Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing & Lighting (A Lark Photography Book) [Paperback]

Mark Cleghorn (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Lark Photography Book | Publication Date: April 28, 2004

With easy-to-follow instructions and detailed photo sequences showing how to arrange lights and lighting accessories, this carefully structured course teaches all the fundamentals of portraiture, as well as a host of other creative techniques. It sets out everything the amateur needs to know to create a wide range of styles, from choosing the right equipment to composing the background to placing and positioning the subject for maximum effect. The basics of color and black and white, digital capture and film, and studio and location shooting all receive detailed attention, and helpful tips on mood-enhancing lighting will help raise novices’ skills to professional levels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Pixiq (April 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157990548X
• ISBN-13: 978-1579905484
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Lighting
  • #86 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Portraits

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UP TO DATE, August 22, 2005

By 

Pixelle Mom (Suburban Metro Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing & Lighting (A Lark Photography Book) (Paperback)

I spent many hours hunting for a book dedicated to studio portraiture (with a focus on strobes), but this was the only one I found. All other books used hot lights and were examples from the 70's. Yuk. This book is awesome! Mark begins by covering the different equipment used in the studio and on location including different types of strobes, flashes and attachments for focusing or diffusing light. He writes about posing people and gives tips for every part of the body from head to toe with photo examples. He offers flattering poses and light set-ups to camoflauge undesireable body flaws. He covers different types of lighting setups and describes how to acheive them. I would have liked more detail in this area, and possibly some diagrams of the setups used. He covers posing children, adults and families. He explains how to use existing lighting indoors and out on location. The majority of the book is for indoor studios with strobe lighting. It was exactly what I was looking for and I am very pleased.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You gotta see this!, January 13, 2006

By 

D. Laronde (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing & Lighting (A Lark Photography Book) (Paperback)

As a professional photographer I am always looking at the numerous books that are published on photographic lighting, particularly portrait lighting. This book is the best book that I have found on this subject. It won't tell you anything more than you would get from reading a vast collection of books and figuring it out for yourself after going to numerous seminars and convenstions but this is the only book that I have found where someone has put what really is a collection of simple material all together for you.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good instructional book goes beyond most books but falls short., May 30, 2006

By 

Anton Karidian (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing & Lighting (A Lark Photography Book) (Paperback)

This book is excellent.

Firstly, unlike many books on portrait photography, he doesn't assume that you the reader knows what he's talking about when he throws around terms (e.g. power pack, monopods, snoots, parabolic reflectors, softlights etc.) -- he actually shows you clear photos of the equipment used.

Secondly, in a very systematic way demonstrates all the various effects of using the many pieces of equipment. Furthermore, he inspires by showing in a catagorical why the interesting/beautiful examples in addition to the usual "textbook" poses and lighting effects. His style is traditional but still has a fresh modern look.

My only quibble is that he doesn't discuss (and very few books on portrait photography does) about the relative placement of backdrops, camera, lights -- or how much light output is required when shooting with medium format vs SLR etc.

There is very little discussion on digital post production which is okay by me since there are a more than enough books out there that cover Photoshop.