Baby portrait - Annie

It was a pleasure to photograph another baby of former wedding clients last month. Annie (not named after my own daughter in case you were wondering) is around 12 weeks old in these pics and looking very cute in a selection of outfits. I shot Vics and Stephen's wedding back in 2007(that long ago?) so it was nice to catch up and spend sometime with them, not to mention seeing them as proud (and ever so slightly shell-shocked (- I know that feeling)) parents.

These are a few of my favourite shots done with natural light but I did shoot a few with the Elinchrom Quadra as well.

Henry

ProPhotoPublishing eBooks - my reviews. Part 4

Travel Photography Tips - Christopher Grey

Although the title of this book gives the impression it’s about travel photography it is less about travel and more about sensible tips and guidance for getting better pictures regardless of whether in your own backyard or in a foreign land.

My feeling is that this ebook would be quite useful for someone very new to photography without much time to spend on reading lengthy books on photographic technique and practice. All of the tips and advice are good and useful but they are very basic and would really only benefit a person who’d just bought their first camera or were perhaps in their first year of learning camera craft. There are 25 ‘tips’ ranging from exposure advice to compositional rules, changing your perspective to what lenses to try out.

Each page of the ebook offers an individual tip or piece of advice supported by an image/s.   These images are as diverse as the text is broad in scope. They help get across the point effectively and many are pleasing images in their own right. The author has obviously travelled a great deal and I look forward to reviewing his next book of tips.

H rating for this ebook: 3 out of 5

ProPhotoPublishing eBooks - my reviews. Part 3

On the Set and Behind the Scenes - Stephen Dantzig

This ebook is quite an eclectic mix, in that there’s a very broad range of studio flash setups and techniques. So it’s difficult to gauge just what level it’s pitched at. I would say that many of the ‘behind the scenes’ chapters are based in a proper photographic studio with props and large light modifiers etc. very helpful for an inexperienced photographer lucky enough to have a large shooting space but perhaps not so directly useful to others. However, the author’s aim to demonstrate how he shapes and directs light in each scenario does provide useful instruction in what can be achieved and indeed why certain techniques are used. Learning how to modify, multiply, subtract and manipulate light is one of the most challenging aspects of photography. Any reference material that demonstrates how to use flash lights by showing their effect at each stage is going to be worth having I reckon.

In all there are nine photographic sets, three outdoors and the rest in studio. All of which utilise proper strobes (flash light) rather than flashguns. There is also a fair number of reflectors, scrims, gobos, bounce cards and baffles in use. For a photographer with little or no experience with studio equipment some of this book may be a bit confusing as the references to bits of kit aren’t supported by pictures of said kit very often. Likewise there is a lot of technical references to f-stops and apertures which may be a bit above those new to photography. If you are interested in using (or improving your) flash photography then you should of course learn all there is to learn and getting to grips with these things is just part of that process.

The writing in the book does tend to vary between in-depth [photographic] explanations of the shoots and mildly annoying “shout-outs” to those involved and assisting with the shoot. Obviously this is just the authors personality coming out in his writing but I did find it detracted a little from an otherwise useful and informative ebook.

I should say that the author, Stephen Dantzig, is quite a prolific writer and an  accomplished photographer with over 10 years experience. He’s based in Hawaii (lucky fella) and has been widely published.    

If you are trying to develop your studio flash skills and are perhaps looking for a short introduction to get you started or progress beyond a basic level then I’d recommend you take a look at this ebook.

H rating for this book: 3.5 out 5

ProPhotoPublishing eBooks - my reviews. Part 2

Lighting the Evocative Nude - Christopher Grey

So what’s the difference between an ‘evocative nude’ and an ‘artistic nude’? Come to think of it when is a nude evocative and when is it not? Not exactly life altering questions I grant you but the subject of nude photography has always been a bit of a polariser of opinion. I myself haven’t ventured into nude photography of any sort simply because I felt it was too difficult to ensure that client perception of that sort of work was what I wanted it to be. I’m not averse to tasteful and artistic nude photography and I wouldn’t rule it out of a future porfolio. Like most photography, especially the stuff I don’t do, I still interested in it. This ebook by Chris Grey caught my attention and I thought it would be interesting to write a review on it. Unlike like 101 Glamour Poses, this book has both explanatory text and lighting diagrams to accompany each image. This immediately elevates this ebook to a different level, both in terms of value for money but also in terms of what can be learned/gained from it.

Chris makes a good attempt at trying to explain what “evocative nude” means to him in his introduction and I find myself agreeing whole heartedly with it. The basic premise is around the control of light - not a bad place to start with any sort of portrait photography - or to put it another way (his) “... lighting evocatively usually means to not light everything”. 

The ebook contains twenty evocative nude images using various lighting techniques and styles. Each image is supported with a description of the lighting used (or how to setup your light to achieve a similar effect), what the author was trying to achieve and sometimes a lighting diagram. The text ranges from relatively in-depth to quite minimalist depending upon the image and the complexity involved in creating it. I would have liked to have seen a lighting diagram and more text for every image, simply because those images where they were used worked better as learning aid so why not continue this throughout?

For a 43 side ebook there is quite a variety of work and as such it does a good job of giving the reader a useful overview of the subject. It also provides more than enough instruction and information to assist with your first ‘evocative nude’ photoshoot. Although all the images are created in a proper studio and the level of this book is aimed at photographers who probably don’t have that sort of facility I think that most of the examples could be duplicated outside of a professional studio. Certainly with a little understanding of photographic practices there is enough in this ebook to provide plenty of basis for variety of strong images more than suitable for a first nude portfolio.

H rating for this book: 4 out of 5

ProPhotoPublishing eBooks - my reviews. Part 1

The phenomenon of the ebook has, I think, arisen without much of a fanfare. I suppose after all they are just a digital book, nothing remarkable there. But hold on a minute. Consider that a paper book destined for the shelf in Waterstones has to go through a huge number processes and cost to get there. Getting yourself published and earning a decent wage from it is by no means easy. The ebook offers an opportunity for those professionals out there willing to share their knowledge and expertise to self publish at very little cost and reach a global audience. Great. Of course this does mean that any one can write an ebook and offer it for sale, without any elkxternal editing process this does mean they could be complete rubbish. This is where another great internet phenomenon plays it’s part, that of peer [and purchaser] review. Write and offer for a sale a poorly written ebook and you can be sure that the world will tell you exactly what it thinks! That said, ebooks are not really a competitor to the proper published hard or soft back book. They should be seen as something different. Shorter, cheaper, easier to digest, more focused in scope and simpler in content the ebook has a the potential to be of great benefit to many and should not be over looked when looking to expand one’s knowledge or skills.

I have the pleasure of being invited to review several photography ebooks available through prophotoresource on my blog. If you like the look of any of these books then please use the link at the top of my blog to find out more.