Over 256 pages, regular Digital Camera World contributor James Abbott (opens in new tab) shares his expert image editing insights for users of Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo.Īs he notes in his introduction, “post-production can make the difference between a good image and a great image,” and the remaining 11 chapters show you how to turn your photos into great ones.įrom making basic adjustments to more advanced black and white, color, and special effects, it’s all here.

See also The best books on portrait photography (opens in new tab) But when it's someone at the top of his game like this, there's a huge amount any photographer can learn here.

Note that this is not so much a step-by-step training manual or reference guide as an insight into how one man approaches his art. Hurley also shares his trade secrets for getting genuine smiles and authentic expressions rather than people's standard 'photo face' that always makes a headshot look dull and lifeless. You'll learn the same techniques the author used to take amazing headshots of Fortune 500 CEOs, actors, and public figures, from lighting your subjects correctly to putting them in flattering positions. So if you want to know how to take professional-looking headshots, this book by professional portraitist Peter Hurley is just what you need. In the modern social media age, having a decent-looking head-and-shoulders portrait is something that concerns everyone, not just actors and models.

Kelby really does write like you're standing next to you, and while that might sometimes be off-putting (depending on whether you 'get' his sense of humor), there's no denying that these tricks really work, whether you're a beginner or an experienced photographer. So you learn how using a different setting, tool or trick in a particular situation can truly transform the quality of your work, and make it look more like the work of a pro than an amateur. In exactly that spirit, this book offers more than 200 photographic tricks of the trade, to help you get looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos, explained in the same way you would in a normal conversation. 'In real life, I’d just say, 'Put on your zoom lens, set your f-stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.''

“If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, with the background out of focus?,' I wouldn't stand there and give you a photography lecture,' he says. Here's how author Scott Kelby, co-host of Photoshop User TV, explains it. This book takes an approach to improve your photography that makes perfect sense to us.

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