using networking to find people willing to be photographed, the benefits of having someone act as an ‘assistant’, as well as how to get that model release signed (if you have aspirations to sell those photos someday).
The next two chapters on “Light” and “Composing Powerful Portraits” delve into the basic technical and creative aspects of portraiture. The focus on lighting is primarily addressing location shooting (non-studio). If you are looking for specific studio portraiture techniques, lighting set-ups, etc. you will likely be disappointed. The composition section is solid (rule of 3rds, fill the frame, etc.), and covers many creative ways to compose that shot and ‘work the subject’.
The final chapter on “Photo-editing Techniques” is just like it sounds. The bottom line is that portraiture does not end after you click the shutter. The majority of those amazing portraits you’ve seen around have been enhanced in some way. It can be as simple as fixing red-eye and banishing zits, or enhancement with blurs, shadows, highlights, etc. These sections address these topics, but they aren’t a ‘deep dive’ into the details. They are about knowing what can be done, and not exactly how it is done.
Final thoughts: Overall, this is an excellent book for someone new to portraiture. For me, the most value comes from the first two chapters. If you have some solid portrait experience already, or are looking for more details on using strobes or post-processing, you may be left wanting more out of the book.
Want to learn more about ted @ndes? Check out 16 Random Things About Him and say hi.
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