PORTRAIT AND CANDID PHOTOGRAPHY: PHOTO WORKSHOP

Book description

The secret to taking great "people pictures" is to observe your subjects, connect with them, and use your camera to its best advantage. Here's how to work with lighting, location, angle, composition, physical characteristics, environment, and countless other variables, including the unique challenges of photographing babies, group activities, and action. Learn to capture facial expressions, tell a story with a series of candids, add interest to large-group shots, and more. Apply these techniques and watch your subjects come to life.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Author
  3. Credits
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
  6. 1. WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE
    1. 1.1. OBSERVE AND CONNECT WITH PEOPLE
      1. 1.1.1. WHO ARE YOU PHOTOGRAPHING?
      2. 1.1.2. CAPTURE A SPECIAL MOMENT
      3. 1.1.3. DIRECTING PEOPLE
    2. 1.2. COMPOSE YOUR PICTURE
      1. 1.2.1. LEARN CREATIVE TECHNIQUES TO COMPOSE YOUR PICTURE
      2. 1.2.2. TELL A STORY
    3. 1.3. UNDERSTAND LIGHT
      1. 1.3.1. FLATTERING LIGHT
      2. 1.3.2. WHAT OUR EYES SEE
    4. 1.4. KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT
      1. 1.4.1. MEGAPIXELS
      2. 1.4.2. MEMORY CARDS
      3. 1.4.3. BATTERIES
    5. 1.5. COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS
    6. 1.6. dSLR CAMERAS
    7. 1.7. CHOOSE LENSES FOR YOUR dSLR
      1. 1.7.1. DEPTH OF FIELD
      2. 1.7.2. LENS APERTURE
      3. 1.7.3. LENS FOCAL LENGTH
    8. 1.8. Assignment
  7. 2. ACCESSORY EQUIPMENT
    1. 2.1. LENSES AND FILTERS
      1. 2.1.1. LENS SPEED
      2. 2.1.2. TYPES OF LENSES
      3. 2.1.3. LENS FOCAL LENGTHS
      4. 2.1.4. LENS FILTERS
    2. 2.2. BATTERIES
    3. 2.3. TRIPODS
      1. 2.3.1. TRIPOD FEATURES
      2. 2.3.2. MINI-TRIPODS
      3. 2.3.3. MONOPODS
    4. 2.4. REFLECTORS AND DIFFUSERS
    5. 2.5. LIGHTS AND FLASH
      1. 2.5.1. EXTERNAL FLASH
      2. 2.5.2. FLASH SLAVES AND TRANSMITTERS
      3. 2.5.3. CONTINUOUS LIGHTS
    6. 2.6. BACKDROPS
    7. 2.7. CAMERA BAGS
    8. 2.8. MEDIA STORAGE AND VIEWING
      1. 2.8.1. MEMORY CARDS
      2. 2.8.2. PHOTO-VIEWERS
    9. 2.9. ODDS 'N ENDS
      1. 2.9.1. DIOPTRIC ADJUSTMENT LENSES
      2. 2.9.2. PHOTOGRAPHY VEST
      3. 2.9.3. UNDERWATER CAMERA HOUSING
      4. 2.9.4. LCD VIEWFINDER CAPS
      5. 2.9.5. REMOTE SHUTTER RELEASE
      6. 2.9.6. LENS CLOTHS, PENS, AND TISSUES
      7. 2.9.7. MULTI-TOOL KNIFE
      8. 2.9.8. POWDER
    10. 2.10. Assignment
  8. 3. WORKING WITH LIGHT
    1. 3.1. RECOGNIZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT
      1. 3.1.1. QUALITY
      2. 3.1.2. DIRECTION
      3. 3.1.3. INTENSITY
      4. 3.1.4. COLOR
    2. 3.2. CONTROL THE LIGHT
      1. 3.2.1. REFLECTING LIGHT
      2. 3.2.2. DIFFUSING LIGHT
      3. 3.2.3. USING A FLASH
    3. 3.3. METER FOR EXPOSURE
    4. 3.4. Assignment
  9. 4. COMPOSING YOUR PICTURE
    1. 4.1. LEARN THE BASICS OF COMPOSITION
