Customer Reviews

Studio Portrait Photography of Children and Babies

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a photographer that has photographed tens of thousands of children and babies over the last 20 years, I feel qualified to say that the tips, tricks and techniques provided by Marilyn Sholin, in her new book, ABSOLUTELY WORK. Additionally, the information she provides would take some a "professional lifetime" to learn on one's own. Anyone planning to photograph children and babies can literally knock years off their learning curve by reading this book. Her techniques truly separate a true professional from a novice.

We are just starting a home-based photography business, and I have purchased many books of various subjects relating to photograhy in the past few months. This is by far one of the best yet, and the only one I've read entirely. The author shares many photographs that give you great ideas for props and poses. The text is very easy to understand, and therefore, not so overwhelming to those of us trying to cram in so much information during the startup of a business. There are suggestions for photographing and dealing with the different stages and ages of babies and children. The discussion on studio equipment is simple and to the point. She takes you through the steps of a portrait sitting, which was very helpful. I could go on and on, but I won't. It's a very good book, and I enjoyed reading it!

I am biased: I know Marilyn. She's photographed my kids, and the pictures are truly a joy. I think I've got the "credentials" to say how good she is ... I was a photojournalist, with credits in National Geographic and lots and lots of top magazines around the world.

Even if I did NOT know Marilyn, I would recommend this book to fellow photogs ... because at one time or another, we ALL have to photograph kids. She has the gift, and she spills her secrets willingly for all of us to benefit.

Studio lighting a challenge for you? It sure is for me. How perfect to have the diagrams, the explanations, and the tips from one of America's top pro's to guide us.

Whatever your stage in the photography world ... beginning to full-time pro, you'll be richer for discovering her proven techniques and straight-to-the-heart way of communicating.

And yes, it's loaded with pix. Naturally!

I read the reviews on this book and decided to pick it up along with Vik Orenstein's. Orenstein's is definitely the better choice for my style. I have been photographing children for ten years and was looking for some fresh poses and ideas, and I found neither in Sholin's book. The shots are all poorly lit, boring stock studio photographs, like you would expect from a mall photo mill. If you are just getting into the children's portrait business and want to be more than just a stand-and-shoot photographer, this is NOT the book for you. For ideas on developing an interesting, fresh style of your own, choose Orenstein's book. I am returning this one because I have no use for it.

I can't understand the other reviews, and wonder if we read the same book.

First of all, the title: STUDIO Portrait Photography of Children and Babies. This makes a very clear statement: this is a book for STUDIO photographers, or someone hoping to be one. Yet, right at the introduction we're told that "this book is for everyone who wants to learn how to photograph their clients or their own children better [...]", and that's exactly where the book starts to disappoint - by always trying to hit a wider audience than it should, it is always way too superficial to be really useful.

Chapters 1 to 3 show some promise. They are about what the title would suggest is the theme of the book: photographing clients in a studio environment. That's great - if it weren't so darn superficial. There are some "tips" on posing, but no thorough discussion on what works and (most important, and completely absent in the book) what doesn't. There are mentions of props (which seems to be one of the main features of the author's photography), but only a paragraph here and there, again there's no real discussion about it.

In chapters 4, 5 and 6, the book is simply embarassing. At one point we learn that an 80mm lens effectively becomes a 50mm on a camera with a 1.6 crop factor (it is the other way around, actually). There are long and completely useless discussions about CCD vs CMOS sensors, and microdrives vs CF cards. The lighting chapters contain basic information that any photographer interested in a specific area of studio photography already knows, specially when this information is easily found (for free) on any site about studio lighting. The equipment chapter could easily be dropped, and the lighting ones should present examples, in practice, of what works and what doesn't in the author's opinion. Definitions of, for example, what Rembrandt lighting is, with no accompanying diagram, photographs or whatever is simply not useful at all.

The rest of the book keeps on this tone: very superficial information on topics that should be explored in details mixed with very specific information on topics that probably should not be explored at all (anyone that needs step by step instructions on how to use commercial plug-in on photoshop should not buy a book about a specialty of studio photography, plain and simple).

