Edgy, evocative portraits and unique post-processing details make this the most creative, hip portrait book available. It goes beyond the technical aspects of lighting and posing (though they are well covered) and reveals how to capture the essence of your subject's true inner self. Acclaimed photographer Natalie Dybisz offers advice on building trust, planning shoots, directing people, and using digital tools such as post-editing and compositing to create great portraits. An extensive showcase chapter presents several artists' works and methods.
Creative Portrait Photography
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Natalie Dybisz is a London-based author better known in the photographic community as Miss Aniela, the name under which her images are published. She has become extremely renowned for shooting highly imaginative self-portraits characterized by a personal style and flamboyance. She is author of the Pixiq book Self-Portrait Photography. Visit her website missaniela.com, where you can read her blog and see her galleries of photographs.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By mohammad
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Short Version:
This is an awesome and inspiring book with tons of great images and behind the scenes look at Natalie's work. A great purchase at a great price.
Long Version:
The book goes through the process of creating some of Natalie's recent work which is mostly fashion oriented. Skimming through her website and blog, you can get a feel of what to expect in term of images. You can also feel how Natalie matured as a photographer and writer since her last book about self portraiture. I particularly liked the chapter of Artist Showcase where some great photographers (some of which I'm familiar with) share the process behind their images. You feel that this chapter is not just another page filler but perfectly complements the rest of the book. Although some of the images rely on post processing and manipulation in Photoshop, don't expect this book to show you how it was done in PS (there are tons of other books that show you how to work in layers or do tricks in great detail). Natalie only tells you what she used and why she used it. Many of the images are accompanied by a behind the scene image or before manipulation in PS so you can see how it was created. The great thing about most of the images or Natalie's work in general is that it doesn't rely on having tons of lighting or top of the line equipment. The most important thing is to have a good concept and knowing how to put all the elements together (model, makeup, props, light, post-processing). In summary, this book is a great purchase at a great price and for sure a keeper in my photography library and I will for sure refer to it again and again for inspiration.
This is an awesome and inspiring book with tons of great images and behind the scenes look at Natalie's work. A great purchase at a great price.
Long Version:
The book goes through the process of creating some of Natalie's recent work which is mostly fashion oriented. Skimming through her website and blog, you can get a feel of what to expect in term of images. You can also feel how Natalie matured as a photographer and writer since her last book about self portraiture. I particularly liked the chapter of Artist Showcase where some great photographers (some of which I'm familiar with) share the process behind their images. You feel that this chapter is not just another page filler but perfectly complements the rest of the book. Although some of the images rely on post processing and manipulation in Photoshop, don't expect this book to show you how it was done in PS (there are tons of other books that show you how to work in layers or do tricks in great detail). Natalie only tells you what she used and why she used it. Many of the images are accompanied by a behind the scene image or before manipulation in PS so you can see how it was created. The great thing about most of the images or Natalie's work in general is that it doesn't rely on having tons of lighting or top of the line equipment. The most important thing is to have a good concept and knowing how to put all the elements together (model, makeup, props, light, post-processing). In summary, this book is a great purchase at a great price and for sure a keeper in my photography library and I will for sure refer to it again and again for inspiration.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Jg
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I gave this book 5 stars because the authoress takes us inside her mind, allowing us to see how the images are conceptualized.
I also, like her featured photographers.
However, this is not a "how to book". If you are looking for a "how to book", you may need to look elsewhere.
This is a "learn by seeing", and "get inspired book".
That is my 1 1/2 cents worth.
I also, like her featured photographers.
However, this is not a "how to book". If you are looking for a "how to book", you may need to look elsewhere.
This is a "learn by seeing", and "get inspired book".
That is my 1 1/2 cents worth.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Alan Shi
Format:Paperback
The marketing jargon at the back of the book gives little insights into what this book really contains inside, although it certainly oversells it with the promise that it "has everything you need to transform your perspective on portrait photography". This makes it sound like the book is somehow an instructional text, when in fact, most of the book is basically a collection of blog-entry-like segments where an image or two is presented, along with some text describing the shoot and some extremely superficial notes about post processing.
First the good parts. The book begins with a series of articles about approaching portraiture, where Dybisz describes many different aspects of portrait photography, focusing a lot on the different creative considerations. For me, this was by far the best chapter in the book. There are some interesting ideas presented here, although there is not a lot of depth. I was hoping the entire book would be like this, except with more detailed discussions and more image analysis to support the text.
The bulk of the book basically contains what amounts to blog entries about particular photos in "Miss Aniela's" portfolio. You'll see a two-page spread that contains an image or two (and perhaps some 'behind the scenes' shots), as well as text that describes what Dybisz wanted to achieve, and thoughts about the shoot itself. None of this is particularly instructional, and at its best was only mildly interesting. The text about the shoot is usually followed by extremely superficial segments about post-processing.
