Fine Art Portrait Photography - Commercial Techniques and Images in Black and White. - Review - book review

Fine Art Portrait Photography - Commercial Techniques and Images in Black and White By Oscar Lozoya Amherst Media Inc., Buffalo, NY [C] 1999, 26 pages, $29.95 US

Oscar Lozoya is a professional photographer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, specializing in publicity illustrations for artists, album covers and press kits. His work has been displayed in the United States and Mexico. He was a featured speaker at the PSA Conference in New Mexico.

This text, well illustrated with photos and diagrams, deals particularly with composition and lighting techniques. It places particular emphasis on aspects that the amateur photographer may not give sufficient attention to -- such as the treatment of hair, the choice of background, and the complicated matter of group composition. In addition, the text stresses the importance of understanding the characteristic features of your models, and selecting poses, close-ups, and lighting, to emphasize the personality of the sitter.

Some of the photographs are in a light-hearted mood, with the "sitter" hardly sitting, but caught in the middle of some comic action. Some of the photographs show the sitter posing in historic costume -- the capturing of a different epoch can be a good technique to illustrate the particular personality of the sitter. Some photographs, particularly those with Mexican themes, deliberately use exotic make-up or clothing to give character to the image.

I would recommend this text for anyone interested in improving their portrait skills -- especially as the illustrations show that black and white can be a most effective format for portrait photography.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group