Publisher: ILEX
Author: Christ Gatcum
As the title of the book say, there are 50 fashion photos featured in this book. The photographer featured ranged from world famous professionals (Rankin, Perou) to unknown amateurs.
At the beginning of the book, there is an introduction of studio equipment from off camera flash to professional studio lights. Then the type of modifiers and their uses are given. After reading this chapter, you should have a reasonable understanding of studio lighting. The diagrams will be use with each image featured to indicate the lighting used.
With each image, there is a short biography of the photographer. Then the photographer of each image write a short piece of text giving the thought process and use of light to achieve it. The camera, lens and camera settings are listed. The diagram showing the lighting and modifiers used is very useful. Most photos were taken with digital cameras, only a few shot on film.
It is interesting to see many images did not use any lighting or modifier at all. In fact, there are images relied on post processing in Photoshop. Some of the images are stunning. The photographer must have started with a concept and had a team of make up artist, model, costume designer and set designer to bring the vision into a photograph. While other images looks very ordinary to me. With many things fashion, there is no right or wrong, it comes down to if you like it or not.
For me, the good images makes up for the ordinary. It is a good reference book you go back to every now and then. It is not bogged down to equipment, in fact very little is mentioned regarding type of camera or lens. This book is recommended if you are getting into fashion photography and looking for inspiration.
