[.ca] Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography (ISBN 158428045X)

Pretty cover but that's all. Content is fluff.:
I buy a lot of books and this is the first that has ever so drastically underwhelmed me. As someone who has made a fairly good income in photography on the side, I wanted to learn more about informal outdoor portraiture (not weddings) in natural light and settings. The cover photograph is quite nice, but unfortunately is the best in the book. The rest are barely mediocre, especially for a photographer who reminds us throughout he text that he's endorsed by Hasselblad University. In the beginning of this book, he claims it is for both the professional and for the mom who want to take better photos. It is for neither since it doesn't have enough of the basics for the uninitiated, and only talks about medium format focal lengths which the "mom" typically wouldn't be using nor understand the comparison to her 35mm lens focal lengths. (He could have added in parenthesis the equivalent length for 35mm camera), and neither does it cater to the pros desire for technical information by not publishing much data about each shot. The nitty gritty of why this book is fluff: Photographer Douglas Allen Box continually glosses over pertinent technical information so vaguely that you wonder if you missed a paragraph or a page, while he goes on in depth about posing and clothing choices for your subject. At first thumbing through the pages, you'll see all sorts of 2 dimensional sketches next to some photos - that seems promising - until you actually try to match what is going on in the sketch to what is going on in the photo. They are often turned at odd angles to eachother - and often are actually wrong when you decipher the elements. Not helpful. He describes a few tools and their use so inadequately he shouldn't bother mentioning them at all. Take these four examples: (1) A translucent light modifier has a page dedicated to it, yet there is no photo of one, nor is there a diagram showing how he placed it, nor a before picture to see what happens if one does not use it. (2) He complains that in one photograph he would have made a better photo with a longer lens that he did not own at the time of that portrait sitting. Well, set up a new one for this book and show us the difference - one with the shorter focal length and one longer - give us a diagram showing the difference in placement and the resultant photo. (3) His LIght Finder cube - in one passage he keeps refering to "the other two sides" but does not explain whether these are the dark sides, or light sides. A full page-and-a-half of vague description that leave one scratching one's head about a tool you really do not need in the first place. (4) He talks about blocking the overhead light when it is not naturally blocked, but never actually shows a diagram of how one might arrange such a set up, what tools and placement etc. Lastly, when Box talks about adding flash he really ought to add a page or two for the uninitiated that explains why he's simply setting his flash at f8.5 and receiving different results. The accompanying text is exceptionally vague - yet he displays resulting photographs all extremely different from one another. I guess he leaves it up to us to buy another book that explains flash in a more satisfactory manner and then reapply it to his posing techniques of like-dressed people. All in all, a complete flop unless you are very interested in learning how to pose and dress your subject. I'll be returning this one to Amazon quickly. Don't waste your money and time.

View for the professional photographer:
As a professional wedding (PPA), and landscape photographer, I found this book to be almost as useful as a $700 seminar with the author. You save $680 plus lodging and travel. The book is an easy read, yet it does not dummy down. Well illustrated lighting diagrams for each lession, it moves directly to instruction, no fat, no sugar. The personality of the book is very friendly. I will retain and use each lession described in this book.

Should be called Sunset Photography:
Box is obvoiusly a talented Photograher, but if your looking for ideas on how to make great looking portraits at all times during they day, this is NOT your book. Nearly every one of the outdoor photographs in this book are taken at sunset. He constantly talks about finding good light, and that's the big trick, but he's obviosly not even very good at it since he can only find good light at sunset. ANY half-rate photographer can find good light at sunset or dusk. If you want a book about taking outdoor shots, get Jeff Smith's "Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography." Smith makes Box looks likes he's a beginner. Nearly every shot in Smith's book is NOT at dusk. This book is really about posing, and understanding how to make artistic outdoor portraits (at dusk of course). He talks more about group photography and dressing your subjects in like clothing where Smith's book is about individual portraiture. The photo on the cover is probably the best image Box has ever taken, and there's 2 or 3 other high quality captures as well. Smith's book is littered with high quality shots, and amazingly most of them were taken during mid-day, and he even shows you how he accomplished the task. Douglass Allen Box's "Natural Light Portrait Photography" is for the amateur who wants to improve their group photography skil outdoors where time is really of no concern. Where your willing to sit around for hours waiting for "perfect" light.

Highly Recommended!!:
This book is outstanding! It is very clear and covers everything one would like to know about outdoor, natural light photography. The information presented in this book is very well ogranized and thought out. The pictures (with setup diagrams and descriptions)really help you get an idea of what your own shots would look like under the same conditions. In addition, the author had a lot of diverse shots from which you can learn. I will definately be referring back to it in the future when needed. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to master outdoor, natural light photography!

Good Book:
Portraits are almost certainly the most common type of amateur or professional photography, and natural light is the only type of light truly available to us all (unless, of course, you live in an asylum, in which case I mean no offense). Why, then, must a beginner's pictures look any worse than those of a seasoned pro? The answer: they don't have to! Natural light is the first kind of light. All forms of artificial portrait lighting is made to approximate the sun. But shooting good pictures in natural light does not mean that the natural light is any kind of sunlight. There is good and bad light, and there are ways to turn bad light into good light. This book teaches how. The examples are great. Some are cheesy, some tasteful. All are noticeably professional, and a reader will learn essentially how to get the same results. The book also touches on posing and backgrounds and technical details about exposure. All-in-all, the book is worth the money.