Portrait Photographer's Handbook : For Digital and Film Photographers

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9781584280439
• ISBN10: 1584280433
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-02-28
• Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc.

Summary

Detailing equipment needed for professional portraiture and offering advanced darkroom techniques, this handbook contains everything needed to create top-dollar portraits. Tips are provided for selecting a camera, setting calibrations for every kind of portrait, and controlling the direction and intensity of light with modifiers. This updated edition illustrates each tip with 130 portraits from 20 of the industry's finest portrait photographers. This guide also offers advice for digital portrait photographers on exposure procedures, lens choice, and lighting ratios.

Table of Contents

Introduction	6	(2)
What Makes A Good Portrait?
Camera/Film Size	8	(3)
The Effect of Focal Length	11	(2)
Focusing	13	(2)
Lenses and Depth of Field	15	(1)
Shooting Apertures	15	(1)
Shutter Speeds	15	(2)
Film Choice	17	(2)
Exposure	19	(1)
Metering	19	(2)
Posing and Composition
Subject Posing	21	(10)
Head and Shoulders Axis	21	(1)
Head Positions	22	(3)
Tilting the Head	25	(1)
The Eyes	25	(1)
The Mouth	26	(1)
Chin Height	27	(1)
Posing Hands	27	(2)
3/4-Length and Full-Length Poses	29	(2)
Composition	31	(6)
The Rule of Thirds	31	(2)
Direction	33	(1)
The Golden Mean	34	(2)
Pleasing Compositional Forms	36	(1)
Subject Tone	36	(1)
Line	36	(1)
Outdoor Lighting
Roundness	37	(1)
Finding the Right Light	37	(1)
Fill-in Light	38	(4)
Fill-in Flash	40	(1)
Subtractive Fill-in	40	(2)
Eliminating Overhead Light	42	(1)
Diffusion Screens	42	(1)
Background Control	43	(1)
Direct Sunlight	44	(2)
Using Flash Outdoors	46	(2)
Manual Calculation of Fill-in Flash	46	(1)
Flash Key Light	47	(1)
Problems Outdoors	48	(2)
Separation	48	(1)
Subject Positioning	48	(1)
Tripod	48	(1)
Problem Backgrounds	48	(1)
Cool Coloration	48	(2)
Basic Portrait Lighting
The Lights	50	(3)
Broad and Short Lighting	53	(1)
Five Basic Portrait Lighting Setups	53	(8)
Paramount Lighting	53	(2)
Loop Lighting	55	(1)
Rembrandt Lighting	55	(4)
Split Lighting	59	(1)
Profile or Rim Lighting	59	(2)
The Finer Points	61	(1)
Feathering	61	(1)
Working Distance	61	(1)
Fill Light	62	(1)
Multiple Catchlights	62	(1)
Lighting Ratios	62	(3)
Setting the Lights	65	(1)
Metering for Exposure	65	(1)
Vignettes	66	(1)
Lighting Variations
Window Light	67	(6)
Subject Positioning	68	(1)
Determining Exposure Settings	68	(2)
Fill-in Illumination	70	(3)
Diffusing Window Light	73	(1)
Mastering One Light	73	(6)
Portable Flash	73	(3)
Modeling Lights	76	(1)
Continuous Light versus Strobe	76	(2)
Umbrellas and Softboxes	78	(1)
Candids
Work Unobserved	79	(2)
Exposure Techniques	81	(1)
Autoexposure Modes	81	(1)
High Speed Films	81	(1)
Push-processing	82	(1)
Multispeed films	82	(1)
Shooting Techniques	82	(3)
Composition	83	(1)
Shutter Speed	83	(1)
Shoot Plenty of Film	83	(1)
Camera Handling	84	(1)
Corrective Techniques
Soft Focus and Diffusion	85	(3)
Soft-focus Lens	85	(1)
Soft-focus Filter	85	(2)
Diffusing Negative	87	(1)
Digital Diffusion	87	(1)
Camera Height and Perspective	88	(2)
Other Camera Heights	89	(1)
Correcting for Specific Issues	90	(6)
Overweight Subjects	90	(1)
Thin or Underweight Subjects	90	(1)
Elderly Subjects	90	(1)
Eyeglasses	91	(1)
One Eye Smaller than the Other	92	(1)
Baldness	93	(1)
Double Chin	93	(1)
Wide Face	93	(1)
Thin Face	94	(1)
Broad Foreheads	94	(1)
Deep-set Eyes and Protruding Eyes	94	(1)
Large Ears	94	(1)
Very Dark Skin Tones	94	(1)
Uneven Mouths	94	(1)
Long Noses and Pug Noses	95	(1)
Long Necks and Short Necks	96	(1)
Wide Mouths and Narrow Mouths	96	(1)
Long Chins and Stubby Chins	96	(1)
Oily Skin	96	(1)
Dry Skin	96	(1)
Skin Defects	96	(1)
Be Discriminating	96	(1)
Black and White Negative Retouching	97	(3)
Equipment	97	(1)
Pencil Retouching	97	(2)
Dye Retouching	99	(1)
Spots	99	(1)
Etching	99	(1)
Black and White Print Retouching	100	(1)
Retouching Dyes	100	(1)
Print Retouching for Retouched Negatives	101	(1)
Abrading Tool	101	(1)
Retouching Oils	101	(1)
Color Negative Retouching	101	(1)
Removing the Film Laquer	102	(1)
Retouching Technique	102	(1)
Abrading and Etching Tools	102	(1)
Color Print Retouching	102	(1)
Dry Dyes	102	(1)
Opaque Watercolors	102	(1)
Darkroom Techniques
Black and White Portrait Papers	103	(3)
Dry-down Effect	106	(1)
Paper Surface and Texture	106	(1)
Paper Developers	106	(2)
Developer Temperature	108	(1)
Toners	109	(1)
Negative Development for High/Low Key Lighting	109	(3)
Negative Diffusion	112	(1)
Vignetting	113	(2)
Texture Screens	115	(1)
Enlargers for Printing Portraits	115	(2)
Glossary	117	(3)
Contributing Photographers	120