Creative Portrait Photography
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The very best portrait photography strives to give the viewer access into their subject’s inner self; to provide a window into their soul. With the advent of the digital age and the potential afforded by post-processing, a whole generation of photographic artists has access to greater creative possibilities than ever before.
Spearheading this new breed of creative photographer is author Natalie Dybisz, better known in the photographic community as Miss Aniela. Devoted to exploring portraiture at its most creative portraits with context, story, and constructed elements Creative Portrait Photography takes the reader on a behind-the-scenes journey through the creation of Natalie Dybisz’s innovative digital portraits, from first concept to post-processing.
Also featuring an extensive showcase chapter in which other photographer-artist’s work and working methods are laid bare, Creative Portrait Photography has everything you need to inspire you and transform your perspective on portrait photography.
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Audible Listener –
This is my favorite book right now. I’m exploring how to take my creative shoots to the next level and this book is just what I needed! Not only does it have some of the most creative images out there but it’s also surprisingly well written, the text is just as rich as the images!
Mark –
Not what I was expected, however it’s a good book for ideas generating, well presented and I do like the most of the photographs contained in the book. It’s a little off the wall in places, but then I suppose I am a “traditionalist”, but on the whole a well-made, decent book that is a good book to have on any photographers shelf..
Pamona –
I really like this photographers work. To me her photos are very introspective and in this book helps shed some light on creating a photograph the is not just a likeness of a person but tells a story. I have many technical books. This addition just adds another layer to my photography experience to help me grow.
MJ –
Short Version:
This is an awesome and inspiring book with tons of great images and behind the scenes look at Natalie’s work. A great purchase at a great price.
Long Version:
The book goes through the process of creating some of Natalie’s recent work which is mostly fashion oriented. Skimming through her website and blog, you can get a feel of what to expect in term of images. You can also feel how Natalie matured as a photographer and writer since her last book about self portraiture. I particularly liked the chapter of Artist Showcase where some great photographers (some of which I’m familiar with) share the process behind their images. You feel that this chapter is not just another page filler but perfectly complements the rest of the book. Although some of the images rely on post processing and manipulation in Photoshop, don’t expect this book to show you how it was done in PS (there are tons of other books that show you how to work in layers or do tricks in great detail). Natalie only tells you what she used and why she used it. Many of the images are accompanied by a behind the scene image or before manipulation in PS so you can see how it was created. The great thing about most of the images or Natalie’s work in general is that it doesn’t rely on having tons of lighting or top of the line equipment. The most important thing is to have a good concept and knowing how to put all the elements together (model, makeup, props, light, post-processing). In summary, this book is a great purchase at a great price and for sure a keeper in my photography library and I will for sure refer to it again and again for inspiration.
Luca –
Preso usato: prezzo ridicolo, spedizione veloce e libro in perfette condizioni!! Al prezzo dell’usato è assolutamente un must! fatevi un giro sul sito dell’artista per capire di cosa si tratta. Io lo uso per prendere ispirazione, non si va nel dettaglio su come realizzare gli scatti contenuti: dovete quindi avere le basi di illuminazione da studio, per risalire da soli allo schema d’illuminazione utilizzato nello scatto (si dice qualcosa, ma il libro non è dedicato a questo) e solide conoscenze di fotoritocco. N.B.: questa versione è in inglese.
Crystal –
Not so much a how to book, more a book of pictures to inspire creativity in portraits and photography. It was fun to look at the ideas from Dybisz and other photographers but some how felt it was lacking something. I guess I’m just evolving in a different way. I enjoy photos that help us step out of the box though as everything feeds into one’s creativity and who wants to get stale? I can’t imagine a book of this type anymore though as these days there’s so many inspirational photographs and instruction available via the Internet so this book just seems passe.
Far –
The worst photography book! Tens of the authors nude selfies…no creativity, no interesting instructions. And the photos captions totally illegible with super small, ugly fonts.
Dan-Stefan-Nicolae Susa –
Now, this one is my fav so far. Man how it managed to set my imagination free!
Outstanding book.
Always wanted something like this: a guidline to imagination.
Great! Highly recomand this!
Natasha –
I bought the book on a whim, I hadn’t come across Dybisz’s work before but it caught my eye looking for books on portraiture. I had hoped for some technical pointers but the book has given far more than that and has been incredibly inspiring. The selection of images and the flow of the book is excellent. The prose on the shooting process is lovely to read as well as informative, without getting bogged down in the technical details.
It seems like a small point but the quality of the paper is really good which makes a difference to the whole experience of absorbing the book. I feel really inspired and thoroughly enjoyed the book, I highly recommend it.
Jg –
I gave this book 5 stars because the authoress takes us inside her mind, allowing us to see how the images are conceptualized.
I also, like her featured photographers.
However, this is not a “how to book”. If you are looking for a “how to book”, you may need to look elsewhere.
This is a “learn by seeing”, and “get inspired book”.
That is my 1 1/2 cents worth.
Libby Hsiao –
As someone that immensely enjoys portrait photography, I was hoping that this book would provide more than just posing techniques and some insight on creative ways of constructing a portrait. While I had high hopes from some of the reviews and tried to keep an open mind, I did not find this book constructive to my work.
While the artist does go into the thought process behind each of the images presented and the technical aspects of how the image was created, it feels more like a book about compositing images to create a final product and digital post process, than it does about the portrait sitting process and how to illicit the best expressions or establish a dialogue of what the image should be about. In other words, I didn’t find that it has a universal quality to it that would help all aspiring portrait photographers on developing a vision of what their portraits should be, rather than an instructional book on how to created images in a similar vein. If images of the author style speak to you, no doubt you might find this a very practical book.
As someone that is looking for some inspiration on the direction, portraiture sitting process and vision, I found it lacking in a number of areas and ended up returning the book.
Tescodirect –
The first thing to do before buying this book is to have look online to see whether you like Natalie Dybisz style of photography. If you do not then you will not like the book, so do not buy it. If you like what she does (which I do), it is an excellent book. It assumes a reasonable knowledge of photoshop, which some reviewers have not liked, and basically talks you through a range of her photos and how they were shot and processed. She does not provide you with images to download so you can work through the processing, nor do you get enough detail on her workflow to do this, so it is not a strict instructional book along the lines of Matt Kloskowsi or Martin Evening. But if you want to get into creative portraiture using post-processing, there is plenty of stuff here to provide inspiration.
Tom Upton –
Though an oeuvre of borderline narcissism, much of the photographic and Photoshop information is informative. Natalie is educated and articulate and can title well with narrative aspirations. This makes the work engaging, and the book a bit unique with a young woman’s perspective. The book is full of information and Natalie freely shares her methods, another plus. While avoiding the pitfalls of being trite, her work becomes tedious with her self absorption as a model, the tripod, and natural light. Nevertheless, the book serves as a good technical reference for aspiring self portraitists with existential leanings as adolescence fades into the past. Her Photoshop skills are profoundly impressive to those of us with advanced ADD.