The Unpretentious Guide to Wedding Photography


Book Description

This book is an honest and unconvoluted look at the highs and lows of wedding photography. It’s full of everything you didn’t realise you wanted to know, and some things other books simply don’t talk about. It’s brimming with sage advice on how to find what really matters at a wedding.




Existing Light Techniques for Wedding and Portrait Photography


Book Description

Reacting to a preference in the marketplace for more natural, spontaneous-looking images, today's portrait photographers are spending less time in the confines of the studio. This has serious implications for creating professional-looking lighting. The key to success lies in controlling the existing light - being able to harness it, redirect it, shape it and intensify it. Fortunately, with the advent of digital photography it's never been easier. Here, Bill Hurter covers all the tools and techniques in using existing light to create great images.




The Off-Camera Flash Handbook


Book Description

If your past attempts at learning flash have all ended in failure (not to mention tears and/or blind rage), then The Off-Camera Flash Handbook is about to change everything for you. For years, photographer Vanessa Joy has been using off-camera flash to create gorgeous portraits that look like they were shot in the most beautiful natural light at the perfect time of day. Well, guess what? That consistent look was not created thanks to the most amazing luck with the weather. No. It was created by a pro photographer who mastered her use of off-camera flash. And with her down-to-earth and practical explanations, that’s exactly what Vanessa teaches you in this book.

Vanessa breaks down off-camera flash into an easy-to-understand approach, and instead of focusing on the gear and the settings (which are also included, of course), she focuses on the kinds of shots you want to make. This book is about learning to use off-camera flash easily and quickly so that you can create beautiful, natural-looking light in any situation, at any time you need it…regardless of the weather or time of day.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One covers the fundamentals of off-camera flash, and it does so without blasting you with a firehose of information. Instead, Vanessa gives you the basics you need so that you can start shooting right away without becoming overwhelmed with technical jargon.

Once you’re set up and ready to go, Vanessa jumps right into Part Two with specific photo scenarios and real-world situations where you’ll learn key techniques for using your flash to create consistent, beautiful photographs. For each scenario, Vanessa provides the goal for the shoot, a gear list, the step-by-step shooting instructions, and images that show both the progress of the shoot and the behind-the-scenes shots or lighting diagrams of the setup. She also discusses problems you may encounter, variations on the shot, and additional practical scenarios for each situation.

Just a few examples include:

    • Recreating the golden hour at any time
    • Shooting groups
    • Making indoors look like outdoors
    • Enhancing natural light
    • Using flash at events
    • Working in harsh sunlight
    • Creating silhouettes
    • Shooting at sunset
    • Fixing an ugly-light room
    • And much more

Finally, Part Three tackles the questions you’ll likely have once you’ve got the basics under your belt and you’re already creating great photos with your off-camera flash—things like high-speed sync, sync speed, a practical understanding of the inverse square law, etc. There is also a helpful FAQ section at the end of the book.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: GETTING STARTED WITH OFF-CAMERA FLASH (OCF)

    You Already Know This
    Getting Your Flash Off Camera
    Getting the Exposure
    Light Positions and Modifiers
    How to Add More Lights

PART 2: Off-Camera Flash Techniques

    Creating Golden Haze
    Creating Golden Hour
    Creating Twilight
    Photographing at Sunset
    Making a Magenta Sunset
    Group Shots with One Light
    Individual Portraits
    Portraits of Couples
    Enhancing Natural Light
    Making Indoors Look Like Outdoors
    Super Soft Portrait Light
    Warming up the Sky
    Keeping a Blue Sky
    Light like It's Coming Through a Window
    Creating a Silhouette
    Turn Day into Night
    Tiny Little Details
    Table Details
    Event Speeches
    In Harsh Sunlight
    Shooting with Reflectors
    Event Bounce Flash
    Using Gels for Fun Color Effects
    Using Gels to Color Correct
    Lighting a Dark Room
    Making a Rainy Day Sunny
    Lighting to Look Like Window Light
    Making Front Bokeh
    Filling in Shadows
    Wow, This Indoor Light Sucks
    Rim Lighting

