The latest tips and tricks for capturing high-quality photos Taking great "people pictures" isn't a matter of luck. The secret is in observing your subjects and connecting with them, and then using your camera to its best advantage. This new edition uses full-color photos to demonstrate how to work with lighting, location, angle, composition, physical characteristics, and environment in either portrait or candid situations. Professional photographer and veteran author Erin Manning offers invaluable advice for handling the unique challenges of photographing babies, large and small groups, and action. Assignments at the end of each chapter encourage you to test your newfound skills, while visiting pwsbooks.com allows you to post your work and benefit from feedback and constructive criticism. Explains how to study your subjects in their natural habitat, while you observe how they react and interact Features invaluable advice from veteran author Erin Manning that shares simple techniques for improving photos of babies and children Zeroes in on how to best capture facial expressions Highlights ways to tell a story with a series of candid photos Helps you add interest to large-group shots When you apply the techniques featured on the pages of Portrait and Candid Photography Photo Workshop, 2nd Edition, you'll watch your subjects come to life.

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.

Since the advent of the camera, there have been photographers whose mission is to record and interpret the public sphere in all its aspects. Eugene Atget documented evidence of everyday life in the streets as well as the buildings and monuments of Paris. Henri Cartier-Bresson pursued what he called "The Decisive Moment," the moment in which the meaning of an event was most clearly captured in a photograph. Their work, and that of many other masters, has inspired generations of photographers to wander public spaces, camera in hand, searching for meaningful moments in time. Success requires the street photographer to be proficient with their equipment, to be constantly aware of their surroundings, and to have a keen eye. Quick reflexes and self-confidence are essential: Street photographers know from experience that hesitation or procrastination could mean missing a once-in-a-lifetime shot. The adage "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" was probably coined by a street photographer. In Street Photography: The Art of Capturing the Candid Moment, Gordon Lewis helps readers understand and conquer the challenging yet rewarding world of street photography. The book includes discussions of why photographers are drawn to street photography, the different styles of street photography, and what makes a great street photograph. Lewis then goes on to explore how the choice of location can change a photographer's approach to image capture: from city streets to fairs to beaches, Lewis discusses the impact different environments have on the process of street photography. Another crucial element to becoming a good street photographer is learning to travel light, with minimal equipment. Lewis gives readers practical advice on everything from cameras and lenses to camera bags and clothing. Lewis also delves into the techniques and approaches that will help novices master the art of street photography. Whether your style is to engage your subjects or to remain unnoticed and take candid portraits, Lewis offers ideas on how to capture fascinating moments in time: a gesture, expression, or composition that may exist for only a fraction of a second, but can leave a lasting impression of the wonders, challenges, and absurdities of modern life.

Foreword by Skip Cohen Translating the chaos of the real world into a breathtakingly simple, beautiful photograph can often seem like an impossible task. With busy, cluttered backgrounds and subjects who don’t know how to pose, how can you take control and get a great shot no matter the situation? In Picture Perfect Practice, photographer Roberto Valenzuela breaks down the craft of photography into three key elements–locations, poses, and execution–that you can use to unlock the photographic opportunities lying beneath every challenging situation. Valenzuela stresses the need for photographers to actively practice their craft every day–just like you would practice a musical instrument–in order to master the art of making great images. With chapters that offer practice exercises to strengthen your photographic abilities, you’ll learn how to approach a scene, break it down, and see your way to a great photograph. The Location section features chapters that cover symmetry, balance, framing, color elements, textures, and much more. The Posing section includes the Five Key Posing Techniques that Valenzuela uses every time he’s shooting people, as well as a complete list of poses and how to achieve, customize, and perfect them. The Execution portion, with sections like “Lighting through Direction” and “Simplicity through Subtraction,” reveals Valenzuela’s overall approach to getting the shot. The book also includes an inspiring and helpful chapter on deliberate practice techniques, where Valenzuela describes his system for practicing and analyzing his work, which leads to constant improvement as a photographer. If you’ve been frustrated and overwhelmed by the challenges of real-world locations, posing your subjects, or executing a great image–or if you simply want to become a better shooter but don’t know where to start– Picture Perfect Practice gives you the tools and information you need to finally become the kind of photographer you’ve always wanted to be: the kind who can confidently walk into any location, under any lighting condition, with any subject, and know that you can create astonishing photographs that have a timeless impact.

