Rating: 
Summary: A GOOD COMBINATION OF DIDACTIC, SIMPLICITY AND RESULT.
Review: AS IT IS SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS BOOK NO MATTER WHETHER YOU ARE A LONGTIME PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER, A NEW STUDENT OR SIMPLY TAKE PHOTOGRAPHY AS A HOBBY.
I ALWAYS SHOW AND RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO MY STUDENTS.IN EACH CHAPTER YOU WILL FIND PRACTICAL, IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING ADVICES TO POSING SIMPLES, COUPLES AND GROUPS. THERE ARE MUCH TO LEARN OR RECONSIDER IN THIS GUIDE.YOU WILL REALIZE HOW MANY LITTLE THINGS ARE DONE FREQUENTLY AVOIDING OUR PICTURES LOOK BEST.AN EXCELLENT ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL IS DIDACTICALLY FEATURED.
AFTER READING THIS GUIDE NO ONE WILL FIND MUCH DIFFICULTY ABOUT POSING. IT IS AN ESSENTIAL AND PLEASANT WORTHY READING BOOK
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK Must Have for any PHOTOGRAPHER
Review: Everything you need to know about posing children,groups,pets you name it it's there.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Investment
Review: If you've moved beyond the very basic of photography - the rules of thirds, getting on the floor to photograph the baby at eye level, then this book is for you. It explains how to see relationships of the body, i.e. shoulders as a base to head. How to slim down a heavy person by twisting the hip and moving arms away from body. The book covers detail to body parts such as hands, feet, legs, and how to posture them. Author is heavy on the 80% mental / 20 % technical, which is true. Heavy emphasis on communication with subjects - which makes for better posing / relationship with the camera and photographer. Useless are the books with picture after picture of excellent posing. They don't teach you how to look at the person first and then feel out the best poses for person to strike. I found it more effective use of my time to use knowledge gained from this book, rather than trying to copycat poses from other books. Drawback of the book? Doesn't elaborate on technical terms like Rules of Thirds, and at times does not draw diagram to illustrate: "...a line running through the pit of the neck and drawn perpendicular to the floor shows where the feet must be placed in order ..." However there are a lot of photographs that serve as examples - the bad paired with good to illustrate the book's advice / concept .
Rating:
Summary: "Posing Guide" Covers a Broad Range
Review: J.D. Wacker, one of the country's formost portrait photographers, has put together a book that redirects photographers back to the essentials of their craft. Too many books and articles today teach tricks and techniques that rely on fads or the latest (but soon to be obsolete)equipment. They forget that the most important aspect of photographic success is the photographer's own perception and insight into his subject's personality, not the equipment that he is using. This is the joy in reading this book. Nothing gets between you and the subject.Mr. Wacker covers posing children, high school seniors, women, men, groups, action, among other things. Unlike other books on the subject, he also covers problem situations. Things do not always go as smoothly in real life as they do in predesigned examples. His book is filled with practical tips, from how to keep a baby happy to how to pose an executive. (A hint, they both have to be photographed quickly, but the executive will probably not respond as well to the bubbles.) I recommend this book to anyone who's photography concentrates on people. Although it is written primarily for professional photographers, it is refreshingly free of jargon and would be useful for anyone who wants better photographs of their friends and relatives. I guarantee that the information in this book will make a difference.
Rating: 
Summary: Not really what I expected
Review: My guess is that anyone who purchases this volume will be interested in making portraits that will reveal the person photographed and perhaps, to use an art school phrase, show his or her soul. This book will not do that. At most, it might give you a few tips that could make your pictures more attractive. However I really can't recommend this book to anyone. Some photography instruction books set out a few key principles and then develop techniques from them. This lets you form a picture in your mind of what you want and then manipulate the environment and your photographic tools to create that picture. Unfortunately this author doesn't develop the kind of approach to posing that would help you pre-visualize a portrait and then adjust the sitter's pose to fit that concept. Instead Wacker bombards you with a number of small rules that you may have to keep reviewing regularly unless you have great recall. He says "don't keep people on flat feet; don't show women's knuckles; turn the body plane away from the camera for a thinner look". At the other end of the scale the author frequently reminded me to be imaginative, involved and open to learning. The book is organized into three parts: the psychology of posing; the mechanics of posing and posing in practice. The psychology section seemed rather elementary but adequate, emphasizing points like building confidence and getting to know the subject. What should have been the meat was contained in the mechanics section. For example, there's a chapter on posing tools, in which the author discusses such items as adjustable stools, stepladders, carpet pads and posing tables. But I didn't learn anything about how to use these tools or when one might be more appropriate than another. I found the section on posing in practice very frustrating. This part is organized into chapters on children, high school seniors, men, women, etc. Most of these chapters offered advice that didn't help me. For example the chapter on women admonished me to pay attention to details they (presumably the author means women) find important, be sensitive, place the body to emphasize gracefulness and femininity, and build excitement. Some photographers might pick up a point or two from Wacker that will improve their portraits, but I'm certain the average photographer would learn more about posing from any good general portraiture book. I certainly found that I learned a lot more about posing from the book "Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography" by Douglas Allen Box, which doesn't even purport to be a posing guide. Unless you really need a book with just posing tips, look elsewhere to become a better portrait photographer.
