Hollywood Portraits [Paperback]

Roger Hicks (Author), Christopher Nisperos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

From the innocent allure of Audrey Hepburn and the sensuous poses of Marilyn Monroe to the macho charisma of Marlon Brando and the cool sophistication of Humphrey Bogart, this fabulous, inspirational book of star photographs provides classic portrait styles and detailed directions on how to set up, light, and shoot each photo. Step-by-step instructions reveal the techniques used by top-notch Hollywood photographers for their glittering glamour portraits of the 1920s through the 1950s. Diagrams and additional step-by-step instructions give readers the information needed to create classic Hollywood-style portraits of their own. Included are sections on equipment, processing, lighting, and modern-day equivalents, plus a decade-by-decade gallery featuring vintage portraits of the stars.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For the staggering portraits of stars from Hollywood - Fred Astaire and Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and James Stewart, Greta Garbo and Rudolf Valentino, among others - this book would be worth every penny. But for photographers there is an added bonus: Hicks and Nisperos show us through diagrams and clear text how each shot was set up, how many lights were employed and where they were positioned, where the camera was placed and what lenses were used. Brilliant. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Roger Hicks, the author of Perfect Exposure, Learning to Light, Quality in Photography, and more than thirty other books on photography, lives in England. Christopher Nisperos, a professional photographer living in Paris who has studied movie-lighting techniques extensively, specializes in Hollywood-style portraits.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Amphoto Books (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817440208
• ISBN-13: 978-0817440206
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not really necessary, February 2, 2001

By 

Keith Nichols (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hollywood Portraits (Paperback)

The photos are excellently reproduced, and the text is well written, but if you've already been digging into Hollywood glamour photography, you probably can figure out lighting setups pretty well without diagrams. The diagrams in this book are good for the most part, although the authors left out a few lighting instruments and included a few that probably should have been omitted. They do sort out some rather confusing lighting rather well, though. If you already have Mark Vieira's book "Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits," you probably don't need this book as a technical guide. However, it does have some nice examples of work by other photogs that you may not have seen.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Creative Ideas, November 20, 2005

By 

Rebel POW (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollywood Portraits (Paperback)

For many of us, the artistry of Hollywood publicity photographs of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were the spark that would ignite our passion for photography.

Who can ever forget classic images of Fred Astaire in top hat and tails, Humphrey Bogart with cigarette in hand, any of hundreds of sultry Lauren Bacall photographs?

"Hollywood Portraits" is an unusual book, in that it not only celebrates these great photographs, but dissects them and then shows the lighting setups that were probably used to create them. The book is intelligently written, technically excellent and will definitely get your creative juices flowing.

Each image not only has a lighting diagram, but is rated for difficulty in recreation. The narrative here is very useful, addressing issues as diverse as why today's health conscious models need to act comfortably around cigarettes if you are to recreate these classic images.

What I like about "Hollywood Portraits":

1) GREAT unusual subject, tackled from a photographer's point of view.

2) Written with the aim of re-creation in mind

3) Something for everybody, from simple one and two light setups to complicated recreations.

4) EVERY image is rated for difficulty in recreation.

5) Very little filler or fluff, only one page on 'lighting basics' (essentially a vocabulary) that doesn't seem out of place at all.

6) If you've been searching for a new photographic project for 2005, this one will get you thinking about Tinseltown recreations within fifty pages.

What I don't like about the book:

Nothing.

This one's definitely a keeper. Read it for fun, then recreate magic from Hollywood's golden years.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you will never get tired of this book, September 16, 2001

By 

San Fran - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollywood Portraits (Paperback)

Some else worte that the book is not correct, they had never tried to recreate some of the effects. I have personaly tried recreating some of the lighting and all of the photo's came out great without much make up and no touch ups. Also most all of the photo's I took were worth blowing up to a large photo. The book explains lighting, film types, and how it has changed over time. You can reproduce the hollywood portrait look with very little expense.