Jeff Smith's Lighting for Outdoor & Location Portrait Photography [Paperback]

Jeff Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

Shattering the notion that location lighting has to be difficult, inconvenient, or compromised in its quality, this resource provides guidance on how to create unique and personalized images shot in parks, on city streets, at sports arenas, in workplaces, or in a client’s home. With an overview of equipment and a discussion on the essential tools for a shoot, this guide walks photographers through the creation of dozens of location images—from casual headshots to full-length, formally posed portraits. With strategies for meeting lighting challenges found outside of the studio—from evaluating existing light to modifying or supplementing light as needed—this book will help photographers shoot confidently by developing a plan for creating professional-quality location portraits.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeff Smith is a professional photographer and the owner of two successful studios. He is the author of seven photography books, including Corrective Lighting, Posing, and Retouching for Digital Portrait Photographers; Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography; and Posing for Portrait Photography. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines, including Professional Photographer, Rangefinder, and Studio Photography. He lives in Fresno, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc. (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584282096
• ISBN-13: 978-1584282099
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #534,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a whole heck of a ltot to offer, November 25, 2007

By 

J. Bonner (Virginia, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jeff Smith's Lighting for Outdoor & Location Portrait Photography (Paperback)

I was far from impressed with this book.

My biggest problem is with the sample images. There are, on average, several images per page, and every single one of them has a cheesy Photoshop soft focus effect or a diffused glow effect applied to them. The author states over and over again the importance of shadow transition zones, and then goes into photoshop to blur the transition between shadow and highlight and artificially enhance the lighting.

The second problem with this book is that the author insists that artificial lighting on location must be done with portable studio strobes. This is simply not true, and most beginners would benefit from some advice on using speedlights on location, whether singularly or in groups. On-camera flash is what most armatures have, and what most professionals use on location, and there are techniques that allow photographers to get professional results without investing thousands of dollars in studio strobes and portable battery packs. The author avoids the topic completely by saying "If you would not use an on camera flash in the studio, why use it on location?" The answer is that on location you have natural light as your main light and flash as your fill or accent. In the studio you have to create all of the light there. There is a difference.

In short, this book does not provide armatures with the information to get into outdoor portrait lighting right away, but is not nearly inventive enough to give professionals any really new ideas or techniques.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SEEING THE LIGHT, September 20, 2007

By 

Gerald Sanders - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jeff Smith's Lighting for Outdoor & Location Portrait Photography (Paperback)

Being that flying is what it is, I find myself doing more reading and less traveling for educational meetings. The first thing I liked about this book is that it is all Jeff Smith and not a compilation of many authors saying " Well, I do it this way". Within a very few pages, I realized that this is a true gem of a book. I found Jeff Smith challenging concepts that many of us as photographers have been accepting for years. What is more important is that he is correct. In one example, he inquires if we would use on camera flash in the studio. Of course not we think and then he asks.....then why would you do that outdoors? The theme of the book is how to get PROFESSIONAL pictures in location photography be it indoors or out and I think he accomplishes that admirably. He not only explains why he does certain things but why we do it as image makers either consciously or unconsciously.
There are many facts without a lot of verbiage and although in my compulsive manner, I like to highlight as I read, I found I was highlighting practically everything. Yes, a few of the comments could have been explained better but after more reading you figure out where he is taking you. An excellent, well thought out book that will unquestionably give you pearls to walk away with and whets my appetite for more of his books and thoughts.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars some sound advice, November 23, 2010

By 

James R. Oliphant - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jeff Smith's Lighting for Outdoor & Location Portrait Photography (Paperback)

This is a decent book; however the author tends to use the same photos from his previous books, and the overall content doesn't change very much either.