Customer Reviews

Doug Box's Guide to Posing for Portrait Photographers

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book provides an easy to understand, practical foundation for posing. I agree with 95% of the author's opionions. However, some of his examples for posing men in this text are not much different than for women, and that's where I have some differences. But hey, there's no monopoloy on what's "correct" so that's OK. Generally speaking, I like men to have their forward shoulder lower than the rear shoulder which requires most to place weight on the front foot for 2/3 view and full face shots. In the author's opening example of the Posing Men chapter, he says, "Though this handsome subject had his weight on the wrong foot..." when I actually think this is the correct way to pose men.

His advice on posing hands is very good, and the depth with which he discusses hands is not found in many of the manuals out there.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good quick reference for posing people.

I bought this book because of the high ratings here.

What's good about it

I did learn a few things that would certainly help me capture flattering portraits (candid or otherwise). Most of the photos helped illustrate Doug's points.

What I didn't like about it

In my opinion, I didn't like how Doug refers to "other photographers." Yes, I know that some photographers don't take the time to learn the art and science of photography but I don't think the book is the right place to compare himself with other "other photographers." It's tiresome to hear someone say, "they do this and it's bad, I do this and it's good."

I understand that this book is written for experienced photographers who already know what gobos, lighting ratios are. Sadly, I'm not one of them. He could have added a glossary at the end of the book to describe them.

I feel that the last part which talked about 'hiding' imperfections was rushed. While he provided an photo example for double chins, he only described how to hide the square and narrow chins. I'm a visual person so it's very hard for me to imagine his descriptions.

Last words

I paid good money for this book and feel a little cheated. If it were half the price, then maybe the book deserves 4 stars. It's not that bad so I can't give it less than 3 stars. If you're lucky to find this in a library or a bookstore with a copy you can scan, please do so before buying it. Just an above average book that should be sold only at around $12 not $23.

This is a good book aimed at educating the reader on all aspects of posing. It begins with basic posing elements to develop a strong foundation. From that point, techniques are applied to specific situations which include men, women, children and groups. Optimizing portrait quality according to lighting and portrait length are covered as well. I felt the layout along with good illustrations made for an easy opportunity to learn from.

There are only two words that can describe this book...MUST HAVE! I have been taking pictures as a serious hobby for two years and have just begun my journey into photographing people...well more than just snapshots. Anyone who has been in my position knows that shooting people is much more difficult than birds or flowers. Mr. Box's book is a great tool for a person to have. It addresses posing women, men, couples, teens, groups, brides, and more. On each page, Doug gives you an example photograph and then gives you another with slight differences that make a big difference. I have numerous books in my "photography library" and this is without a doubt the most user friendly of them all. I, as a 38 year old school teacher, use it constantly and my niece, a 17 year old high school student uses her copy as well...virtually on a daily basis for her school newspaper; now that's what I call versatile. It gives you great tips on lighting, lenses, clothing for models, and obviously...posing. I have read it so many times that I can almost close my eyes and see the words and pictures. I suggest that you give all of Doug's book a look and I have to say that having had the chance to talk to Doug personally, he is a great guy and so knowledgeable about his craft. To sum up...get this book!

THANKS DOUG!

I found the first quarter of the book to contain some good information, e.g. about C and S pose and the importance of positioning the talent's feet, classic views (full face, two-thirds, profile), and classic portrait lengths. The author shows how to obtain "classic" posed portraits - which to me look like as if the talent is forced into an uncomfortable and unnatural position. What I didn't like so much is that the book often isn't very clear (e.g. I had to search the web for a better explanation before I understood the C and S pose). The images aren't very didactic either - to keep with the poses: The picture explaining the position of the feet clearly shows a shadow falling to the left, but the light actually comes from the left also - confusing at best. The text then goes on to explain the position of the shoulders and head - but the image only shows the legs. Not good teaching. The remaining three thirds of the book are written very general, e.g. "my portrait require good lighting", and feel a bit like the author had to fill the pages to make it a book. I am also not a big fan of the author's self advertising - I've already paid him for the book, so why am I now harassed to go and check out his lighting products? Overall, the book contains some valuable information about posing and how to achieve a classic portrait studio look, however, I think there is quite a bit room to improve and expand on topics.

