By emphasizing basic principles of good lighting and how to apply them, this informative guide shows advanced amateur photographers and professionals how to improve their photographic skills. After explaining different types of light, flash basics, and the benefits of on- and off-camera lighting techniques, it discusses how to use this information to increase the "gasp factor"--that powerful, emotional response that compels the viewer to take a second look at a photograph. Also included are assignments meant to help solidify this new flash knowledge for the photographer in order to put it into practice. As a bonus, the book contains inspirational stories demonstrating real-world applications of the techniques from a photojournalist with decades of experience.

With detailed, informative instructions for capturing personable and memorable yearbook photos, actor and model portfolios, and business, bridal, and children's portraits, this exhaustive reference covers what photographers need to know to be successful. Emphasizing that the client is always the center of the photograph, this resource illustrates how to evaluate the customer to determine which features to downplay and which to accent. Tips for creating the perfect image through posing and lighting, handling the post-shot conference, and previewing and retouching the images are supplied, as well as guidance for the technical and emotional challenges of shooting a portrait. Packed with step-by-step images, no-nonsense techniques, and practical advice, this is a must-have book for professional and advanced amateur photographers.

This book explores the unique phenomenon of pictorialism and its connection with other arts in film and media studies. Pictorialism is motivated by the commitment to develop and increase the function and effectiveness of images, sounds, and performances that aesthetically formulate, translate, and change the effects of contemporary cinema to higher dimensions and qualities of art. The book's main focus is when pictorialism as such is the major aesthetic convention used in filmmaking practice, and when pictorialism itself forms the key element of the narrative, considering a number of theoretical and practical issues of filmic narration, including: What are the main challenges of pictorial communication? How is pictorialism used in films? How far is the "pictorial image" a combination of the bodily performance of the characters, the surrounding landscape, and the evocative use of the soundscape? More generally, what is the state of image studies today?The first part of this book deals with the conventions of pictorialist connections in architecture, painting and photography, and their influences on cinematic representations and on film studies and film theory. The films analysed here combine various styles, but the focus is tracking down pictorialism's influences through a large spectre of matters. The next section explores pictorialism's development in Hollywood cinema, in European Cinema, in avant-garde film, and in documentary. Finally, the book concludes with three large sections devoted to the developers of modern pictorialist cinema, namely Theo Angelopoulos, Aki Kaurismaki and Bela Tarr. As such, this study offers a way to understand the main ideas, subjects and stylisation of pictorialism in cinema, to explore the main ingredients of this phenomenon, and to focus on narratives that are in the service of pictorial matters.