Photographing Children Photo Workshop [NOOK Book]

Library Journal

A former editor of the magazines Peterson's Photographic, Outdoor & Travel Photography, and Studio Photography, Bidner (The Kodak Most Basic Book of Digital Printing) here offers a winning volume on portraiture for novice photographers. She begins with a few simple rules, e.g., "Photograph people at their own eye level," "Turn the camera 90 degrees and shoot vertical," and "Choose simple, uncomplicated backgrounds," then advises breaking these rules by shooting up or down at people, creating intentional distortions, and tilting the camera at unusual angles. Bidner's chapter on photo fundamentals is one of the best available for those new to digital cameras.

Photographers Felch and Jones provide a more detailed examination of portraiture. Though the book focuses on photographing children from infants to teens (the authors' specialty), the pedagogy is of such depth and clarity that the volume can inspire the portraiture of any age group. In-depth chapters cover light manipulation, the historic styles of portrait photography, composition, equipment, and postproduction work. These two volumes are highly recommended, the first for novices, the second for intermediate photographers. Libraries serving advanced photographers should add Lou Jacobs's Professional Children's Portrait Photography: Techniques and Images from Master Photographer s.
—Daniel Lombardo