If You Only Buy One Book ...?

[mr._b]

<p>I'm an amateur and I mostly shoot outdoor music festivals. I'm going to visit a friend in a couple weeks who has some some modeling as a hobby and she suggested I take a crack at portrait/fashion photography while I'm in the neighborhood. I just ordered my first tripod and I'm looking to buy my first flash gun (430EX) in the next week or so.</p>

<p>I've some done some reading online but I am hoping to find a book that covers the technique of portrait and fashion photography. Preferably the book would be reasonably useful for someone like myself that will mainly be working outdoors without assistants holding reflectors and umbrellas. Is there a single book that aptly covers composition techniques, model posing, basic lighting issues and other rudimentary things I should know?</p>

<p>This would be my second book on photography. I already have a copy of "Understanding Exposure."</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>I would do a couple of things: 1) Hollywood Glamor Photography is just a great book because it sort of starts you out at classical lighting, and shows lighting setups. Basically the authors deconstruct classic Hollywood photos to diagram what the lighting might have been. 2) Search on Flickr and elsewhere for what people, who call themselves "strobists" are doing.</p>

[mark_chartrand]

<p>If in the US (I don't know about other countries) don't forget your public library (free - in most places). If they don't have the books you want they should be able to interlibrary loan them for you.</p>

[greg_peterson3]

<p>Do yourself a big favor and get a copy of "Light, Science and Magic." </p>

<p>From it you'll learn the basic principals of light. It may, at first, seem that the book is aimed at studio photographers, but the principals are universal.</p>

<p>Good luck -- Greg</p>

 

[nick_davis]

<p>If you plan to work with a speedlight / flash you should check out http://strobist.blogspot.com On there you will find a lot of tips and information. There are some illustrated examples of basic lighting setups here http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/ most of it shows large studio strobes or hot lights but the lighting angles hold true for any light source. As for a book, The Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally is pretty cool. it won't help you pose your subjects but it is filled with examples of flash gun photography. Ignore the fact that it reads like a propaganda book for the Nikon CLS system, most of the info in it applies to flash of all kinds.</p>

[fullmetalphotograper]

<p>These are the three books I recommend.<br>

"The Law (In Plain English) for Photographers" by Leonard D. Duboff<br>

"Business and Legal Forms for Photographers (with CD-ROM) (Paperback)" by Tad Crawford<br>

Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography by Vincent Versace </p>