Customer Reviews

Creative Portraits: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Mr. Davis loves people. Not true. He is passionate about people. His passion is infectious and I have been infected.

Not a technical book, that is not technical beyond boredom, though all the needed technique is discussed. Not a table top, though the photographs are exquisite, and it will end up on my table. Not a romance novel as many such books are a love affair by the author with himself. Not a formal portrait book, though portraiture is thoroughly discussed. It is of the love affair between the photographer and his lens with the subject, the photographic acquisition of the ideal.

Styles range from the dynamic on the cover to the intimacy of the family, especially his daughter Katie Rose, to the pride of a bride (sorry).

Practical, inspiring, and, even at times, sensual in the nicest of ways.

Buy it for the text. Buy it for the pictures. Buy it for the technical caption. Buy it and I believe that you, too, will be infected.

When asked about my interest in photography, I usually tell people that it is the marriage of technology and creativity that appeals to me. Creative Portraits, the latest in a series of books from photographer Harlod Davis, reminded me of the human / personal side of photography. As much as the book has valuable tips for composing, lighting, and processing great portraits, it has extensive tips on how we as photographers interact with our subjects and get the best performance out of them to create portraits that tell a story about our subjects.

I often shoot portraits of kids and families and I found the sections on these subjects to be very helpful. Many of my previous issues with portraits of kids are addressed with helpful tips, suggestions and examples.

This is a comprehensive book that provides valuable information on many different aspects of portrait photography. I found the book to have answers or suggestions for just about anything I could think of related to portrait photography. In summary, the book is well written, provides examples and illustrations of key concepts and is packed with valuable tips and information.

Disclosure: Although I have previously purchased and enjoyed other books by Harold Davis, I was provided a complimentary (free) review copy of this title. I don't think the free copy influenced my opinion in any way.

To say that Creative Portraits: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques is an interesting read would be a gross understatement. The book is written in a conversational manner - as if you are with Harold and he, being a more experienced, older brother, is sharing his tips for making great portraits. For each aspect of portraiture it is as if he says - "Look, you gotta attend to this aspect - and - see, in this picture, how I do it".

The book touches upon all aspects of portraiture -- lights, lenses, people, models, props, digital touch-up, self-portraits, etc -- without being too technical. Even though you could write a book about each one of these topics separately (and I am sure there are such books), Harold's book stands out in that it brings everything together.

As an amateur photographer, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I have already become a more aware of and better at portraits. I recommend the book for both its simple language and excellent range of photographs.

I own too many technical books. Harold Davis's Creative Portraits is different. He encourages the photographer to interact with the subject and present both character and emotion. This is not easy, but I have found it critical to portraiture that speaks; that goes beyond the bland; that gets to the heart of what a portrait is about....one person; your subject, client or model. Reveal a bit of yourself, what you want as a photographer, and you can reveal the heart of your subject. The goal is a portrait that interests viewers by touching on both our common humanity and our unique ways of expressing it.

This is a worthy read.

Whether you are a professional or serious amateur or even a novice photographer, you will gain much from this outstanding book. The author helps the reader to see and compose a great portrait and teaches one how to telegraph the important aspects of that moment to the viewer.

The book explains how you can best select the proper camera settings and then utilize various lighting techniques for indoor, studio and outdoor shots.

The author also goes into wonderful detail on how backgrounds and the proper selection of such items as clothing and makeup can greatly enhance your pictures.

There is also a whole section on workflow and retouching techniques along with software suggestions for the post processing of your work.

I felt so inspired after reading this book that I could not wait to grab my camera and try out the variety of new settings, lightings, backgrounds and other ideas that I gathered from this wonderful book. The book can inspire and improve your creativity, it did for me!

This book is exactly what amateur photographers--like me--should read. I suspect this book is exactly what professional photographers should read also.

Even the introduction is outstanding. Mr. Davis asks us to use Creative Portraits as an idea book and that's exactly what I'll do!

I found "Create Portraits - Digital Photography Tips & Techniques" to be a book that was well organized, beautifully illustrated and published, with a casual voice that drew me into thought and will have me referring to this book frequently in the future.

It is not formulaic or a cookbook approach to creating portraits. Instead Davis went into a comprehensive overview of most facets facing a portrait photographer in an approachable style, and I believe the book has many tips and techniques to make it a highly recommended purchase for a novice or experienced photographer wanting to strengthen their portrait making skills.