PART 3: Features, Troubleshooting, and FAQS

    WTF Are You Talking About?
    But Light Doesn’t Do That
    FAQs about OCF




Style Your Wedding with Neil Lane


Book Description

Advice and inspiration for the wedding of your dreams from Neil Lane, celebrated "Jeweler to the Stars" In this gorgeous book, Neil Lane guides couples through the process of selecting and refining their own wedding aesthetic. Rich photography highlights six key wedding styles: romantic, lavish, modern, elegant, rustic, and vintage, with Neil's personal take on what makes each style distinct and how couples can turn their big day into something uniquely and very decidedly their own. Neil’s insight and advice will encourage and inspire—from how to determine personal wedding style and what to look for in a reception venue, to the basics of stationery and how it sets the tone for a wedding, to selecting centerpieces, bouquets, and boutonnieres. He has many years of experience working with engaged couples and shares everything that's needed to execute one of the most important days of their lives. Beautifully finished with foil accents, Style Your Wedding with Neil Lane makes the perfect gift for you, or for any couple dreaming of their walk down the aisle.




Cork Dork


Book Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' PICK “Thrilling . . . [told] with gonzo élan . . . When the sommelier and blogger Madeline Puckette writes that this book is the Kitchen Confidential of the wine world, she’s not wrong, though Bill Buford’s Heat is probably a shade closer.” —Jennifer Senior, The New York Times Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn’t know much about wine—until she discovered an alternate universe where taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a “cork dork.” With boundless curiosity, humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, California mass-market wine factories, and even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what’s the big deal about wine? What she learns will change the way you drink wine—and, perhaps, the way you live—forever. “Think: Eat, Pray, Love meets Somm.” —theSkimm “As informative as it is, well, intoxicating.” —Fortune




The New Southern Style


Book Description

A vibrantly illustrated exploration of the creative, inclusive, and inspiring movement happening in today’s Southern interior design The American South is a place steeped in history and tradition. We think of sweet tea, thick drawls, and even thicker summer air. It is also a place with a fraught history, complicated social norms, and dated perspectives. Yet among the makers and artists of the South, there is a powerful movement afoot. Alyssa Rosenheck shines a much-needed spotlight on a burgeoning community of people who are taking what’s beloved, inherent, and honored in the South and making it their own. The New Southern Style tours more than 30 homes and includes interviews with the designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who are reinventing Southern design and culture. This beautifully illustrated book is sure to inspire the home and soul.




Smart Phone Smart Photography


Book Description

"... a genuinely useful guide to the more technical side of phone shooting, including editing with popular apps like Snapseed. Jo Bradford makes the most of the creative possibilities of modern smartphone cameras, and her tips on improving exposure and ensuring decent prints are really useful." Awarded 5 stars by Amateur Photographer Maximize your potential to get the shots you want with this guide to photography for both Apple and Android phones. There's a saying that the best camera for the job is the one you have with you when an opportunity arises. Thanks to the boom in camera-phone technology, today we're lucky enough to have a camera to hand to capture all those incredible moments. But are you making the most of that powerful tool in your pocket? Do the photos you have taken tend to be blurry, or look nothing like what you're seeing? If you want to shoot incredible images with your phone, buy Smart Phone, Smart Photography. Covering simple techniques that will allow you to get the image that you see every single time, you will soon be telling your camera what to do with confidence. Start with The Big Picture and get to know your camera phone and the rules behind taking the perfect shot. The next chapter, Taking Great Pictures, explains the key disciplines of photography – portrait, abstraction, macro, still life and plenty more. Finally, the Post-production chapter demonstrates how to use apps to edit and enhance your images and create incredible prints for display.




On Photography


Book Description

Winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award for Criticism. One of the most highly regarded books of its kind, "On Photography" first appeared in 1977 and is described by its author as " a progress of essays about the meaning and career of photographs." It begins with the famous " In Plato' s Cave" essay, then offers five other prose meditations on this topic, and concludes with a fascinating and far-reaching " Brief Anthology of Quotations."







Sensuous Magic


Book Description

Mixing erotic vignettes with practical how-to suggestions and personal insight, 'Sensuous Magic' is Califia's classic beginner's guide to S/M for couples who harbour fantasies of erotic dominance and submission. Experienced players will appreciate the breadth of Califia's knowledge of safety and technique and his insights into the psychology of S/M. Novices will be reassured by Califia's honest, unpretentious approach.




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