Strobist Photo Trade Secrets, Volume 2: Portrait Lighting Techniques (One-Off) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Strobist Photo Trade Secrets volumes one and two are all about giving you the inspiration and tools to help make your photographs the best they can be. It doesn't take hundreds of pages of instructions or piles of complicated theories to take great photographs. Photo Trade Secrets uses microlessons--each with a simple-to-understand diagram, tips, and a clear description accompanying an inspiring image--so you can spend less time reading and more time shooting. Photo Trade Secrets postcard books are high-quality trade paperbacks, with perforated pages of thick card stock--so you can simply tear them out and take individual microlessons with you when you shoot. Whether you duplicate the photos in the book or use the techniques as a take-off point for creating your own dynamic family photos, killer commercial shots, or eye-catching masterworks, you'll find Photo Trade Secrets to be the fastest, most fun and effective way to take your photography to the next level. Grab your Photo Trade Secrets and get out there and shoot! Learn to Light Portraits Learning to light portraits is simple and fun, thanks to these 25 inspiring microlessons, which include images from contributors to photo lighting guru David Hobby's website. On the reverse side of each amazing photo you’ll find a lighting diagram and helpful tips. Tear out individual cards and take them with you for quick reference on your next shoot! Examples Front Back Front Back
Series: One-Off
Paperback: 54 pages
Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (December 19, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0321752880
ISBN-13: 978-0321752888
Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.4 x 7 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #78 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Equipment, Techniques & Reference > Flash Photography #409 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Equipment, Techniques & Reference > Lighting #884 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Equipment, Techniques & Reference > Digital Editing
I was browsing through the pages and the photos were pretty amazing. Included were diagrams showing how the lighting was set up.but one big problem....about 99% of the descriptions were lacking technical information such as the shutter speed, aperture and ISO. I have other photography lighting books and they usually mention what these technical data were used to get the shot. I know each situation would dictate different data but what we want to know is what it took to get THAT shot. Necessary info like "Was High Speed Sync used to darken the skies?", "Was that particular aperture used to allow a lower ISO?" or "Was high ISO used to bring in more ambient lighting?"I guess i got this one when it was a gold box deal but still...money is money.Maybe I can resell this book to someone else.
A few have complained that this volume is a waste of money because there are no camera settings. True, but the author has set his book up in a postcard style where you can rip out a particular shot and take it with you. He provides the finished photo and a detailed lighting diagram illustrating how it was done and information for selected shots such as aperture, speed and a shutter speed. One would normally select the ISO based on the conditions and based on how you want the background to look. Anyone with some common lighting knowledge will be able to replicate these images within 5- 10 minutes. No this is not for those that want to be spoon-fed.
While Zeke Kamm features a particular photo with a diagram to along with it... that's all you get. There are no camera settings, i.e. Speed/Aperture/Iso/lens type/distance to describe how the picture was taken. It's the equivalent of buying a cookbook with lots of pretty pictures of dishes and containing a list of ingredients- but no instructions on how to mix them or even the ingredient quantity.Nearly all photos are the standard "key light flash at 45 degrees with a fill light on the other side and another flash behind the subject" setup. The photos all look like they were enhanced in Photoshop as a good bit of photos I looked at are not in camera shots.Without any specifics, all you are getting is a picture book with some hints... with the rest for you to figure out. You'll learn a lot more by going to Flickr and searching for "Strobist", which will give you the same pictures AND camera settings.
This author's writing style is self-serving and lacks depth. From the standpoint of someone that has read all of his books, my best suggestion is to stay away from his works.Kelby does a much better job and offers more tips in one chapter than the Strobist offers in an entire book.All fluff. No real helpful content.
I don't take time to write reviews often, but felt it was warranted this time, due to the bashing this book seems to have received from a few shooters.This book is very cool, just like the first one. It's all about using simple, minimal (in most cases),portable lighting to achieve dramatic looks.It doesn't give you the camera used, lens, f stop, shutter speed, or distance/power of the stoves. Scott Kelby does all that, and he is a terrific trainer, I have every one of his books, and theyrre really good.THIS BOOK is meant to spark your creativity. If you know what you are doing with strobes, light modifiers, and your camera rig, it wouldn't be hard to duplicate any of the shots here. But that's not the point. The author is showing you ways to use these minimal "recipes" as a starting point for your own creativity!If you're a novice, this is not the book for you. Buy the Kelby Books, and above all, spend a LOT of time shooting and getting to know your gear.If you're a serious amateur, and known your gear pretty well, this will help you on your way.If you a pro, you'll love this book!
This is seriously one of the biggest rip-offs I've been dumb enough to purchase this year, hands down and one of the worst books I have ever seen claiming to give instruction for something others want to learn more about.1 - the book is not even of normal size, it's tiny and not even enjoyable to read, it's slightly larger than an index card, seriously.2 - the pages are made so you can tear them off like they are math flash cards or something.... this is not only extremely stupid (who would do this rather than keep the pages in the book where they belong?) but also, the text that goes with the photo you are looking at, is on the back of the photo, so it's very confusing to read about a particular image that you can't even see until you flip the page - in fact you are looking at a different photo lined up with the wrong text, it's just a ridiculous layout all together.3 - you would think at the bare minimum aside from a light diagram, each photo would have some details as to what the camera settings were for shutter speed, ISO and aperture, but nope..... nothing at all!I cannot believe I spent money on this item and hope others will think twice before they do what I just did. Some of the photos are nice and they print well on the book, but due to lack of proper layout, meaningful instruction and settings, it's worthless.By the way, the real trade secret (title of the book) is that you just lost your money lol
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