Book on Portrait photography?

Foques

hi all..
Can anyone suggest a good book to read on the portrait photography?

I am looking for something that is not going to waste half of the book describing what camera is, what exposure is and how important the ISO... I am looking for a constructive information.
I've been doing portraits by the "ear", and want to learn more.. not re read the same things..

So far, all books i've invested in, have exactly same pattern 5% of the book is intro, 40% difference between camera modes, , 25% explanation of the obvious light ideas, and 30% of what I actually wanted to learn...:(:scratch

help?:scratch

ivar

Have a look here: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=170179 for some recommendations

Llywellyn

What sort of portraits are you interested in taking? Studio, travel, environmental?

Foques

ivar, thank you, i'll have to run through the thread.

Kerry, all of the above, really. Primarily Travel and Environmental, and secondly studio.. the latter one I have no opportunity to practice yet.
But i'd think that the standards and logic behind portraiture is the same no matter what.. we're talking classic angles, light/shade relationship etc.

Llywellyn

I wanted to clarify because two books that leapt to mind for me were less "here's how to do short lighting, here's broad lighting, etc." and more how to approach a portrait with light based on the end "feeling" you want. And they're great reads, regardless (certainly opened my eyes on a couple things).

One is Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries. The other is David DuChemin's Within the Frame.

McNally's reveals his lighting set-ups and his thought process for getting there using his own images as samples.

DuChemin's is not a how-to book. It's a book about finding your vision as you approach photography. And it's one that had a deep impact on how I approach travel and environmental portraits. This is not a book about lighting. But it's different than the same-old you've found out there.

MarkR

, +1 for both books.

And then pick up DuChemin's Vision and Voice book-- it will have a major impact on "why" you post-process, which is often overlooked. Most books seem to focus on the "how."

Foques

thank you very much!! all three are ordered.

MarkR

Another thought occurs to me: www.kelbytraining.com has a number of training videos on environmental portraits, lighting, etc. from professional photographers. The cost of entry is relatively high (about the cost of 4 good photography books) but you get a year's worth of access to all the content.

(And quite frankly, the Jay Maisal walk & talk video was, for me, worth the price of admission alone.)