      1. 4.1.1. SIMPLICITY
      2. 4.1.2. RULE OF THIRDS
      3. 4.1.3. LINE
      4. 4.1.4. FRAMING
      5. 4.1.5. COMPLEMENTARY COLOR
      6. 4.1.6. PATTERN AND REPETITION
    2. 4.2. CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
    3. 4.3. SHIFT YOUR POINT OF VIEW
    4. 4.4. USE SELECTIVE FOCUS
    5. 4.5. Assignment
  10. 5. TAKING PORTRAITS
    1. 5.1. CREATE THE LOOK
      1. 5.1.1. DO YOUR HOMEWORK
      2. 5.1.2. CHOOSE A BACKGROUND
      3. 5.1.3. SELECT A LOCATION
      4. 5.1.4. ADJUST WARDROBE, HAIR, AND MAKEUP
      5. 5.1.5. ADD PROPS
    2. 5.2. EXPLORE THE LIGHT
      1. 5.2.1. PLANNING FOR THE LIGHT
      2. 5.2.2. FINDING THE LIGHT
      3. 5.2.3. MANIPULATING THE LIGHT
    3. 5.3. WORK WITH YOUR SUBJECT
      1. 5.3.1. GAIN YOUR SUBJECT'S TRUST
      2. 5.3.2. SHARE ON-CAMERA TECHNIQUES
      3. 5.3.3. TRY DIFFERENT POSITIONING
      4. 5.3.4. CAPTURE CANDID MOMENTS
    4. 5.4. EXPERIMENT
      1. 5.4.1. CHANGE YOUR POINT OF VIEW
      2. 5.4.2. TAKE A SELF-PORTRAIT
    5. 5.5. Assignment
  11. 6. FAMILIES, GROUPS, AND PARTIES
    1. 6.1. PREPARE YOURSELF
      1. 6.1.1. LEARN ABOUT YOUR SUBJECTS
      2. 6.1.2. KNOW THE DESIRED RESULT
      3. 6.1.3. CHOOSE A LOCATION
      4. 6.1.4. CONSIDER THE LIGHT
      5. 6.1.5. ANTICIPATE SURPRISES
    2. 6.2. DIRECT AND POSITION THE GROUP
      1. 6.2.1. EXPLORE POSING TECHNIQUES
      2. 6.2.2. PLAN A CASUAL SHOOT
    3. 6.3. CANDIDS
    4. 6.4. GET CREATIVE
    5. 6.5. OPTIMIZE YOUR EQUIPMENT FOR GROUP SETTINGS
    6. 6.6. Assignment
  12. 7. KIDS
    1. 7.1. DIRECT THE KIDS
      1. 7.1.1. DIFFERENT AGES, DIFFERENT STAGES
      2. 7.1.2. GET THEM INVOLVED
    2. 7.2. KEEP IT REAL
      1. 7.2.1. ENCOURAGE REAL MOMENTS
      2. 7.2.2. OBSERVE AND CAPTURE REAL MOMENTS
    3. 7.3. FRAME THE SHOT
      1. 7.3.1. EXPERIMENT WITH ANGLES
      2. 7.3.2. GET DOWN ON THEIR LEVEL
      3. 7.3.3. GET CLOSE
    4. 7.4. Assignment
  13. 8. BABIES
    1. 8.1. GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE BABY
      1. 8.1.1. PLAN YOUR TIMING
      2. 8.1.2. CREATE THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT
      3. 8.1.3. ACCOMMODATE FOR THE AGE
    2. 8.2. KEEP IT SIMPLE
      1. 8.2.1. PREPARE THE BACKGROUND
      2. 8.2.2. PREPARE THE BABY
      3. 8.2.3. CHOOSE THE RIGHT CLOTHING
      4. 8.2.4. POSITION THE BABY
      5. 8.2.5. PLAY WITH PROPS
    3. 8.3. USE SOFT LIGHT
      1. 8.3.1. FIND SOFT LIGHT
      2. 8.3.2. CREATE SOFT LIGHT
    4. 8.4. SEIZE THE MOMENT
      1. 8.4.1. CAPTURE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL
      2. 8.4.2. FOCUS ON THE EYES
      3. 8.4.3. USE CONTINUOUS SHOOTING MODE
      4. 8.4.4. REMEMBER THE DETAILS
    5. 8.5. Assignment
  14. 9. ACTION SHOTS
    1. 9.1. USE YOUR CAMERA AND LENS
      1. 9.1.1. COMPACT CAMERAS
      2. 9.1.2. dSLRS
      3. 9.1.3. LENS SPEED
      4. 9.1.4. LENS FOCAL LENGTH
    2. 9.2. FREEZE THE ACTION
      1. 9.2.1. FAST SHUTTER WITH FLASH
    3. 9.3. BLUR THE MOTION
      1. 9.3.1. SLOW SHUTTER WITH TRIPOD
