500 Digital Illustration Hints, Tips, and Techniques


Book Description

500 Digital Illustration Hints, Tips, and Techniques is the ideal introduction to this popular subject. The book guides the reader from the basics of digital illustration through to more advanced techniques, with detailed sections on the most commonly-used software programs, including Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, Flash, Cinema 4D, and 3D Studio. This accessible, yet comprehensive handbook covers all the essential technical considerations of digital illustration, such as file formatting and setting up a document, as well as the creative aspects of working with colors, textures, special effects, and more. The book is packed with inspiring images covering a wide range of different illustration styles, and with its colorful blend of step-by-step tutorials, quick fixes, and bullet-point tips it is the perfect antidote to boring technical manuals.




Art Directors Annual


Book Description




The Digital Photographer's Guide to Natural-Light Family Portraits


Book Description

Detailing all the skills photographers need to successfully create natural-light family portraits, this handbook covers all aspects of the process, from attracting clients and planning the session to posing small families or large groups. Techniques for working outdoors, at the familyÕs home, or in a natural-light studio setting are included along with detailed information on post-production, album design, and marketing techniques for attracting clients. Advanced amateur and professional photographers will learn how to create a picture-perfect rendering by manipulating ever-changing and difficult-to-predict outdoor lighting and cultivating a cohesive look through harmonious poses, expressions, and clothing. This unique handbook is essential for family photographers looking to engage the family and bring out their subjectsÕ interpersonal relationships and individual personalities.




David Busch’s Nikon D500 Guide to Digital SLR Photography


Book Description

David Busch’s Nikon D500 Guide to Digital SLR Photography is the most comprehensive reference and guide book for Nikon’s long-awaited 20.9-megapixel enthusiast/professional DX-format digital camera. With the same 180,000-pixel metering sensor and lightning-fast 153-point autofocus system found in Nikon’s top-of-the-line D5, this model offers precise exposure and fast focusing at up to 10 frames per second. The D500 adds stunning 4K/UHD video capabilities, and a new “SnapBridge” feature that provides a seamless connection between the camera and a smartphone using a Bluetooth link. With this book in hand, you will discover all the capabilities of the Nikon D500 as you explore the world of digital photography, develop your creativity, and capture the best photographs you’ve ever taken. Filled with detailed how-to steps and full-color illustrations, David Busch’s Nikon D500 Guide to Digital SLR Photography describes every feature of this sophisticated camera in depth, from taking your first photos through advanced details of setup, exposure, lens selection, lighting, and more. It relates each feature to specific photographic techniques and situations. Also included is the handy camera “roadmap,” an easy-to-use visual guide to the D500’s features and controls. Learn when to use every option and, more importantly, when not to use them, by following the author’s recommended settings for every menu entry. With bestselling photographer and mentor David Busch as your guide, you’ll quickly have full creative mastery of your camera’s capabilities, whether you’re shooting on the job, taking pictures as an advanced enthusiast, or just out for fun. Start building your knowledge and confidence, while bringing your vision to light with the Nikon D500.




Lighting Essentials


Book Description

The core goal of photography is representing subjects that have depth and texture in a medium that inherently lacks both those qualities, and this book shows the best way to rise to that challenge: through the careful application and capture of lighting. It demonstrates how to accentuate or minimize textures, add or subtract highlights, and create or combat shadows to showcase the subjects in the best way and create the illusion of a third dimension in the images. Exploring techniques for lighting portraits, still-life subjects, nature images, and architectural shots, both studio and location lighting are covered in detail. The book teaches photographers how to study their subjectsÑwith all of the textures, colors, shapes, and surfaces they haveÑthen visualize the image as a finished photograph before the photography actually begins. With chapters that thoroughly cover the science of lighting and visualization, photographers can apply that knowledge and successfully create artful images.




Shaping Light


Book Description

While light is required to make a photograph, light alone is not enough. More often, it is the way the light has been modified and shaped that brings an image to life. In this book, Glenn Rand and Tim Meyer offer a comprehensive approach to the tools and techniques photographers can use to shape the light—creating the style, energy, emotion, and feeling that make a photograph exceptional. Clear text is paired with ample before-and-after images and diagrams to make learning easy. Beginning with the physics of light, the authors show you how to predict light’s interaction with the surface of the subject/object you are photographing. Based on this, you can begin to make informed decisions about what kinds of modifiers will help you achieve the look you want. Using softboxes, umbrellas, masks, gels, reflectors, and more, you’ll learn to precisely control the light’s diffused edge and ratio for precise, flawless results.




Drawing Shortcuts


Book Description

The updated edition of a contemporary approach to merging traditional hand drawing methods with 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional digital visualization tools. Jim Leggitt?s Drawing Shortcuts shows how communicating with hand drawings combined with digital technology can be ingeniously simple, and this new edition makes an already popular technique even better. Completely expanded with new chapters and a wealth of supporting images, this Second Edition presents practical techniques for improving drawing efficiency and effectiveness by combining traditional hand drawing methods with the latest digital technology, including 3-D modeling with SketchUp. This book?s step-by-step approach will sharpen and streamline your techniques whether you draw for pleasure, school or your design profession. Easy-to-follow instructions cover every aspect from the basics of drawing?such as composition, color, shading, hatching, and perspective?up to the most current technologies Incorporates Google SketchUp, Google Earth, computer generated renderings, digital scanners and printers Features new visuals from accomplished drawing experts Special new ?Gallery? section highlights the creative process with step-by-step examples of drawings Complete coverage of the ?Overlay and Trace Method,? ?Simple Composite Method,? ?Advanced Composite Method,? and ?Digital Hybrid Drawings? New matrices show alternative drawing techniques for specific visual effects such as Linework and Shading, Selecting the Right Views, Perspectives and Paraline Drawings, Drawing Detail, Camera Lenses, and Drawing Tools Generously enriched with detailed process drawings, examples, and more than 500 full-color images, Drawing Shortcuts, Second Edition will have you creating top-quality drawings faster and more effectively.







Pro's Guide to iPhoneography


Book Description

The iPhone is revolutionizing photography. Never before has a camera been so portable yet powerful, so versatile and ubiquitous. Yet, as this book shows, this amazing device has untapped potential for taking jaw-droppingly detailed, sharp, professional-quality images. In this book, commercial photographer Robert Morrissey investigates the photographic capabilities of the iPhone, right out of the box, then moves to advanced uses that will surprise even seasoned photographers. Starting with the basics, Morrissey teaches readers critical strategies for taking great pictures—from how to properly hold your phone, to how and why to use the flash. You’ll learn simple ideas for improving your photos—from crafting a strong composition to posing subjects for flattering results. Next, you’ll learn to use the iPhone’s panoramic and HDR features to take your imaging to the next level. You’ll also get some great insights into how to photograph action, scenes with non-average tones, landscapes, and much more—with natural light and flash.




The Art of Engagement Portraits


Book Description

With bold colors, inventive lighting, creative postproduction, and eye-catching poses, Neal Urban creates engagement portraits that go far beyond the expected. In this book, he takes you behind the scenes with dozens of couples to show you how each image was conceptualized, customized, and brought to life. Under Neal’s careful eye, a patch of tall grass in a parking-lot becomes an exotic setting for two, the couple’s favorite dive-bar is transformed into a backdrop for timeless romance, and city streets become cinematic wonders. Shooting in the late-afternoon, sunset, and evening hours, Urban works carefully with the natural light, ambient sources in the scene, off-camera flash, LED, and tungsten sources to beautifully sculpt the couple and bring his scenes to life. Spend a few hours perusing this book and you’ll never approach engagement photography the same way again!