Master Posing Guide for Portrait Photographers: A Complete Guide to Posing Singles, Couples and Groups [Paperback]

J. D. Wacker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

Photographers are guided through every aspect of posing—beginning with the consultation and continuing with specific tips for posing children, high school seniors, wedding parties, families, events, teams, groups, and pets—in this comprehensive manual. Maintaining that good posing is 80 percent mental and only 20 percent technical, this guide stresses the importance of communication between photographer and subject to creating a portrait that not only captures the subject’s personality but also makes the subject comfortable, fostering repeat business.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

J. D. Wacker, winner of the 1999 Kodak Gallery Elite Grand Award, holds a masters degree in photography and electronic imaging. He lives in Clintonville, Wisconsin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 125 pages
• Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc. (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584280573
• ISBN-13: 978-1584280576
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A book you don't need, September 30, 2002

By 

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Master Posing Guide for Portrait Photographers: A Complete Guide to Posing Singles, Couples and Groups (Paperback)

My guess is that anyone who purchases this volume will be interested in making portraits that will reveal the person photographed and perhaps, to use an art school phrase, show his or her soul. This book will not do that. At most, it might give you a few tips that could make your pictures more attractive. However I really can't recommend this book to anyone.

Some photography instruction books set out a few key principles and then develop techniques from them. This lets you form a picture in your mind of what you want and then manipulate the environment and your photographic tools to create that picture. Unfortunately this author doesn't develop the kind of approach to posing that would help you pre-visualize a portrait and then adjust the sitter's pose to fit that concept. Instead Wacker bombards you with a number of small rules that you may have to keep reviewing regularly unless you have great recall. He says "don't keep people on flat feet; don't show women's knuckles; turn the body plane away from the camera for a thinner look". At the other end of the scale the author frequently reminded me to be imaginative, involved and open to learning.

The book is organized into three parts: the psychology of posing; the mechanics of posing and posing in practice. The psychology section seemed rather elementary but adequate, emphasizing points like building confidence and getting to know the subject. What should have been the meat was contained in the mechanics section. For example, there's a chapter on posing tools, in which the author discusses such items as adjustable stools, stepladders, carpet pads and posing tables. But I didn't learn anything about how to use these tools or when one might be more appropriate than another.

I found the section on posing in practice very frustrating. This part is organized into chapters on children, high school seniors, men, women, etc. Most of these chapters offered advice that didn't help me. For example the chapter on women admonished me to pay attention to details they (presumably the author means women) find important, be sensitive, place the body to emphasize gracefulness and femininity, and build excitement.

Some photographers might pick up a point or two from Wacker that will improve their portraits, but I'm certain the average photographer would learn more about posing from any good general portraiture book. I certainly found that I learned a lot more about posing from the book "Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography" by Douglas Allen Box, which doesn't even purport to be a posing guide. Unless you really need a book with just posing tips, look elsewhere to become a better portrait photographer.

86 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Posing Guide" Covers a Broad Range, October 31, 2001

By 

Rick Bate (Grafton, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Master Posing Guide for Portrait Photographers: A Complete Guide to Posing Singles, Couples and Groups (Paperback)

J.D. Wacker, one of the country's formost portrait photographers, has put together a book that redirects photographers back to the essentials of their craft. Too many books and articles today teach tricks and techniques that rely on fads or the latest (but soon to be obsolete)equipment. They forget that the most important aspect of photographic success is the photographer's own perception and insight into his subject's personality, not the equipment that he is using. This is the joy in reading this book. Nothing gets between you and the subject.

Mr. Wacker covers posing children, high school seniors, women, men, groups, action, among other things. Unlike other books on the subject, he also covers problem situations. Things do not always go as smoothly in real life as they do in predesigned examples. His book is filled with practical tips, from how to keep a baby happy to how to pose an executive. (A hint, they both have to be photographed quickly, but the executive will probably not respond as well to the bubbles.)

I recommend this book to anyone who's photography concentrates on people. Although it is written primarily for professional photographers, it is refreshingly free of jargon and would be useful for anyone who wants better photographs of their friends and relatives. I guarantee that the information in this book will make a difference.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Investment, November 20, 2002

By 

Lisa R. Wilson "felley1990" (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Master Posing Guide for Portrait Photographers: A Complete Guide to Posing Singles, Couples and Groups (Paperback)

If you've moved beyond the very basic of photography - the rules of thirds, getting on the floor to photograph the baby at eye level, then this book is for you. It explains how to see relationships of the body, i.e. shoulders as a base to head. How to slim down a heavy person by twisting the hip and moving arms away from body. The book covers detail to body parts such as hands, feet, legs, and how to posture them. Author is heavy on the 80% mental / 20 % technical, which is true. Heavy emphasis on communication with subjects - which makes for better posing / relationship with the camera and photographer. Useless are the books with picture after picture of excellent posing. They don't teach you how to look at the person first and then feel out the best poses for person to strike. I found it more effective use of my time to use knowledge gained from this book, rather than trying to copycat poses from other books. Drawback of the book? Doesn't elaborate on technical terms like Rules of Thirds, and at times does not draw diagram to illustrate: "...a line running through the pit of the neck and drawn perpendicular to the floor shows where the feet must be placed in order ..." However there are a lot of photographs that serve as examples - the bad paired with good to illustrate the book's advice / concept .