Introduction

Portrait photography is not rocket science. Photographers have been capturing portraits of people since cameras were invented. When you create a portrait of someone, your goal is to create a likeness of the person at his best. But how do you capture a portrait of someone at his best when he's camera shy, for instance?

Another goal of portrait photography is to tell the viewer something about your subject. In addition to capturing a digital image that looks like the person, you're also capturing the person's essence. When someone looks at a portrait of a person she knows and says that the image captures the subject's true essence, the photographer has done his job perfectly.

Capturing a person's likeness and essence in the same photograph may sound like a daunting task. Buy it really isn't if you take lots of pictures of people using the techniques in this book. In fact, when you practice portrait photography and start getting some great shots, portrait photography is an incredible amount of fun.

A Peek at the Road Ahead

This book is divided into four parts, each devoted to a specific aspect of portrait photography. The chapters flow logically from one subject to the next to take you from digital portrait photography neophyte to experienced photographer. You can read the book from cover to cover, or if you need quick information about a specific topic, peruse the table of contents or index until you find the desired topic. Most of the sections in this book don't require ...

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