Example photos

Harold follows the adage that much can be learned by studying other photographers' images, and where this book really shines is his text acompanying the photos. He provides ample EXIF data (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and lens focal length), which many users want (I'm ambivalent on the presentation of settings). What I found most useful were his notes on what he was trying to acheive and what went into his thought process.

Many of the portraits presented in the book are stunningly beautiful, and even those that didn't "grab me" personally were technically excellent and show Davis's professional aesthetics.

Topics

Davis begins his examination of portrait photography by discussing elemental topics that will benefit any photographer that doesn't realize (or maybe has forgotten) that preparing for a portrait session requires some forethought and deciding on one's intentions and goals prior to the session.

Some of the early topics he covers includes: the kinds of portraits; why people sit for a portrait; the psychology of portraiture; understanding people; and capturing emotion. I didn't connect on a few of the topics Davis covers (e.g., Character is Destiny and Telling the Truth about Someone), yet even these topics provide "food for thought" getting the reader thinking about fundamental aspects of portraiture that goes beyond F-stops, shutter speeds, and lighting ratios.

I appreciated his covering of these considerations since so much of what other authors are writing about photography is equipment and technique focused to the exclusion of the focusing on what the photographer or her subject wants from the portrait.

I particularly appreciated Harold's thoughts on People: interactions between the photographer and his subject; approaching people, model releases, interpersonal skills and putting the subject at ease. Great insights and practical advice for the budding portrait photographer.

Davis also touches on: Street photography, Environmental Portraiture, Working with Models, Props, Clothing, Hair and Make-Up.

Under Portrait Techniques, Davis explores: Posing, Camera Positioning, Movement, Depth of Field, Choosing the Right Lens, and Making Camera-to-Eye Contact.

The twenty-plus page section on Lighting Techniques is great! Written in an easy-to-understand manner with a handful of diagrams illustrating his positioning of lights in relation to the subject, and photographs showing the end result of his work and clear explanations of what he acheived and how.

In a chapter on shooting Kids and Families, Davis shares his thoughts and insights on photographing children and the accompanying example photos in this section were a real treat in my opinion. It's pretty obvious Harold can relate to kids and build a rapport with them (maybe he mugs for them in a manner similar to some self-portrait photos shown on pages 54-55), but in all seriousness, I wish I knew how to get the wonderful results seen here.

The final section/chapter is 35+ pages covering Portraits in the Digital Darkroom. In reading his text here, it is apparent Davis is as comfortable in front of Photoshop as he is behind the camera. Topics such as: Fixing Flaws, Working with Skin, Enhancing Eyes, and Selective Sharpening easily make this book a worthwhile addition to any beginning to intermediate photographer's library.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested the topic of portraiture.

Does Harold Davis know how to write a book about photography? You bet can bet your boots on it! And he has done it again with Creative Portraits: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques

Harold photographs the landscape of the human face, full of emotion and passion and while he is at it he gives his students the tools to develop his/her own skills for an artistic rendering of the beautiful characteristics that makes one human, often with the wrinkles and other imperfections that creates character.

He gives several examples of how to get both the photographer and the subject to relax, so that the magic can happen.

I find that one of Harold's underlining goal of is to make the magic moments captured more of a common occurrence rather than just another lucky shot.

The one thing that he assumes is that the reader already knows how to use his camera; I do not find fault with that as there many books and other resources for the newbie.

The finial assessment is that I enjoyed this treatment of Creative Portraits and now I need to put to use what Harold has presented in this book.

Creative Portraits gives a good account of the basics from a distinguished pro. This book presents the elements of portrait work in an open and informal style perfect for the aspiring photographer without the burden of extensive digital techniques so masterfully presented in other of Davis's series. Anyone seeking to familiarize themselves with classical or modern digital portraiture will find the basic answers and resources right here. Many of the shots are stylized as homespun family fun, others as more serious professional techniques. The advanced photographer, amateur and professional alike, would look to Davis for his extremely well-written, accessible and more technical digital photography series.

I received this as a review copy.

I have several books by Harold Davis, and I like his style of writing and his presentation of material. "Creative Portraits" was no different. I am just beginning with portrait photography and particularly portraits of kids. There are some good tips in the book for working with children and posing. Also, this book is about creative portraits. So it is more than just posing a subject against a background. It discusses how to use different techniques to make your portraits different and personal. As I said in the title, the pictures alone are good for getting my creative brain working and have inspired me to take some portrait photos. I think after reading this book (and looking at the pictures) I have become a better portrait photographer.