One of the best photography books that I have ever held in my hands is this book by Gregory Heisler. Right away you are taken in by the image on the cover. The use of light is fantastic, and you also would love to have a model with the character of this one. While most books would just show you the picture with a couple of details about the shoot this one really dives in depth into each of the fifty portraits. You are able to learn about the circumstance behind each photo. The cover portrait for example was taken outdoors, and the reason that the right hand is partially covering the mouth is that the man was covering up a sore on his lip. Sometimes the best pictures come from a stroke of luck that shows up when you are ready for it. The portrait below of Ed Harris was actually taken on the beach in front of the home of Harris. A simple backdrop and a selective blur gives you the illusion of a photo taken in New York instead of clear across the country. As a photographer who is learning the art of the portrait this book has been great for me.
Here I will include a rather long video of Gregory explaining his book in great detail. I believe the video is about two hours long, but it really gives you great insight into the man and his work. I saw the video before I bought the book, but it already inspired me. I received the book two days after watching the video thanks to quick work by Amazon.com. For right now I think that I may do a review about once every two weeks. I don’t want to burn up my collection of books too quick, but I do want to get some of these out there as they really did inspire me. If I can I would like to include some sort of video as well because it helps the author jump off the page. I don’t know that it will always be possible though.
Dave Wegiel Photography 