Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography

Lately there are many many books about photography, which pretend to teach you something, instead going through same stuff over and over again, showing mediocre work. This book, while isnt revolutionary, scores huge points, not just by way how author approaches us, but also by good photos inside. Its not just "do it like i do". He is going through whole process of shooting, from ideas on how to approach people (with hints for shy folkz) to hints on post processing. Hats off to you, mr. Peterson, and thanks for good reading.

If you're interested in learning new or different ways of achieving your goals with photography or if you're interested in learning some new photography tricks then this is the author for you. I purchased the "Understanding Exposure" book first and thought that it was so enjoyable that I then bought this book as a gift. Bryan Peterson writes in a style that is easy to follow and truly fun to read. I found myself carrying the "Understanding Exposure" book with me everywhere I went because I was enjoying the book so much. It was almost like reading a mystery novel - I couldn't wait to find out how he set up his shots and exposures to come up with truly inspiring photos. I try to 'shy away' from taking photos of people and felt that I could learn something about this subject from Peterson. He truly inspires you to want to try his techniques. I recommend this author for anyone interested in photography - amateur or professional.

Many years ago I was a budding photographer with no formal training, never really interested in photographing people. Yet people were always getting in the way of most of my shots. Many years later, I discovered that people can add interest to my images by adding scale, a sense of place, or adding to the image's story. Today I enjoy sports photography and I look for ways to include people when composing an image. As a serious hobby photographer with no formal training, this book helped me get more creative when photographing people. Beyond Portraiture is a straight forward book explaining the many aspects of creative people photography. The book is broken down into five main sections. UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE explains a bit of psychology, approaching people, and how to get people to agree to be photographed. WORKING WITH PEOPLE discusses the types of people you should "cast" for your intended images, and how to maintain a comfortable and respectful relationship of varying types of people you may want to photograph. LIGHT details differing types of light and how they affect your images. COMPOSING POWERFUL PORTRAITS offers basic composition rules, backgrounds, movement, camera settings and lens options. PHOTO-EDITING TECHNIQUES is a series of lessons in Photoshop to help perfect your images. It is assumed the reader already has a solid grasp on exposure. If this is not the case, read Brian Peterson's Understanding Exposure prior to reading this book. There are short sections discussing shutter speed and aperture, but they are not in-depth enough to form the solid foundation of exposure settings every serious photographer should have. Brian refers to these settings, as he should, in most of the topics. If you shoot in fully automatic mode, you will get something out of this book, but may lack the ability to duplicate the results except by luck. Chances are a camera in fully automatic mode will determine a correct exposure; however the camera can be fooled into setting an incorrect exposure. Plus there is more than one "correct exposure" setting for a scene, but which setting creatively results in the image you want? While the technical details that I have read in this book are commonly known among serious hobbyist, it is Brian Peterson's perspective and experiences that make this book worth reading. His simple writing style is conducive to learning and interesting, opening my eyes to even more possibilities. Even though I look for ways to include people in my pictures, this book will take me to the next level. If you have mastered the subject, this book is not for you. However, if you are a beginner with an aversion to photographing people, or are not satisfied with your portraits and candid shots get this easy to understand book. If you have a general understanding but have room for improvement, this book will help fill in the missing pieces. PROS Straight forward easy to understand book Full of valuable information Includes mention o

Bryan Peterson's best books are the ones that allow photographers (beginning and professional) to confront their fears in becoming better photographers. This is, hands down, one of his best. A great distillation of his years of experience as a top working photographer, teacher, instructor and writer. If his seminal book 'Understanding Exposure' clearly and conscisely breaks down the process of setting exposure in a non-theoretical way, 'Beyond Portraiture' breaks down the process of dealing with PEOPLE in real and practical terms. From showing how to ask people to take their pictures, to the psychology of putting people at ease, co-operating with you, getting them to sign model releases, working with models etc etc, this book defuses the fears keeping us from taking more pictures of people. Once he helps you to overcome those fears that prevent us from taking the pictures we really want to take, he then tells you how to *enjoy* the process of going out and taking people's pictures because you CAN. Also included are sections on optimising your images, stock photography and travel photography, also well worth the price of the book. Unlike most, he does not dwell on the minutae of equipment and technique, even though he discusses these things also, which is welcome. He is the epitome of a good teacher. He allows you to discover what is in you and brings you to understanding. And by allowing you to face what is stopping you from taking the pictures you want, he helps you to become the photographer you want to be. After 'Understanding Exposure' (which should be read before going through this book), 'Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography' is probably one of the best photography books ever written. Highly recomended.