Go beyond the photographic conventions, break the rules, and create compelling portraits. While the ability to create a conventional, traditional portrait is a must-have skill for any photographer of people, it can often yield a fairly predictable result: a straightforward likeness of the subject, created with a flattering lens in flattering light with a flattering composition. The subject may be pleased with the results, but it's not a very interesting photograph. And in the constant, endless stream of images we consume daily, the portrait is likely forgotten as quickly as it appeared. A truly creative portrait comes from the two-sided exchange between the subject and the photographer, with both parties working together to create an image that goes beyond the simple representation of the subject. The end result is not an image that simply breaks the rules--it's an engaging photograph that both captures the essence of the subject and compels the viewer to stop and take notice. In The Creative Portrait, photographer and author Nick Fancher walks you through a plethora of ideas and techniques for making such creative work. Known for imagery that is bold, colorful, expressive, and widely varied, Nick has built a career by going against the grain. The result has been a consistent output of innovative and striking photographs. In this book, Nick will help you go beyond the conventional approach and explore the endless possibilities that come with intentionally breaking the rules. He'll teach you all about: -The gear he uses, and his overall approach to shooting -Why it's so important to practice photographing paper, plastic, and plants -Multiple long exposure techniques for creating unique and expressive images -Blocking, directing, and concentrating light with cookies, flags, gobos, and snoots -Shooting through glass for numerous creative effects -How he employs smoke, mirrors, and projectors in his work -And much more Throughout the book, Nick includes behind-the-scenes photos and diagrams of his shoots, as well as Lightroom post-processing techniques so you can follow along. He also includes over a dozen creative prompts to actively push you to go beyond your own comfort zone in your photography in order to create compelling portraiture.

Learn to train your eye and improve your timing in order to capture the decisive moment!

Whether it’s due to social media or the introduction of great rangefinder-style digital cameras over a decade ago, street photography has experienced a remarkable resurgence in recent years. You can be roaming the streets of a classic urban environment (New York, Paris, Tokyo) or on a simple photo walk around a quiet neighborhood—it has never been more popular to pursue the art of capturing those candid, fleeting moments that happen throughout the day, of freezing a moment in time and transforming the ordinary into an extraordinary photograph.

But learning to see light and moment, to make quick decisions, and to nail a photographic composition are all crucial skills you must master in order to become a good street photographer. Photographer, instructor, and author Valerie Jardin has been teaching photographers how to take better photographs for years, and in Street Photography Assignments: 75 Reasons to Hit the Streets and Learn, she provides dozens of prompts for you to practice in order to refine and improve your craft.

These activities focus on themes such as:

 • Street portraits
 • Gesture
 • Shadows
 • Silhouettes
 • Rim light
 • Humor
 • Abstract
 • Tension
 • Motion
 • Reflections
 • Leading lines
 • Creative framing
 • Juxtapositions
 • Double exposures
 • And much, much more!

Each assignment includes a description of the technique, various tips and tricks to practice, technical and compositional considerations, and an example photo that Jardin has captured when practicing the same exercise. Whether you have 30 minutes or 3 hours, each assignment is an opportunity for you to take your camera and hit the streets. No more excuses!

Photographers are always looking for perfect light. Unfortunately, the quality of available light, and the situations in which photos are created, are rarely perfect. This is especially true when photographing weddings or portraits on location. So while finding beautiful existing light is every photographer’s ideal, it isn’t always possible. This is the point at which photographers tend to reach for a portable, on-camera flash. Indeed, these intense light sources can prove invaluable, but only if you know how to use them effectively. In the hands of an inexperienced photographer, on-camera flash will produce images that look flat and lifeless—images with harsh shadows, washed-out skin tones, cavernous black backgrounds, and other unappealing visual characteristics. In this book, acclaimed wedding and portrait photographer Neil van Niekerk shows you how to avoid the pitfalls photographers new to speedlights often encounter so that you can produce professional images using on-camera flash. You’l learn to use simple accessories to manipulate the quality of light from your flash and how to improve a lighting scenario by enhancing rather than overwhelming the existing light. When the available light is too low and too uneven to be combined with flash, he shows you how to override it completely with flash and, with some thought and careful application of specialized techniques, still get results that look great. On-camera flash is one of the most challenging light sources to master, but with the techniques in this book you’ll learn to use it with confidence. For wedding and environmental portrait photographers who must work in ever-changing lighting scenarios, this can mean better images and better sales.