Customer Reviews

Lighting Techniques for Low Key Portrait Photography

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just a few moments with this book clearly shows why Norman Phillips has won so many awards. This is a fantastic collection of portraits shot with low light to illustrate just what is possible when you know what you are doing. And the discussion (including light placement drawings) describe what Mr. Phillips was doing when he took the picture.

I think the section on photographing children (the biggest market for portrait photography) is worth the cost of the book all by itself. The originality he shows in making a truly memorable picture of the kids is just great. I never imagined some of the things he shows as a way of getting the best out of the kids.

Second to the kids section is the wedding photography section. Here as well he shows an originality in posing as well as in lighting.

All in all, this is an excellent book.

The text is of great quality. Content is superb. It's a good guide for beginners who would like to achieve remarkable low key photos. It provides details on how to set up background, what clients need to wear, and lastly lighting setup. I have read other photography books and by far this is one that I can easily understand and apply. Overall I would highly recommend this to others.

I chose a image that I liked. Read the instruction for the image. Then I would work on the setup until I got it right.

But sometimes the instructions are not clear so I observed the image carefully. Then reverse engineered the lighting plan. Eg. The `boy reading a book'. I was not getting it right until I noticed that image had some light being reflected from the pages of the book!

Please make this your first book to get pro-like LOW-KEY photos.

I enjoyed the nice writing style of Norman Phillips along with the great content. Many points are well discussed that help to overcome the challenges that low key portrait photography presents. Some of the features covered include background selection, clothing selection, studio equipment, lighting ratios and exposure. There are also many great illustrations that are well summarized. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this type of photography.

I bought this book along with Lighting Techniques for High Key Portrait Photography and both books complement each other perfectly. The same comprehensive and practical information fills this book and makes it a valuable piece of reference material in a photographer's arsenal.

Well written, informative and an fun to read, this is one of the better portraiture books on the market. Although aimed at the photographer who understands F stops and lighting (I don't... yet), there was still more than enough information to get my running for my camera. This is a book I look forward to growing into. :)

Definitely one on my "must have" list.

This guide is a well-illustrated look at tried and true practices of portrait photography. That being said, the photos themselves seemed dated and almost Sears-portrait-esque. They are technically sound but do not push the stylistic envelope.

If you're looking for a good explanation of standard practices, this will fit your bill.

I personally was looking for something more along the lines of Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Celebrity and Editorial Photography, but with in-depth explanation of techniques instead of just examples. That book is highly recommended for more creative examples of portrait lighting.

It is hard to find good book about learning photography. All of them are same and you can get general information about particular subject.
In this book you will see a lot of pictures, samples and advices like: make a good harmony, keep contrast ... But there are few information about how to make good photos.

It has too many photos and only a few lighting setups, and very little useful information.

For the cost of this book, I expected more information and up to date photos. I think that this book and the High key lighting book should be combined for the same cost.