Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography

What I like (or not so dislike):
1/ Pictures to explain how the scene is set up before photo shoots.
2/ Somewhat the author is quite practical about time of the day to take pictures, equipments and so on rather than talking about ideal environments or theories that most of us cannot get or experience.

What I don't like:
1/ Author spends too much time criticizing other photographers, pro or not. I question his personalities and get tired of reading about it. It's irrelevant to what I want to learn. It would be much better if he uses the space writing more about the pitfalls themselves.
2/ Too much on business side. This book is about portrait photography, as it suggested, not about making money on portrait photography. I was looking for techniques, ideas, instructions, labs... and it's okay if the author may include here and there his own business world or personal life, but not every single page. Waste of my time...
3/ Too little on techniques, ideas... Again, as I said in previous paragraphs, he spends too much on writing about something else. I rather see more explaination of why and how each picture was taken.
4/ I think the author didn't go too far from his barn studio. What about on the beach, in the wood, in downtown, etc. where most of us like to take pictures.
5/ With #4, I am not happy that this book is all about for Pro. making money on Portrait photography and not suggest a word so. As an serious amateur, I don't get much. I guess it's only for a small group of readers who share the same background with the author; otherwise, it's not that helpful.

Finally, I suggest you understand yourself and what you're looking for before buying it. If it's for amateur learning, forget about it. Find another one. I hope nobody repeats my mistakes. But if you're on the way having a new studio, I think it's quite useful, maybe, in some way.

Good luck.


The Pro's Pro for Outdoor Portraiture   December 9, 2003
 10 out of 14 found this review helpful

This is really a good book for anyone who wants to elevate their outdoor protraiture to a professional level. Smith is certainly one of the best in the business, and isn't afraid to tell you how he does it.

If your a hobbyist, look more towards Douglas Allen Box's book. But if you really want to know how to take great looking portraits anytime during the day, here's your bible.

This guy is just flat good. He goes in depth into natural refelctors, and outdoor flash photography. He even talks about trick shots like "dragging the shutter", and how to make the background go dark in the middle of the day.

He's such a perfectionist that he says he really doesn't ever find any shot that he doesn't see room for improvement in the lighting, and then goes ahead and makes those improvements. He really smashes the idea that outdoor photography is about using existing light. He's always adding and removing. The pro's pro.