The Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Crafting Light and Shadow

Excellent book for study of light and shadow

Non fiction doesn't have to be boring. I feel like the author would be lots of fun after a few drinks at a party.The beginning of the book is a quick art history lesson interspersed with bits of humor and a few pop culture references. It was entertaining and informative.The latter part of the book goes into detail about the the effects of lighting changes, with images depicting the changing light, along with descriptions of how it is achieved.It would be a good book to keep handy when setting up studio lighting, as a reference.If you want a crash course in art history as it relates to portrait photography, this book is a good choice.

For fans of Chris Knight, this book is a wonderful look into his workflow and sources of inspiration that he pulls for for his own work.The book goes into lightning techniques and some post processing, but I most enjoyed the addition of a brief history of portraiture and the portrayal of the human form throughout the more significant art movements. I took an Art History class in college so the opening chapter of the book was a nice refresher.I wouldn't call the book revolutionary by any means, but Chris' approach to lighting principles, post production, and developing a 'style' is very easy to understand and can take your portrait photography to the next level.You can find video interviews and classes he's taught (BH Photo Video) while promoting this book, but having the book on hand is a nice reference. Highly recommended.

I have mixed feelings about The Dramatic Portrait. It's about how to take well-lit portraits in a well-equipped studio. Knight uses a wide selection of light sources in a large room; neither is available to most amateur photographers, certainly not me. Sections on how to light a portraits and how the image changes with subtle variations in type of light and light placement are especially well done. The chapter on color is incredibly basic and oversimplified. I found the discussion of post-production confusing, and I will certainly use other sources to learn Photoshop. On the other hand, the long first chapter features a history of portraiture over the centuries, which I found quite enlightening.The thing that most grates on me is Knight's choice of models. Most of the lighting section depicts the same older guy with long gray hair, beard, rumpled suit, and a bowler hat. Several female models later in the book are quite effective, but I found the photos of a man portraying a washed-up nineteenth century boxer disturbing and unhelpful.All in all this book was worthwhile if a little odd.

This book runs the gamut from art history of the portrait, to technique, styling, and post production. It covers a range of topics with very clear descriptions and illustrations. There is a lot of information in this book! It is also an amazing value. A lot of photography books are very expensive, even if they are of marginal value—this on the other hand is very affordable and has a ton of great info. If you are learning portraiture this book is for you.

Mr. Knight is a delightful writer who is able to clearly communicate much useful information and provides great examples. Art history buffs will disagree but the section on history of classic portrait painting could have been shortened to emphasize the portrait styles replicated later on in the book.I was pleased with the excellent technical chapters on the making of portraits. The section on case studies provides useful and succinct information on the strategies used to complete various dramatic photos.I would encourage people who are interested in learning more about portrait photography and in particular dramatic studio lighting to order this book

I picked this book up because I love Chris Knight's work and I really want to take more dramatic portraits myself. He really does a great job of making the history of portraiture more fun than it sounds (as the first chapter is titled). He has a wonderful sense of humor and has amusing pop culture references sprinkled throughout the book. I love that he uses the same gentleman model in the chapter on technical lighting. It allows you to see the difference in the lighting much better than if each image was using a different model. Everything is well written and easy to understand. I love that he went into a bit of post-production as well.

This book is ok if you treat it as just a basic introduction into the dramatic portrait and painterly look. Having taken Knight's online classes and also having read this book, I would recommend checking out the classes instead. The classes just have way more material and are more informative.One thing that bothered me was that in the book, Knight wastes a good chunk of the pages giving the reader a basic art history overview--something you would check out an art history book for instead. What he should have done instead is shown how classical painting relates to and can be directly used for dramatic portraiture photography: composition, golden ratio/ spiral, areas of focus, contrast and sharpness, color combinations, Vermeer and Rembrandt lighting, posing, etc. Just giving an art history lesson doesn't really help the reader relate it to photography. If he instead had shown, for example, Vermeer lighting and how it could be created and used in modern photography to give photos a soft and painterly look, it would have been a better use of pages.In general, I would have liked to have seen more detail and depth in this book. Great as an introduction--not so great if you already know what a softbox is and how to use a curves adjustment layer in Photoshop.