If you don't have a clue how to pose a subject, then this book will be very helpful because it covers the foundation of posing.

The best part of the book is the guide on how to position the feet, how to pose hands and arms. It also discuss the differences between masculine and feminine pose which I find very helpful.

The book also discusses many type of portraits such as group portrait, couple portrait, children portrait, teen portrait and bridal portrait. Unfortunately, the discussion are too general and short.

The content is helpful for many beginners, but I feel it is not deep enough for more experienced portrait photographers. The book also use many photography jargons especially related to lighting such as lighting ratio, gobo, kicker light and so on.

It is not a comprehensive book about posing and too basic for one who want to master portrait photography, but it is good enough for beginners.

Plenty of books tell how to work with subjects but few specify how to pose them. DOUG BOX'S GUIDE TO POSING FOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS is thus an essential guide in any pro photographer's toolkit: it covers the basics of good posing, how to pose for best expressions and flattering results, and how to pose different people from kids to brides. Color photos throughout offer plenty of examples, and any library catering to photographers will find this a winner.

Most photo books show only the good pictures and not the ones that turned out badly, but it is from the mistakes that people learn. Doug Box shows people posed in the manner that most photographers will do and then shows how to improve upon the basic pose to provide a picture that is much more flattering to the subject(s).

In particular I like that Doug shows obese people as this is something that is increasingly found with young and old people today in the United States. It is hard to make a slim figured person look bad but these are often the models used to illustrate poses in the majority of books that are produced.

Doug recommends approaches that will work much of the time and I suspect that he expects people to have the good sense to deviate when it clearly is not working with a particular person in a particular situation. That is where people needlessly confuse themselves and get worked up as to whether to use a "feminine" or "masculine" pose for subjects based solely on gender.

One can only hope that people will use Doug Box's book as an excellent starting point and then go and try out the different approaches with family and friends and develop their own knowledge base to apply to future clients.

Something not mentioned by Doug but an important consideration when dealing with extremely overweight individuals in the outdoors is that they are usually physically limited and this limits the poses one can use significantly. It also affects how a prop, like a park bench, is best used. With a slim couple one might pose them on the bench and photograph them from the front while with a fat couple it is likely to be better to photograph them from the backside of the bench and use the bench as a prop to conceal most of their bulk.

Choice of clothing is also very important, especially with obese people and that is something that needs to be discussed well in advance of the photo session. It is also much more important to have a couple in the same colors so that their bulk is not clearly demarcated as when the women has a light colored top and the man wears a black shirt. The edge of her torso will be quite apparent and difficult to conceal in the pictures. I collect images that I use in a guide I provide couples to help them with their clothing choices as it is nearly impossible to work with some items like a plaid fabric for example and create flattering pictures for them. The subjects rightly rely on the photographer to make them look as good as possible and this is best done with clothing advice and good posing then later trying to use Photoshop to implement fixes after the fact.

Any photographer would be well advised to purchase this book as their introduction to posing but to view the websites of outstanding portrait photographers, like Bill McIntosh and his daughter, the amazing Leslie McIntosh. Using Doug Box's book as a starting point you will better understand why a particular picture does or does not work and how to improve your own pictures.

There are some useful tid-bits in this book, and for those I'm glad I read it.

However, on the whole I found much of the information either obvious or dated. A lot of the book is discussion of what works and doesn't work in some sample photos; I found many of these photos to be rather cheesy and often liked the "natural pose" that was then corrected.

As other reviewers have noted, I also found it tiresome how every chapter seemed to start with "Many photographers ...." followed by some thing they do wrong.

This book does an outstanding job of teaching you how to pose others. It teaches fundamentals such as weight shift on back legs...what to do and what not to do with arms and hands. Highly recommend this book if you want to learn how to pose.