Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits: Stories and Techniques from a Photographer's Photographer

Gregory Heisler's book '50 Portraits Stories and techniques from a photographer's photographer', is quite a serious book about photography. The tone is set by this book being a hardback, which just feels to me a little more special than a soft back. The front cover looks serious, dark and moody (though the story inside about the cover picture is fascinating). The quality of the books is very good with high quality paper and you don't want to crease a page or do anything which might cause damage to the book, it feels like it deserves respect. The problem with this though is that it also feels that it shouldn't be opened or read. Of course a book is meant to be read, so however guilty I felt touching the book and turning the pages. I was happy to do so because the stories inside feel quite special, in relation to how to work as a photographer. The premise of the book is that Gregory Heisler discusses 50 portraits, creating a essay for each photograph and often contrasting the image, with a second image from the same shoot. The first part of each essay is about the shoot itself, telling a story as much about the photographer and his thoughts about a shoot and often the story behind it. The second part is titled 'Thoughts on Technique' which will often focus on a particular area of his set up or philosophy. I must admit that I enjoyed reading the stories about the days shoot the most, this is not to say that the 'Thoughts on Technique' is not good, in fact it is essential to understanding the photo and what goes on behind the image but the story of the shoot for me is often more fun to read. Heisler has a very informal first person narrative style of writing. This very much helps tell a story and allows him to articulate his thoughts in a way that makes the book a relatively easy read. Of course a photography book is not a photography book without the photos. Gregory Heisler is a master of portraiture and the photos in the book have a feeling of an old master, but instead of painting of photography. It is noticeable that Heisler worked for Arnold Newman but he brings his own style to his photography as well. One of the things Heisler is passionate about in the books, is the creative idea and about creating his own images. It is also very noticeable that he often uses medium or large format cameras (I can't remember seeing a 35mm image). More often than not the images are black and white but he also creates some wonderful colour images. This book, as I have said is not really a book about numbers or particular technique and unlike a lot of books where lighting is the main focus, 50 portraits is about much more than just the lighting, it is about the whole possess of creating an image, though for lighting fans, he does cover lighting in a number of the essays. So I hopefully people can tell I enjoyed the book. It really is a great book about the photographer and his photography. It is written by someone who is passionate about portrait photography and the people who will get the most out of the book are those who are passionate themselves about portrait photography. If you want to learn about portrait photography and the ins and outs of what goes on behind a photo shoot, this is a great book, well worth investing in.

This is truly an exquisite book, full of rich, vibrant and creatively shot images. The biggest thing I got from this book is the significance of rapport, trust and empathy between the photographer and his subject. This relationship and collaboration creates a space where the subject can relax and be free in their self expression - the image creator can then frame, compose and capture that magic moment. The images in this book took me by surprise, each one backed up by the context of the shoot and the techniques used to capture the moment. Gregory Heisler is a master at what he does and I am grateful that he shared his passion through this glorious book with us.

I bought this as a Christmas gift for a portrait photographer. They were delighted with it! Along with the amazing images, there's also plenty of inspiration in the form of a background story to each sitting, which adds interest and insight. A great coffee table book or for anyone interested in the art of portrait photography.

I buy a lot of photography books and mostly to learn from the masters themselves. Although his book is from one of the best portrait photographers of my time, if not all time, I just had to purchase it. Needless to say I was not disappointed in this purchase. Within the pages of the book are some pretty brilliant photos and alongside these are the explanations of lighting, etc. What's good about these descriptions are more the stories behind the photos themselves and it's enlightening to get a feeling for what Heisler was thinking at the time and how he imagines a picture. I have to say that if you are a photographer this is one of the books you should own!

No complaints with the book. Good reading and fantastic photos. The packaging however leaves a lot to be desired! All corners dinted!

this is a terrific book. really beautifully put together. mr heisler is a master of his art, and the pictures herein are all of an exceptionally high standard. each picture is explained in two ways: 1. the story of the shoot, how it was put together, how it panned out on the day, what went wrong, what went right etc and 2. thoughts on technique - a more detailed analysis of the posing, lighting, composition and other tangibles that make up each picture. this is a highly recommended read for anyone with any interest in portrait photography and/or lighting.

This is my favourite photography book. The technical insights, the photographs and the stories combine to make this a book that is a must for anyone interested in portraiture photography. I already had the iBooks version but just had to have the print copy as well and it was worth it. You can't beat a good old fashioned hard backed book, especially when it's as good as this.

I think I've read this two or three times now. I got it because David Hobby (Strobist) had recommended it on his site. The reasons Hobby recommends it is because of the way Heisler thinks about and uses colour. When his photographs are in colour it's very rare that gels aren't being uses, however looking at them that may not be immediately obvious. He explains why he does this and how he thinks about it, but leaving colour aside for every photograph he talks about the session, what the person was like, how he related to them and the circumstances around the shoot. He then talks about why he took the photograph the way he did, the technical process, his thought process for wanting a particular photograph. etc. It's excellent.

Ce livre ne va pas apprendre comment prendre des portraits. Il explique comment 50 portraits ont été pris, les circonstances, la technique, ... Pour une personne non photographe ces textes seront surement un peu long le reste de récits est très intéressant malgré tout

The photographs are brilliant most shot with large view cameras but the most important thing is you are told what he was thinking If you are into portrait photography you will learn even if you use an iphone

Muito bacana. Além dos retratos lindos, ele dá uma história geral sobre o ensaio, e aproveita pra entrar em algum detalhe técnico da foto. Imperdível.

Realmente vale la pena comprarlo si te interesa la fotografía, y específicamente el retrato. Vienen algunas anotaciones técnicas muy generales, pero lo que hace realmente valioso a este libro es que va más allá de la teoría, y se adentra un poco más en reflexionar la esencia del retrato, cómo fueron tomadas las fotos tanto en contexto como en técnica. Además vienen personalidades bastante conocidas. Yo compré la versión kindle pero recomendaría la versión física para apreciar mejor las fotografías y porque es un excelente libro.

I have bought Gregory Heisler's book after reading David Hobby's strobist blog. Among other books from other celebrated photographers, he recommends this lecture for a better understanding of light. Why I love this book? Besides the technical details that you will read about for each image presented in this book, it takes the form of a guide into how images should be created: from thought to the actual image. I love the quality of the prints and the huge amount of detail. Gregory Heisler became my favorite photographer with the first two stories in his book but what have sealed the deal is the story on Luis Sarria (the front cover). There is a lot to learn about photography for everybody. It made me love photography even more and be more curious about light. I have actually tried to replicate an image from this book and I will attach it to my review. With each page read you learn something. I am very happy with this purchase because I haven't bought a product but stories that I can learn from.