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50 Portrait Lighting Techniques for Pictures That Sell (Revised)
by John Hart
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Amphoto Books (1995-04-01)
ISBN: 0817438602
EAN: 9780817438609
Dewy Decimal #: 778.92
Paperback: 144 pages
SKU: 6668
Condition: Very Good
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
This revised and updated book concerns professional lighting techniques. It includes 90 new photographs and strategies for helping anyone, with a minimum of equipment, in a studio or out of doors, to take portraits of friends, family and commercial clients. Each technique is illustrated with background photographs of the actual portrait session, showing the equipment used and its placement in the studio or, in the case of outdoor work, the proper position of the subject in regard to the sun. A lighting diagram is included for each session, giving the spatial relationships of all the elements of the setup (photographer, model, lights and equipment). A series of finished portraits from each setup compares why some are successful and why others are not, and why one photograph was chosen as the best.
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Customer Reviews
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Good beginner lighting book
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-09-10
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I liked this book. It has some out dated looking pictures but i felt it helped a lot to get started. They have a lot of easy lighting set ups explained. Like "glamour" lighting and exactly where to place the lights. The other drawback though was it's definately before the digital age of cameras and I think he used hot light(lights that don't flash). But still good if you are a beginner and just need some set up to try and get a feel for everything.
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A Steady Light
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-05-26
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
John Hart began as a painter, and goes about his photography slowly and thoughtfully. He prefers continuous light because it facilitates that pace. You get a good grasp of his careful approach in this book.
The book can be a gold mine for someone just starting out in portrait photography. Hart gives you the setups that will allow you to deliver solidly professional results.
The section on outdoor shooting doesn't add to what most beginning photographers already know, but the section on studio work is invaluable. Hart doesn't hold back any "secrets"; he generously explains what he has learned over many years. He has always been one of the most popular photographers for actors in New York, and this book can start you toward that kind of career.
I strongly recommend it, and I can't imagine how someone could find it dated.
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Not Worth Buying
Rating  (1)
Date: 2005-11-20
6 out of 10 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is an older book (copyright 1995) but is frequently still available. In fact, you've probably seen this book at your local camera store's book aisle.
Hart's book is an ok resource on studio lighting, and I've found techniques here that I haven't seen elsewhere. Especially nice is the section on makeup techniques for both men and women.
Still, this book has not aged well and you'd do better with other studio lighting books, like Ketchum's and Dantzig's. Consider this comment:
"You will notice that most of the techniques shown here are accomplished using lights rather than strobe units. Though strobe portraits are perfectly acceptable for personal and commercial use today, the art of portrait lighting is still best learned and assimilated through working with lights. Many subjects prefer working under hot, bright lights (!), as it helps draw out their innate "star quality."
One wonders what Hart's sample size was to draw that conclusion?
What I like about this book:
1) Very good lighting diagrams... showing not only the placement of lights, but their distance from the subject as well.
2) A wide variety of lighting challenges, including for example, "Lighting the 'Wet' Look" and "Photographing Hats"
3) Relatively small amount of filler.
What I don't like about this book:
1) Those wonderful lighting diagrams? They show things like 150 watt spotlights (remember Hart thinks models PREFER hot lights), making it difficult to convert to modern strobe settings.
2) Many of the models here aren't very attractive. I know that shouldn't matter but it does distract from the text of the book. If you want to know how to photograph 45 year old overweight real estate agents, this is your book.
3) The book hasn't aged well, as mentioned above. This is a book BEGGING for a revised edition. Opps... this IS the revised edition. Make that this is a book begging for a revised, revised edition.
Not worth buying, IMHO.
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50 Portrait Lighting Techniques
Rating  (5)
Date: 2005-08-22
2 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
Being new to portrait work I found this book to be an amazing resource. The images are exciting, bright, colorful . It is a great way to learn about lighting as you can see where you are directing light. You can buy a couple of hot lights and reflectors and start creating vivid portraits taking inspiration from the diagrams and images. It is not meant to be copied. Keep the positions and intensities of lights in your mind and apply them to your own subjects in your way. My work has impoved. Thanks for sharing John
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5 not 50
Rating  (2)
Date: 2003-09-28
5 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
There are some useful examples in this book, however there are certainly not 50! Many of the lighting setups shown are so similar it's hard to see any difference from one to the next. Most of the older b & w examples seem dangerously overexposed, again making each 'technique' undistinguishable. Some of the newer colour examples are quite out-of-focus which really doesn't help matters. I see this book more of a 'what not to do' guide. He manages to make one of the models look great in one shot, but gross in the next, and so forth. There are definately more useful, more up-to-date books that give better examples than this title.
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Retail Price: $24.95
Our Price:$5.00
That's 80% Off!
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