Rating:
Summary: A book you don't need
Review: My guess is that anyone who purchases this volume will be interested in making portraits that will reveal the person photographed and perhaps, to use an art school phrase, show his or her soul. This book will not do that. At most, it might give you a few tips that could make your pictures more attractive. However I really can't recommend this book to anyone. Some photography instruction books set out a few key principles and then develop techniques from them. This lets you form a picture in your mind of what you want and then manipulate the environment and your photographic tools to create that picture. Unfortunately this author doesn't develop the kind of approach to posing that would help you pre-visualize a portrait and then adjust the sitter's pose to fit that concept. Instead Wacker bombards you with a number of small rules that you may have to keep reviewing regularly unless you have great recall. He says "don't keep people on flat feet; don't show women's knuckles; turn the body plane away from the camera for a thinner look". At the other end of the scale the author frequently reminded me to be imaginative, involved and open to learning. The book is organized into three parts: the psychology of posing; the mechanics of posing and posing in practice. The psychology section seemed rather elementary but adequate, emphasizing points like building confidence and getting to know the subject. What should have been the meat was contained in the mechanics section. For example, there's a chapter on posing tools, in which the author discusses such items as adjustable stools, stepladders, carpet pads and posing tables. But I didn't learn anything about how to use these tools or when one might be more appropriate than another. I found the section on posing in practice very frustrating. This part is organized into chapters on children, high school seniors, men, women, etc. Most of these chapters offered advice that didn't help me. For example the chapter on women admonished me to pay attention to details they (presumably the author means women) find important, be sensitive, place the body to emphasize gracefulness and femininity, and build excitement. Some photographers might pick up a point or two from Wacker that will improve their portraits, but I'm certain the average photographer would learn more about posing from any good general portraiture book. I certainly found that I learned a lot more about posing from the book "Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography" by Douglas Allen Box, which doesn't even purport to be a posing guide. Unless you really need a book with just posing tips, look elsewhere to become a better portrait photographer.
Rating: 
Summary: No Explaination about Lighting
Review: The author explained very detail about posing basic. It's good book to learn about posing. This book is good to read for beginner in this business. It's also have posing in practise for Children, High School Senior, Men, Women, Weddings, Models, Couples, Families, Teams, Groups, and Pets. But there are no explanations about Lighting; you must read another book about it.
Rating:
Summary: Not really what I expected
Review: The irony struck me: as I thumbed through the opening words by the author I knew istantly I had not purchased what I intened...that is, a posing guide. While the author markets this book as such and while it does give a few pointers, this book was not a guide to posing at all. Some of the photographs looked awkward and if Wacker doesn't pose his subjects as he suggests then what exactly is he trying to sell here? A book about allowing people to pose themselves and look gangly and uncomfortable?
Rating:
Summary: Great Information.
Review: This book explains clearly how to set up portrait shots of different kinds of people in different settings. Well organized with good examples of images.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: This book is very easy to read and explains all technical issues but in an easy to understand manner! Good examples throughout the book along with some sensational pictures that just make you smile! I ordered two books on posing & portrait photography and the Master Posing Guide book is SO MUCH BETTER than the other book which was good reference but was too technical to read smoothly, and the author used more professional equipment than I could afford to own at this time.
In the Master Posing Guide the primary camera used was a Canon Rebel 2000 which is the camera I own so made it seem like an extra bonus!
I'd give this book 10 stars if I could!
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