Creative 52: Weekly Projects to Invigorate Your Photography Portfolio
A powerful portfolio involves so much more than just a strong grasp of the technical aspects of photography–it’s a complex mix of style, techniques, and intriguing ideas. Many photographers struggle to achieve a high-impact portfolio, feeling that they lack the creative spark to invigorate them and move their work forward.
Creative 52 is that spark–and your guide to a new and more creative portfolio in just one year! A remedy for that “average” portfolio, this collection of innovative projects will help portrait, wedding, and fashion photographers build a portfolio that draws the attention of editors and clients–leaving the competition behind. While other how-to books often use bland imagery simply to prove a technical point, and many fine art books are filled with beautiful imagery but contain minimal (if any) educational insights to help working photographers, this book blends both: inspiration and knowledge that you can use to create images that attract potential clients.
Divided into three parts–concept, technique, and post-processing–author Lindsay Adler’s 52 challenges each contain a description of the project, potential inspiration and suggestions of other artists to check out, and her own unique solution to the challenge–all to push you beyond your comfort zone to explore new ideas and approaches to your work.
- Includes a year’s worth of weekly projects that motivate you to experiment with new concepts, techniques, and software tools like Adobe Photoshop to achieve more eye-catching images
- Offers the cure for “expected” imagery, showing how to produce memorable photographs that are distinct from the competition, enabling you to reach new clients
- Empowers you with the encouragement and expertise necessary to create spectacular images
Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models
Photographer, author, and educator Roberto Valenzuela has a proven track record for teaching and explaining difficult concepts to photographers of all skill levels. His remarkable ability to break down complicated ideas into understandable, approachable elements that photographers can truly grasp–and then use their newfound knowledge to improve their photography–made his first book, Picture Perfect Practice, a breakout success.
In Picture Perfect Posing, Roberto takes on the art of posing. For many photographers, after learning to compose an image and even light it properly, a portrait can still easily be a failure if the pose is not natural, elegant, and serving the needs of both the subject and the photographer. Instead of just showing page after page of poses–like most posing books on the market–Roberto actually breaks down the concept of posing by examining the anatomy, starting with the core foundation: the spinal chord and neck. Building from there, Roberto discusses every component of what makes poses work, as well as fail. How should the model hold her hands? Bend her elbows? Position her fingers? Should the model look toward or away from the camera, and why? It all depends on what the photographer wants for the shot, and Roberto discusses the entire process, from the intent of the photographer through the execution of the pose. For those who have been discouraged by an inability to pose their subjects, or who have simply not known where to start in order to “figure it out,” Picture Perfect Posing is the essential resource they need to learn how posing truly works, and how they can learn to direct the exact pose they need for the shot they want.
Spring Some Swag Contest
You can win (1) Creative 52 by Lindsay Adler and (1) Picture Perfect Posing by Roberto Valenzuela from Peachpit with the Spring Some Swag contest from Tether Tools! Read the rules and regulations then head over to our Facebook page today and finish this sentence: “If I could pick to have a photography book to be written, I would choose to have it focus on the topic of ______.”
About Peachpit
Peachpit offers unique learning experiences in the fields of photography, graphic design, Web design and development, digital video, and more. Since 1986, our award-winning products have featured step-by-step explanations, timesaving techniques, savvy insider tips, and expert advice for all ages or levels of experience.
Peachpit is the home of the internationally recognized Classroom in a Book series, the design imprint New Riders and its highly popular Voices That Matter series, and is the publishing partner for Adobe, The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), Apple and others. Peachpit’s ground- breaking new products, including MyGraphicsLab and other online courses and digital content, have made it indispensable for classrooms, software certifications, and on-the-go learners.
Whether online or in print, Peachpit has always been committed to developing new ways to share information and make lifelong learning as accessible and engaging as possible.
