The Portrait ― Understanding Portrait Photography

Glenn Rand, longtime photographic educator, and Tim Meyer, Lead Portrait Instructor at Brooks Institute, have collaborated to create a thorough and balanced textbook on the modern techniques and practice of portrait photography. They have crafted a definitive resource for professionals, students, and avid amateurs wishing to advance their skills in this discipline.

Glenn and Tim begin by discussing lessons from the masters and the history of photographic portraiture. They build on this foundation and cover all of the technical and aesthetic components of understanding and producing outstanding portraits. Extensive illustrations illuminate the concepts discussed, and the works of outstanding photographers serve as examples of how to apply the lessons in this book. This second edition offers even more illustrations and photographic examples and an expanded discussion about posing.

Topics include:

• Quality of light and the portrait
• Ambient, continuous, and strobe light sources
• Understanding light modifiers and enhancers
• Mastering lighting ratios
• Importance and selection of backgrounds
• Extensive coverage of lighting setups
• Understanding light meters and metering in portraiture
• Lighting patterns on the human face
• Facial analysis
• Composition in portraiture
• Posing for various types of portraits
• Eliciting appropriate expression
• The fine art portrait
• Portraiture for the masses

Glenn Rand is an artist with international acceptance. His photographs are in more than two dozen museums and public collections in the United States, Europe, and Japan, including the Center for Creative Photography, the Crocker Art Museum, and the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. He has also exhibited widely throughout the United States.

Glenn has published and lectured extensively about photography and digital imaging on topics ranging from commercial aesthetics to the technical fine points of black-and-white photography. He has written more than ten books, including Capture: Digital Photography Essentials, Teaching Photography, and Shaping Light.

Photographer, educator, and author Tim Meyer is passionate about the field of photography. Through his 35 years as a professional photographer and numerous solo exhibitions, Tim's photography has been internationally recognized for its innovative style and technique.

Tim's credentials include a Master of Arts degree in Creative Photography and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fine Art Photography. He earned the Professional Photographers of America's coveted Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees and is a Certified Professional Photographer.

Tim currently teaches full-time and serves as the Lead Portrait Instructor at Brooks Institute. He also runs a portrait and wedding studio and lectures worldwide. His writings on photography and art have been widely published.