Customer Reviews

Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book to see if I could use it as a textbook with which to teach my students. I found it mildly informative for beginners, but the pictures often were very poor and the models looked uncomfortable with their head cocked to awkward angles.

One of the greatest flaws in this book was the lack of cohesion. A lot of concepts were given, but very little application, examples, or delving into more advanced techniques (especially lighting, which goes hand in hand). One of my students read this and said she constantly didn't know what to do next.

Again, the pictures, although many, were mostly poor, and there were no pictures of a typical studio setup. The book only tells you the purpose of straight line-sets and curved line-sets, but that's about it. It very vaguely tells you to consider your studio setup with the modeling.

In short, I do not recommend this book for anyone because of its lack of depth and lack of good examples. It would start off a beginner on the wrong foot and bore intermediate to advanced photographers.

I bought this book to try to learn some useful poses for my subjects, and given most other people's ratings, I decided to give it a try. However, upon opening the book my first thought was, "these all look like high school yearbook photos", which is exacltly what they are. It seems that that's primarily what type of photography the author does and his book is geared almost exclusively to that market. His main concern, which he stresses throughout the book, is creating a "saleable picture", and he keeps emphasizing the importance of pleasing mom, since she's usually the one with final say over the pictures. A better title for this book would have been, "How To Take High School Senior Pictures".

Even then, most of the pictures are not very good, both in their original execution and in their print quality for this book. In addition, the poses are unnatural and awkward looking, and the book is filled with typos and grammatical errors.

To be fair, the author does suggest some useful basics of things to do and things not to do when posing a subject, but there is really very little useful information here.

So, if you're interested in learning how to take pictures that look like a Sears portrait, this may be the book for you. However, if you really want to learn some useful techniques for posing your subjects in a more natural or more artistic manner, I'd steer clear of this book.

This book is full of nuggets of insights. Very first chapter; 'Six things you should never do' pays for the price of the book. I am not a professional photographer but insights in this book have helped me take better portraits.

I am surprised by a very negative review on this book. That reviewer must be confused about another book. There is no question posing is a difficult topic and it is wrong to expect one single book will make you master of portrait photography. Nonetheless, this book will help you avoid some basic mistakes. After reading this book, I looked at pictures I had taken before and I noticed several basic errors I made. Now I won't be making those errors anymore.

This book is well illustrated with excellent photographs and is presented in very logical order. Out of several books I bought on this topic, this is the one I keep referring to again and again and it never disappoints.

There are few drawbacks. There is limited information on lighting. Book focuses on mainly studio portraits and assumes you are a professional photographer with all the equipment; information on outdoor portraits is limited. Also this book focusses only on senior portraits.

Author Jeff Smith has other books on lighting and outdoor portraits.

Overall this is a good book on posing if you keep above limitations in mind.

There are several things I really like about this book:

First, is the fact that the thinking is up to date. The traditional poses of GrandMa's pictures just won't do in today's market.

Second, he points out that the only reason for taking a portrait is to produce a picture that the customer likes, that's the only way you can make any money.

Third, is the understanding that there is nothing wrong with any pose if that's what the customer wants. That is, treat the customer with respect.

Finally there are some very interesting hints, in taking a picture of a girl on a motorcycle, he also took a picture of just her face. The comment is made that the girl wants the picture of the bike, but the picture of just her face appeals to older people such as her parents. That's an easy way to make additional money out of the same basic setting.

You may not like all the poses given her, but if the book gives you just one or two ideas for your next portrait shoot, it is well worth it's low cost and the time it takes to read it.

I have not had any formal training in photography, but read or watch anything I can get my hands (anything I can afford that is). I'll take notes on what ever it is I'm leaning. This is by far one of the best books on posing I've read. On just about ever page I leaned something new. Mr. Smith brings together all the small details of a good pose in a nice simple package. From expressions, deadly sins, legs, and more Mr. Smith does a great job in covering all the subjects.
I shoot weddings, and was easily able to apply all the information.

When you're working with professional models, posing becomes very easy, because the model will assume a succession of interesting basic poses and variations that the photographer can work with. All you might need to do is offer suggestions to refine and fine tune a good pose to make it a great one.

That's not the case when you're working with non-professionals, which is the case with most portrait work! Your subjects may be ill-at-ease, not know what to do, and worried that their portrait will not turn out well. This book gives the photographer the knowledge and confidence needed to create interesting and flattering poses for a variety of portrait situations. If you read this, you'll be much more adept at portraiture, and your subjects will be relaxed and more readily photographed in attractive ways. This is an essential tool for beginning portrait photographers, or veterans who want to improve their skills.

Photography, as well as other arts, is very subjective. What may be beautiful or correct for someone, could be boring to someone else. Even then, there are certain basic rules to follow in order to obtain at least acceptable results. This book by Jeff Smith is what I was looking for. He uses a plain and simple language to explain the most important aspects related to making good photos of people, whether professional models or not. He goes step by step, pointing the basic details to be looked at when taking a photo: lighting, the face, hands, arms, clothing, backgrounds, even the photographer's attitude and behavior. He sets the ground rules from which a creative person can grow. I recommend this book for non professionals interested in stepping forward to take better photos of people.

This is a better intro book than Master Posing Guide by Wacker. For your money, only purchase this one. Took job with portrait company and this book covers everything in their training guide. Recommend also getting The Portrait Photographer's Guide to Posing by Bill Hurter as a worthwhile guide to expanding your creativity, if you are serious about portrait photography.

Posing is allways a difficult aspect, and there are a few useful hints in this book. The view is quite narrow: senior portraits, and mostly female. And, only posing is the subject - f.i. lighting is quite monotonous through the book. But, worth it's price.

As a budding amateur photographer looking for advice on how to capture better portraits of individuals and groups, as well as get some ideas for memorable poses. I found Bill Hunter's book to be the most useful of the 2 I purchased, the other being "Posing for Portrait Photography a head-to-toe guide" by Jeff Smith. The posses/images in Mr. Hunters book had a real Art/High Fashion quality to them, they were very distinctive. While Jeff's images throughout his book felt like High School senior headshots and poses, and I worked on my award winning annual staff in high school, so I know what I speak of. Both had good tips but Mr. Hunters book provided more depth and detail on how-to achieve the desired result.