Secrets of Great Portrait Photography: Photographs of the Famous and Infamous

Product Author Bios

For the past 30 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith's bold, iconic portraits of famous celebrities, athletes, and executives have appeared in advertising and graced the covers and pages of such magazines as LIFE, Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, Time, Forbes, New York Times Magazine, and British GQ. Smith won the Pulitzer Prize for his photographs of the Los Angeles Olympics and was a Pulitzer finalist for his photographs of Haiti in turmoil. He's a Sony Artisan of Imagery, Lowepro Lowe Professional, X-Rite Coloratti, and he's president of Editorial Photographers, an organization of the top magazine photographers and newspaper photojournalists from around the world.

In this sexy, bold book, Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Brian Smith tells the stories behind the photos and lessons learned in 30 years of photographing celebrities and people from all walks of life. Smith’s long list of famous and infamous subjects includes pro basketball players Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’Neal; billionaires Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Donald Trump; tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams; actors Anne Hathaway, Antonio Banderas, Christopher Walken, Taye Diggs, Jane Krakowski, and William H. Macy; and many more.

You’ll get the inside scoop on what goes on at a celebrity photo shoot in this gorgeous guide to making professional portraits. Smith has mastered how to make a meaningful portrait on a magazine’s budget and on a celebrity’s schedule, which can sometimes be 15 minutes or less. Smith reveals his tips on connecting with people, finding the perfect location, telling a great story through portraiture, getting the ideal pose, capturing emotion and gestures, arranging unique group shots, and lighting the scene just right. You might not be photographing the rich and famous, but after reading Smith’s tell-all guide, you’ll know how to give everyone who makes their way in front of your camera the star treatment.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Connect with People
Chapter 2: Find the Place
Chapter 3: Find the Angle
Chapter 4: Tell the Story
Chapter 5: Sweat the Small Stuff
Chapter 6: Don't Mess with a Good Thing
Chapter 7: Pose, Gesture, Emotion
Chapter 8: Less is More
Chapter 9: See the Light
Chapter 10: Group Portraits Without Formality
Chapter 11: Create the Look
Chapter 12: Lights, Camera, Lens
Chapter 13: Assignments
Chapter 14: Asked and Answered Celebrities include: Venus and Serena Williams, Randy Quaid, Gene Hackman, Cindy Crawford, boxer Christy Martin, Tim Hardaway, Donald Trump, George Hamilton, Bill Gates, Leslie Nielsen, The Bee Gees, Jose Canseco, Antonio Banderas, Shaquille O'Neal, John Turturro, Anne Hathaway, Ben Stiller, Sylvester Stallone, Don King, Jane Krakowski, and Christopher Walken.

Sample Pages

Download Chapter 4 TELL THE STORY