Last but not least, the photographs are really cheesy, for lack of a better word. I know this probably has it's appeal in some niches, but for a photographer, when you consider the superficiality of the written material, at least some good, inspiring or in any way unique images could give this book some value. Alas, that's not the case.

For those of us who are just getting started and hope to someday be a professional photographer this book is for you. The photographs and lighting diagrams are especially helpful if your still not quite sure of yourself. Hats off to Marilyn. THANKS

If you're new to photography or have the 30 years experience I do, Marilyn's book will give you new insights and ideas to both improve your photography and grow your business talents.

Do a few cross searches on some of the names posted in these reviews and you'll find much of the glowing praise comes from friends/associates of the author.
Bill Keane was nice enough to post TWO 5 star reviews for his friend. Way to be a pal, Bill!

Take a look at the sample pages of this book and read for yourself what you're getting for your money.

The author serves up gems such as this rare secret...
"In digital cameras, images are captured on electronic sensors rather than film."

and

"To get the most from each portrait session, you'll want to make sure that you've purchased a few key pieces of equipment. This includes:

digital SLR camera..."

DUH! So that's what I was doing wrong!!! This is the first book that told me I needed a camera to do photography! There's a lot of secrets in here, folks.

Unless you wear a helmet, lick windows, and constantly ask if you can "pet the rabbits" you probably won't find this book very useful.

I am an advanced amateur who is trying to learn how to take photographs in a studio setting. I've always preferred photographing people in a candid way and using natural settings. But I was blessed with a new daughter and I wanted to start taking pictures of her in a studio setting. I do know a lot about my camera and my lenses and have recently learned about skillfully using an on-camera flash. But I knew nothing about how to set up a studio so I wanted to buy a book that will teach me how to do this from ground up. Since my main subject will be my baby, I decided to get a book about studio portrait photography of children and babies (this book).

While it took me 3 months to read and master the last book that I read on photography, it only took me an afternoon to read through this book. The material was just so basic! While she did give helpful hints about conducting a pre-session interview and also about age-appropriate props, she only did so in a very brief manner. I read through that part so fast because most of the things she said were self-evident and I felt that I wasn't really learning anything new.

However, the part that I really was interested in is the studio set-up. While she did spend 2 chapters on this, I was left more confused and just wanting to either surf the web for the basics of a studio set-up or buy another book specifically for this. From the level of writing in the first part of her book (about the subjects--children), I was thinking she maybe is writing for beginners. But then she really did not explain the studio set-up as if she was writing for a beginner. For example, in Chapter 6, her first paragraph was "The simplest studio lighting setup involves only three lights: a main light, fill light, and a background light. The main light might be set at f/8.0. The background could be a full stop more than the main light, making it f/11.0. The fill light would either be f/4.0 or f/5.6, depending on how much fill you desire for your portrait." That got me totally confused. She was talking about f-stops for lighting! F-stops for lighting? But then she didn't explain what those were.

This part is probably what got me disappointed about the entire book. I was hoping to get a single book that would explain to me (1) how to do a studio set up from scratch and (2) explain all there is to know about the studio set-up. This book did not do this. Now, I will have to either scour the web for this information or buy another book specifically for this.

I feel bad for giving this book only two stars. Maybe it is just not the right book for me but maybe it is perfect for a lot of other people.

If you want to make a little money (or a lot), photographing children and babies, don't buy a camera, don't buy lights, don't buy backgrounds. First, buy this book and read it cover to cover.

Ms. Sholin obviously has great experience photographing children of all ages and is also an excellent teacher. In her book she shares with you a step by step approach to this segment of the photographic profession.

While she does deal with cameras, lighting and backgrounds, and the selection of proper equipment, she also deals with the psychology of working with children and even simple and effective techniques of marketing children's portraiture. Also included are tips for selling you portraits.

This is a soup-to-nuts book that thoroughly covers every aspect of the specialty of children's photography. It's a must-have addition to every photographer's library, from amateur with a desire to progress to the seasoned pro.

And don't let the title fool you. With this book, you don't need a studio. The title should be: "Portrait Photography of Children and Babies".