      2. 9.3.2. PANNING
      3. 9.3.3. ZOOMING
      4. 9.3.4. SLOW SHUTTER WITH FLASH
    4. 9.4. Assignment
  15. 10. ENHANCING AND SHARING YOUR PHOTOS
    1. 10.1. MANAGE YOUR IMAGES
      1. 10.1.1. IMAGE-ORGANIZING SOFTWARE
      2. 10.1.2. IMAGE-EDITING SOFTWARE
    2. 10.2. ENHANCE AND REPAIR YOUR IMAGES
      1. 10.2.1. QUICK FIX WORKSPACE
      2. 10.2.2. FULL EDIT WORKSPACE
      3. 10.2.3. EDITING BASICS
      4. 10.2.4. CROPPING
      5. 10.2.5. ADJUSTING THE COLOR BALANCE, SATURATION, AND CONTRAST
      6. 10.2.6. USING LEVELS TO ADJUST CONTRAST
      7. 10.2.7. WHITENING TEETH
      8. 10.2.8. REMOVING RED-EYE
      9. 10.2.9. REMOVING IMPERFECTIONS
    3. 10.3. SHARE YOUR IMAGES
      1. 10.3.1. SLIDESHOWS
      2. 10.3.2. E-MAIL
      3. 10.3.3. PHOTO SHARING WEB SITES
      4. 10.3.4. PRINTING
      5. 10.3.5. BACK UP YOUR DIGITAL PHOTO COLLECTION TO A DVD
    4. 10.4. Assignment
  16. A. RESOURCES
    1. A.1. PERIODICALS
      1. A.1.1. DIGITAL PHOTO PRO
      2. A.1.2. MAC LIFE
      3. A.1.3. PC PHOTO MAGAZINE
      4. A.1.4. PHOTO DISTRICT NEWS
      5. A.1.5. POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY
    2. A.2. BOOKS
      1. A.2.1.
        1. A.2.1.1. Design Basics
        2. A.2.1.2. Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Propos de Paris
        3. A.2.1.3. Matters of Light & Depth
        4. A.2.1.4. Photospeak: A Guide To The Ideas, Movements, And Techniques Of Photography, 1839 To The Present
    3. A.3. ORGANIZATIONS
      1. A.3.1. ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA
      2. A.3.2. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MEDIA PHOTOGRAPHERS
      3. A.3.3. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PHOTOSHOP PROFESSIONALS
      4. A.3.4. PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA
      5. A.3.5. UNITED STATES DIGITAL IMAGING GROUP (USDIG)
      6. A.3.6. WOMEN IN PHOTOGRAPHY INTERNATIONAL
    4. A.4. PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS
      1. A.4.1. THE MAINE PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKSHOPS
      2. A.4.2. SANTA FE WORKSHOPS
    5. A.5. PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT AND REVIEW SITES
      1. A.5.1. B & H PHOTO
      2. A.5.2. CNET.COM
      3. A.5.3. DP REVIEW
      4. A.5.4. EPINIONS.COM
      5. A.5.5. FROOGLE.COM
    6. A.6. PHOTO-SHARING WEB SITES
      1. A.6.1. FREE TO JOIN
      2. A.6.2. SUBSCRIPTION BASED
      3. A.6.3. PHOTO COMMUNITIES
    7. A.7. IMAGE ORGANIZING AND SLIDESHOW SOFTWARE
      1. A.7.1. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM
      2. A.7.2. APERTURE
      3. A.7.3. BOINX FOTOMAGICO
      4. A.7.4. IPHOTO
      5. A.7.5. PICASA
    8. A.8. ONLINE LEARNING
      1. A.8.1. LYNDA.COM
      2. A.8.2. TOTAL TRAINING
  17. GLOSSARY

Product information

  • Title: PORTRAIT AND CANDID PHOTOGRAPHY: PHOTO WORKSHOP
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: October 2007
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470147856