Book Reviews

In his new book, Wes Kroninger’s Lighting (ISBN: 978-1-608952-54-0, Amherst Media, $34.95 US), the author and photographer draws on his experience as a portrait, commercial, and editorial photographer to present strategies that will help photographers bring out the beauty and character in all of their subjects—from kids, to businessmen, to fashion models.

While it’s true that anyone can buy a professional-quality camera, the necessary business skills for running a successful photography venture are often overlooked. Thousands of aspiring professionals falter because they lack the skills to turn their dreams into a profitable business. GOING PRO: How to Make the Leap from Aspiring to Professional Photographer (Amphoto Books; $29.99) is a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for beginning photographers on how to launch a business in any genre of professional photography.

In Fashion Flair for Portrait and Wedding Photography (304 pages, Course Technology, ISBN: 978-1-4354-5884-0, $34.99) Lindsay Adler shows photographers how to apply the concepts of fashion photography, including preparation, styling, props, lighting, posing, and post-processing, to their portrait and wedding photography. This practical guide demonstrates how to prepare for a shoot, including choosing the location, wardrobe, hair, makeup styling, and poses, as well as considering the lighting and equipment. You’ll also find in-camera techniques, fashion lighting essentials, Photoshop techniques, and a variety of other tricks to achieve the fashion flair aesthetic. Also included are business and marketing tips, including useful social networking sites, products, and services to help you maximize the fashion flair approach and make it work for you. Chock full of great shots and extensive how-to and lighting diagrams, this can easily serve as a study and workbook that will help elevate anyone’s portrait and wedding work. In this excerpt we’ve chosen just a few of the many lighting diagrams and tips found in the book.—Editor

The NEW Joy of Digital Photography, now revised and updated, is a complete guide to all the essential aspects of taking, sharing, and editing digital images—with information on the most recent technological advances.

Examining all aspects of digital photography, from how to use your camera to lighting and compositional considerations to downloading your pictures and enhancing color, author and photographer Jeff Wignall presents easy-to-grasp explanations of technique, introductions to exciting new imaging technology, fun diagrams, and spectacular pictures in a creative, inspirational approach. Here’s a short excerpt that might give you a sense of what this 288-page book offers.—Editor

The following is an excerpt from Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition/Revised And Updated: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera (Amphoto Books, $25.99, August, 2010). The revised edition (ISBN: 978-0-8174-3939-2) brings this best seller up-to-date for the rapidly changing world of digital photography and brings readers information on how to learn the difference between a correct exposure and a creatively correct exposure. This new edition includes updated information on advances in digital photography, such as increasingly sensitive ISOs and HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, an expanded discussion of white balance, tips on using flash, and many new images. The section we are featuring with images and captions (there’s even more information in the accompanying text) is on night and low-light photography. This is one book that’s easy to recommend.—Editor

A few months prior to the publication of Moose Peterson’s new book, Captured: Lessons from Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer, he told me what to expect—or maybe, what not to expect. “It’s very unconventional,” he said. “I call it a romantic how-to.”

When I got the book I quickly figured out that the romance referred to Moose’s love of...

The following is an excerpt from Understanding and Controlling Strobe Lighting: A Guide for Digital Photographers by John Siskin, published by Amherst Media (ISBN: 978-1-608952-42-7). John has been a Shutterbug contributor and we were glad to see him bring his knowledge on the topic of lighting to this new book.—Editor

Hard Or Soft Light?
In the past, most...