High Impact Portrait Photography: Creative Techniques for Dramatic, Fashion-Inspired Portraits

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book for Inspiration & Ideas
Review: I found Lori Brystan's book very useful. Not a lot of technical data within, but that's not the purpose of the book. There's plenty of those out there. There are lot's of shots within with good descriptions on set up for each picture. I appreciated the her description with the lighting. How it was positioned and where it came from. Mainly a good book to study the pictures and get some inspiration on shooting portraits that don't look like ordinary portraits.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book for Inspiration & Ideas
Review: I found Lori Brystan's book very useful. Not a lot of technical data within, but that's not the purpose of the book. There's plenty of those out there. There are lot's of shots within with good descriptions on set up for each picture. I appreciated the her description with the lighting. How it was positioned and where it came from. Mainly a good book to study the pictures and get some inspiration on shooting portraits that don't look like ordinary portraits.

Rating:
Summary: I liked this book
Review: I guess because it is the first photography book that I liked the pictures and was able to reproduce the look without to much equipment. I think the key is the c-41 b/w film.

Rating:
Summary: SELF INDULGENT AND AMATUERISH AT BEST
Review: I've read hundreds of photography books written by legends and little-knowns. This is one the worst. The photography is inconsistent from occasionally very good to absolutely amatuerish snapshots and the insights into technique ramble through a rehash of often poorly described and thought out notions not based in fact from one example to the next to the next to the next, on and on and on. For instance, Ms. Brystan's obsession with supposedly "overexposing" film to acheive clean, flawless skin tones is meaningless since the photos are, in most cases, printed with the skin tones as normal (one stop lighter than middle tone for the exclusively caucasion subjects) and with "flaws" (freckles, blemishes, etc.) quite apparent. I suspect she doesn't realize her camera's meter is not calibrated correctly and has taken to "overexposing" to correct what is really an equipment issue though she's convinced she's discovered an innovative approach to her subjects. From the opening pages she revels in not being a trained photographer, but, trust me, a semester in a basic photography class at any local technical college would do her a world of good, if she can admit to herself that her ignorance is not a blessing to her craft or her readers.

Rating:
Summary: More of the same
Review: This is an attractive book with attractive shots - in a ho-hum kind of way. I saw nothing "High Imapct" in the images, however. The author simply relates how certain shots were made in the all-to-familiar style of this genre. Would much rather see someone get into the philosophy of lighting in an interesting discussion style book (Not the old mannequin heads of the past). I wish writers would actually let us get inside their thought processes - maybe shooting images for a book rather than compiling images already done into a book.