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I highly recommend it. Jeff Smith is an awesome photographer. His books are full of useful in formation.
I have used his methods with my own clients and found it very helpful. It allows me as an apsiring portrait photographer goals and methods to try and replicate and then build upon. I truely like Jeff's writing style and explanations in that he is easy to understand and follow. Jeff does a great job in relaying the techniques and theories with outdoor location photography. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a solid reference on photographing people outdoors. In this book, Jeff discusses the various tools and techniques involved as well as sharing pictures of the actual sites that he was shooting at. I have always wondered how photographers captured those wonderful pictures of models and ordinary people in outdoor settings. Being able to see his setups really helped me appreciate the final ptrs better.
I enjoyed reading this book because it gave a lot of helpful pointers on location photography (and has many pictures for examples -- although I admit I wasn't a fan of some of his images). I can see how this book wouldn't be appreciated by non-professionals. There are 2 chapters on the business side of photography (making a profit and marketing), which are mainly overviews reminding you that your business's sole function is to make a profit and that you need to have a planned strategy for your advertising and marketing techniques. A lot of the topics in the book I am already familiar with, but re-reading them helped remind me that yes, you can hold sessions anytime during the day (or night, I suppose). So it just proves one book doesn't work for everyone. But if you are on the professional level, you will probably appreciate this book if you are looking to improve your location sessions or review the basics you've stopped thinking about.I just finished reading through this book, and found the discussion of natural light to be pretty helpful for me.
He also brings a truckload of big equipment with him INCLUDING A GENERATOR to power it all, when he does an on-location shoot. (I know they weren't, but the lighting and the shadows don't match the background.so to me they're so contrived that they almost look fake).So many Amherst publications are packed with terrific images that I can't wait to try to imitate in my own work. (Maybe it's because this book is copyright 2002 and digital "back then" wasn't nearly as good and as cost-effective as it is now). The lighting is so artificial and unnatural looking that I find it almost distracting in many of his images. The author lets you know right away how much he hates digital and loves film.
Jeff needs to embrace digital, give up on film, get rid of that generator and make his outdoor workflow more practical and his images more natural looking. Overall, I was very, very disappointed. Some almost look like they were shot against a green screen with the background dropped in later. But great it ain't. (I guess males and children don't have outdoor portraits taken). For 20 bucks I found a few tips that I can use making it probably worth it. Maybe if I can charge $1500 and spend all day doing one senior photo session, but otherwise a lot of his suggestions are impractical.His photographs in the book are 100% female, teens-thru-30's. The only saving grace is that these Amherst books are so inexpensive.
So for those of us who shoot digital there is nothing in this book to help us exploit its powers and advantages over film. I was so disappointed that I could find only 2 or 3 images in this entire book I'd even want to try to emulate. These are my recommendations for a 3rd edition. For me, that would mean a truck and a crew and hours of set-up. What is worse, I really don't like much of the photos in the book.
You won't regret it. If you're a serious amateur and want to learn the techniques of natural light portraiture follow the recommendations of others and buy "Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography" by Douglas Allen Box like I did. This book sucks unless your a professional senior portrait photographer that likes cheesy barnyard senior portraits. I'm not kidding.
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