Customer Reviews

Garage Glamour: Digital Nude and Beauty Photography Made Simple

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Unfortunately, there is nothing new here for photographers. No diagrams of the lighting techniques, no ideas on props; just the author showing us some examples of his work. There is one good idea of buying some shop lights from Home Depot but he doesn't even show us a picture of his setup. I was looking for a "how to" book but just got a "here's my final product" book.

Simply put-this is a great book in the realm of Glamour Photography. I have been a photographer for more years than I would like to admit and I found gems of wisdom on almost every page. Whether you are a novice or experienced picture taker-you will benefit from this book.
I recently had the pleasure of attending one of Rolando's seminars and while I had read the book several times-I still learned more about lighting in the seminar.
Rolando Gomez has an extraordinary passion for his craft and this book draws on his years as a photo journalist and top glamour photographer. The book is weighted toward lighting and the ways to achieve the lighting effects so much used in the fashion/glamour industry.He shares many of the secrets that have made him famous.And he does it in a straight forward easy to follow dialog.
There is a small portion of the book that details how to make a glamour portrait set-up using common fluorescent bulbs found in any "Home Depot" type store-worth the price of the book alone for this "tidbit". I got to use this set-up in his seminar and it was truly an excellent tool.
You won't be disappointed in this book-the pictures are excellent, the instruction superb.

The "nuts and bolts" of techniques for creating serious glamour works are presented in a clear, logical and readily understood form. As one would expect, there are images and explanations of the lighting and techniques for each from cover to cover. Of great help in making the techniques clear are photographs showing the entire setup for a given photograph. Where this is offered the author photographed the setup for the image as well as the image itself. This technique enables the reader to determine the location of primary and secondary lighting sources, the subject, and the camera with ease.

Of perhaps even greater importance are the clear explanations of the issues and elements that surround the entire subject. Model communications, the history and style changes glamour has experienced, releases and a host of related issues are presented along with their impact on your overall endeavor in this arena.

This is one book that you can pick up, read, and by applying even some of what you read, improve your photography within days.

Very deceptive title for a book with no lighting setup diagrams or easy to follow descriptions. A few worthwhile tips, but essentially an extremely unrealistic approach for the average amateur. You would need a full crew of assistants and a nearly unlimited budget to accomplish what is shown and described in this book. If you're a pro this book may be worth your time otherwise look elsewhere.

Save your dollars for something a little more informative, images were very 70's 80's and inanimate,pity some of the models looked as if they might photograph well too! Quite a large amount of similar images shot at the same location with an infinty pool and lots of lighting gels. Looked to be shot on an early digital camera as a lot of the images were not really up to the standard that should be. Plasticky skin etc.

The advent of digital photography has dramatically changed the view of many people on nude photography. There was in the past a background fear of exposure, of pictures sent off for development and viewed by any number of people, of extra copies being made, of pictures showing up in unexpected places, of the thought police deciding that this picture violated the obscenity laws. With digital photography all of these risks go away. As the author says, 'This is an awsome revolution for people who have a passion for glamour but, at the same time, want to be discrete.'

This book is the result of a series of workshops that the author has taught which cover all aspects of glamour photography. He covers clothing, accessories, props, picking the foreground and background so they add to the beauty of your subject. Posing the model which can accent the models best features and conceal any problem areas.

Although this is not a large book, it is a surprisingly complete introduction to the subject.

Not a fan of the writing style nor layout of this book. The photos are very non remarkable for the most part. The photographer describes his style in the book, it's not mine and perhaps I'm biased? But I don't think skin should be THAT yellow. There's a time and a place for flash gels but imo most of the photos in this book are way overboard, very jaundiced looking.

As for the homemade fluorescent light setup mentioned in other reviews. Unless you wish to spend time in photoshop removing the very distracting and very strange eye reflections, don't bother. The light looks...uh...fluorescent, I suppose, but not particularly soft fluorescent as there's no soft box or any other filter in front of it. With 4 catchlights in the models eyes in examples from the book I would definitely alter that plan. Plus a 4x6 hunk of plywood with a hole cut in the middle to insert your camera limits mobility drastically with such a light. It's a one trick pony and that trick isn't even that great.

As a long time professional photographer I feel I can always pick up something new from any book on photography I read. Unfortunately this was not the case. There were very few really top quality images in this book and they were mixed with a lot of poor images. The equipment that he used was very limiting, it was like he was pushing certain brands. Normally I would say it may be good for beginners but in this case I feel they would be lead astray. If you are going to write a book about photography every image should be of top quality, and you should explain the alternatives of the different kinds and brands of equipment available. You should explain how you are using this particular piece of equipment and why you are using it, and what effect it produces. I was so disappointed in this book I sent it back for a refund, and I have a very extensive library of photographic books, in the hundreds. Don't waste your time buying this book.

I agree with C. Glaspell's review. I don't understand how it got perfect rating. And it can be deceiving. Glad my return is within the time frame. Unfortunately, this is my first return :(

Although I found the book interesting to read, I wasn't very impressed with the writing style or the layout. Also, although there were some nice photos in it, many of the ones he used to illustrate a concept didn't actually seem that great to me. For example, the shots with the infinity pool (pool on a ledge with ocean behind) looked pretty fake as the wave patterns were completely different in the pool than in the ocean.

He also talked a lot about his homebuilt fluorescent lighting rig which is basically four tubes in a square pattern. However, it was very easy to tell which shots were lit this way as the square pattern reflected in the model's eyes and looked quite unnatural.

Anyhow, in summary, not bad, but you may be slightly disappointed as I was. I would have liked more shots showing how the lighting was set up.