Frankly, I thought everything written about post-processing in this book was completely useless. Nobody is going to get anything out of a sentence that tells you that a levels/curves adjustment or a hue/saturation adjustment was used. Beginner's won't know what that means, and experienced Photoshop users would yawn at how obvious it would be that these basic adjustments would be used in the production of images. I found it a bit tiresome to read about two techniques that keep showing up over and over again (and equally superficially each time): HDR (via Photomatix), and compositing. Of course, you won't learn how to do these techniques in the text (and clearly it wasn't meant to), although it's kind of silly that the text even goes to the trouble of telling you that you need to bracket images for HDR, or describes basically obvious stuff about what you need to make a composite. You'll either know how to do these techniques or not before reading this text, and in either case, you won't get anything out of it.
Oddly stuck in near the end of this book is a chapter presenting images and writing from other artists. There's some background information on the photographer, and some thoughts on his/her work, and then some random stories and images from each person. This chapter felt like filler material and wasn't really joined well with any particular theme or idea.
The book closes with a chapter on growing as a photographer. This short, but useful chapter returned back to the higher content quality that the book started with. Dybisz shares useful tips and ideas ranging from studying photography, to developing a style and working with models.
In general, I'd say this was a disappointing book. Outside of the first and last chapter, the book has very little real content. If you were to read this book, after reading those two chapters, I'd recommend you just flip through the rest of it as a coffee table book.
First the good parts. The book begins with a series of articles about approaching portraiture, where Dybisz describes many different aspects of portrait photography, focusing a lot on the different creative considerations. For me, this was by far the best chapter in the book. There are some interesting ideas presented here, although there is not a lot of depth. I was hoping the entire book would be like this, except with more detailed discussions and more image analysis to support the text.
The bulk of the book basically contains what amounts to blog entries about particular photos in "Miss Aniela's" portfolio. You'll see a two-page spread that contains an image or two (and perhaps some 'behind the scenes' shots), as well as text that describes what Dybisz wanted to achieve, and thoughts about the shoot itself. None of this is particularly instructional, and at its best was only mildly interesting. The text about the shoot is usually followed by extremely superficial segments about post-processing.
Frankly, I thought everything written about post-processing in this book was completely useless. Nobody is going to get anything out of a sentence that tells you that a levels/curves adjustment or a hue/saturation adjustment was used. Beginner's won't know what that means, and experienced Photoshop users would yawn at how obvious it would be that these basic adjustments would be used in the production of images. I found it a bit tiresome to read about two techniques that keep showing up over and over again (and equally superficially each time): HDR (via Photomatix), and compositing. Of course, you won't learn how to do these techniques in the text (and clearly it wasn't meant to), although it's kind of silly that the text even goes to the trouble of telling you that you need to bracket images for HDR, or describes basically obvious stuff about what you need to make a composite. You'll either know how to do these techniques or not before reading this text, and in either case, you won't get anything out of it.
Oddly stuck in near the end of this book is a chapter presenting images and writing from other artists. There's some background information on the photographer, and some thoughts on his/her work, and then some random stories and images from each person. This chapter felt like filler material and wasn't really joined well with any particular theme or idea.
The book closes with a chapter on growing as a photographer. This short, but useful chapter returned back to the higher content quality that the book started with. Dybisz shares useful tips and ideas ranging from studying photography, to developing a style and working with models.
In general, I'd say this was a disappointing book. Outside of the first and last chapter, the book has very little real content. If you were to read this book, after reading those two chapters, I'd recommend you just flip through the rest of it as a coffee table book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Different Perspective
I really like this photographers work. To me her photos are very introspective and in this book helps shed some light on creating a photograph the is not just a likeness of a... Read more
Published 27 days ago by Pamona
2.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading Title
As someone that immensely enjoys portrait photography, I was hoping that this book would provide more than just posing techniques and some insight on creative ways of constructing... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Libby Hsiao
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I expected
At a first glance (haven't read it completely yet) this book is not what I expected. I wanted a book to give me ideas on creative portraiture, with "how to's" included but... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ian Walmsley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not for everyone
A very beautiful, well written and illustrated book that
encourage the reader - photographer or not - to explore a meeting with
your inner artist. Read more
encourage the reader - photographer or not - to explore a meeting with
your inner artist. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Pedro Schmitt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible book - Visually Inspirational and Well Written
This is my favorite book right now. I'm exploring how to take my creative shoots to the next level and this book is just what I needed! Read more
Published 6 months ago by O. Zuyev
5.0 out of 5 stars
First Rate
I admire portrait photography, although I admit that I don't do much of it. But most of all, I admire this book. (Warning: I am a friend and mentioned in the acknowledgments. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Lewis LaRue
