Portrait Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

by Erik Valind

In Portrait From Snapshots to Great Shots , author and photographer Erik Valind shows you how to get the best shots of your subjects–whether you’re in a studio or outdoors, at a family get-together, or at a formal event.

Starting with the fundamentals of portrait photography, including how to select the right camera settings and lenses and how to compose your shots, Erik covers building a rapport with your subject, and offers suggestions for poses that flatter your subject to achieve great shots. He then addresses the problems and opportunities of both natural and indoor light, offering ways to resolve lighting challenges of both, showing when and how to use a flash and how to add and modify light to improve the quality of your images. Finally, he walks through several portrait scenarios, including creating single-person shots such as headshots and environmental shots, and group shots such as family and wedding photos.

Follow along with Erik and you


Beautifully illustrated with large, vibrant photos, this book teaches you how to take control of your photography to get the portraits you want every time you pick up your camera.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2014

Reviews

[Lunka ♫ ꩜ ☽ ⛧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very useful book for the slightly advanced photographer who is at the beginning level of learning about portrait photography😉

[Fabrício Daher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contém inúmeras dicas simples mas muito valiosas para quem está iniciando fotografia.

[R. David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many helpful tips. Avoids too much repetition. Might be better used as a reference manual until skills are acquired.

[coolwind · Rating 5 out of 5]

All is about light.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

- Always focus on the eyes. In addition, the model should be looking down not looking up (camera should be higher than the model)

- (Pretty models, Washington Mews, more pretty models)

[R. J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of great tips and was a good refresher for me.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay. It gives good tips, but if you are looking to be a professional photographer, you'll get annoyed at some of the things this author says in this book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very helpful bits, but I skipped over the section on lighting. I could use a whole book on natural light portrait photography.

[Márton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, with great explanaitions on lighting.