Customer Reviews

Group Portrait Photography Handbook

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

 

 

The author has half a dozen or so books (portrait, family, children, etc.) and they are all essentially the same book with little new or different. The book is tediously basic at some points and there are not enough lighting diagrams or other techniques fully explained. Some of the comments are so obvious as to be funny (like joke and play around with children to put them at ease). I also don't think there are enough photo examples that are easy to recreate.

Overall, if you are a very new photog interested in a few ideas this may fit the bill. But you don't need to buy more than one of his books.

Group Portrait Photography Handbook

As an intermediate photographer but a beginner in portrait photography this book was a HUGE resource for me as I was asked to take a group portrait recently.

I had no idea what to do and this book was very helpful. It taught me about group shape, DOV, positioning and so much more. I read trhu it the first time very quickly as I got this book the day before I had to take the group photo! So I am looking forward to another reading of it.

My only complaint was I'd like to have seen more examples. A diagram showing placement for the photo examples would have been great.

If you ever have to (or want to) do any family or group photography then this book is for you.

This book did not live up to my expectations. The reader might reasonably expect a handbook to be just that: a treatise that explicates the method used to achieve the examples shown. This would translate to the listing of f stop, shutter speed, lighting arrangement, etc. for the photographic illustration chosen. Unfortunately this information was missing in most of the photos shown in Group Portrait Photography. Although there is some information that the reader can employ when photographing groups, I believe that other books on portrait lighting offer more usable material than was found in Group Portrait Photography. In fact, additional books I own by Mr. Hurter seem superior to this one.

Many of the challenges in photographing group portraiture versus individual portraiture are identified and addressed. There is much useful information and detail for any photographer of any skill level. Among the attributes this book offers is a nice format that covers technical aspects, posing and composition, building groups and big groups as well as indoor and outdoor lighting. Although mainly focused on film as the photographer's medium, the techniques can easily be applied to the digital age of photography. Overall, a very well written book on a subject that could use the literature makes this a good investment.

I needed a book specifically about how to pose groups of single and multiple families. THis book contains two just chapters on that, so if that is what you are looking for, you may be disappointed. The book does contain a lot of good, general information about portrait photography - what to do with hands, using the rule of thirds, and photography under different lighting scenarios. It was mostly review for me, however, and will be review for anyone who has a few books on general portrait photography. Also, most of the photographs are pretty dated! There are only a handful that I would consider "timeless".

The two chapters on posing are pretty good, but definitely would have benefited from more examples, and perhaps photos of a large family group being built according to the Love technique described in the book.

Anyway, I give it 3.5 stars rounded to 4 because overall it is a good introductory book about all aspects of photographing groups. If you are looking for a book about how to pose groups, there is an EXCELLENT chapter in Doug Box's Guide to Posing for Portrait Photographers that was very valuable to me. That book is all about posing and I consider it to be indispensable.

If you ever have to shoot a group portrait, this book is a must; unless, you are a pro at it. Lots of examples and tips in crafting pleasing group portraits.

After reading this book, I realized it's not the high power camera that makes a great photo; it's the person behind the camera.
Learning the art of photography takes time and this book is a start.

DEz5 - Photography, Video and Audio engineer.

I really liked this book. Great examples and pictures to apply to your family, friends, and clients. I wish though there was an example for every instruction, for example, layering a big group into 5.