Rating: 
Summary: View for the professional photographer
Review: As a professional wedding (PPA), and landscape photographer, I found this book to be almost as useful as a $700 seminar with the author. You save $680 plus lodging and travel. The book is an easy read, yet it does not dummy down. Well illustrated lighting diagrams for each lession, it moves directly to instruction, no fat, no sugar. The personality of the book is very friendly. I will retain and use each lession described in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Should be called Sunset Photography
Review: Box is obvoiusly a talented Photograher, but if your looking for ideas on how to make great looking portraits at all times during they day, this is NOT your book. Nearly every one of the outdoor photographs in this book are taken at sunset. He constantly talks about finding good light, and that's the big trick, but he's obviosly not even very good at it since he can only find good light at sunset. ANY half-rate photographer can find good light at sunset or dusk. If you want a book about taking outdoor shots, get Jeff Smith's "Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography." Smith makes Box looks likes he's a beginner. Nearly every shot in Smith's book is NOT at dusk. This book is really about posing, and understanding how to make artistic outdoor portraits (at dusk of course). He talks more about group photography and dressing your subjects in like clothing where Smith's book is about individual portraiture. The photo on the cover is probably the best image Box has ever taken, and there's 2 or 3 other high quality captures as well. Smith's book is littered with high quality shots, and amazingly most of them were taken during mid-day, and he even shows you how he accomplished the task. Douglass Allen Box's "Natural Light Portrait Photography" is for the amateur who wants to improve their group photography skil outdoors where time is really of no concern. Where your willing to sit around for hours waiting for "perfect" light.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty cover but that's all. Content is fluff.
Review: I buy a lot of books and this is the first that has ever so drastically underwhelmed me. As someone who has made a fairly good income in photography on the side, I wanted to learn more about informal outdoor portraiture (not weddings) in natural light and settings. The cover photograph is quite nice, but unfortunately is the best in the book. The rest are barely mediocre, especially for a photographer who reminds us throughout he text that he's endorsed by Hasselblad University. In the beginning of this book, he claims it is for both the professional and for the mom who want to take better photos. It is for neither since it doesn't have enough of the basics for the uninitiated, and only talks about medium format focal lengths which the "mom" typically wouldn't be using nor understand the comparison to her 35mm lens focal lengths. (He could have added in parenthesis the equivalent length for 35mm camera), and neither does it cater to the pros desire for technical information by not publishing much data about each shot. The nitty gritty of why this book is fluff: Photographer Douglas Allen Box continually glosses over pertinent technical information so vaguely that you wonder if you missed a paragraph or a page, while he goes on in depth about posing and clothing choices for your subject. At first thumbing through the pages, you'll see all sorts of 2 dimensional sketches next to some photos - that seems promising - until you actually try to match what is going on in the sketch to what is going on in the photo. They are often turned at odd angles to eachother - and often are actually wrong when you decipher the elements. Not helpful. He describes a few tools and their use so inadequately he shouldn't bother mentioning them at all. Take these four examples: (1) A translucent light modifier has a page dedicated to it, yet there is no photo of one, nor is there a diagram showing how he placed it, nor a before picture to see what happens if one does not use it. (2) He complains that in one photograph he would have made a better photo with a longer lens that he did not own at the time of that portrait sitting. Well, set up a new one for this book and show us the difference - one with the shorter focal length and one longer - give us a diagram showing the difference in placement and the resultant photo. (3) His LIght Finder cube - in one passage he keeps refering to "the other two sides" but does not explain whether these are the dark sides, or light sides. A full page-and-a-half of vague description that leave one scratching one's head about a tool you really do not need in the first place. (4) He talks about blocking the overhead light when it is not naturally blocked, but never actually shows a diagram of how one might arrange such a set up, what tools and placement etc. Lastly, when Box talks about adding flash he really ought to add a page or two for the uninitiated that explains why he's simply setting his flash at f8.5 and receiving different results. The accompanying text is exceptionally vague - yet he displays resulting photographs all extremely different from one another. I guess he leaves it up to us to buy another book that explains flash in a more satisfactory manner and then reapply it to his posing techniques of like-dressed people. All in all, a complete flop unless you are very interested in learning how to pose and dress your subject. I'll be returning this one to Amazon quickly. Don't waste your money and time.
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational book for the amateur or professional
Review: I came across Mr. Box's book recently while in the library browsing photography books. I've been interested in protrait photography, but haven't studied it a lot as my main photographic interest tends to be outdoor/landscape photos. After thumbing through this, I checked it out and I'm really glad I did. Box does a wonderful job of explaining the thought processes that go into his photography as well as a bit of the technical details so you can pull off similar shots. Much of the advice contained in this book is intuitive, practical advice, but it's amazing how often little adjustments could make regular photos into fantastic portraits. If you're looking to expand into a new photographic genre, or are just looking for fresh ideas, you may want to look into purchasing this book. The layout is really easy to follow as each two-page spread has a portrait on one page and the explanation on the facing page. This way one doesn't have to flip to understand or see examples. Like a couple of the other reviewers, I wouldn't have minded a longer book, but there is certainly enough inspiration in this book to keep me busy for a while. Now I just gotta grab a few rolls of Portra and get out there!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, useful, beautiful book
Review: I got this book based on good reviews, and now I can add my own. I've been shooting professionally for several years, but I still gleaned much information on seeing light outdoors, and especially on posing different types of groups and subjects on location. If you're just starting out, get this book. If you've been around the block for a while and need some fresh ideas, get this book.
Rating:
Summary: #1 Natural Light Photography Book
Review: I have a number of photography lighting books and this is the very best natural light book I have ever read. Sometimes photography book authors will go from one extreme of only explaining the laws of physics in lighting without explaining practical application to the other extreme of showing images with very little explanation. Doug's book is easy to understand and concise, professional, and yet makes the instruction achievable. His excellent skills as a teacher and his enthusiasm as a photographer are on every page.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST book on natural light portraiture I have found!
Review: I have been looking for a while for a book that had straightforward information on posing and lighting and this book is it! It is very easy to read and gives ideas for how to pose a subject so that the light is flattering to their face and more interesting than flat light. The ideas are simple, but they make a big difference! If you are interested in making better natural light portraits, get this book!
Rating:
Summary: The BEST book on natural light portraiture I have found!
Review: I have been looking for a while for a book that had straightforward information on posing and lighting and this book is it! It is very easy to read and gives ideas for how to pose a subject so that the light is flattering to their face and more interesting than flat light. The ideas are simple, but they make a big difference! If you are interested in making better natural light portraits, get this book!
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource
Review: I highly recommend this book - I've been looking for a guide/resource like this for years. "Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography" is well written, very comprehensive, and supports the written words with excellent photos and diagrams. I'm a serious amateur photographer - both of friends and family and for travel/vacation - and have won a number of awards for my photos. I find that more and more of my shots are of people, even when travelling. This book suggests many well thought out natural light posing and composition techniques - natural light sources, backgrounds, props, metering, even clothing. The book also covers topics such as working with kids and "difficult" situations. Many of the topics apply equally to candid or quick shots. Wish I'd had the book a few years ago.
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource
Review: I highly recommend this book - I've been looking for a guide/resource like this for years. "Professional Secrets of Natural Light Portrait Photography" is well written, very comprehensive, and supports the written words with excellent photos and diagrams. I'm a serious amateur photographer - both of friends and family and for travel/vacation - and have won a number of awards for my photos. I find that more and more of my shots are of people, even when travelling. This book suggests many well thought out natural light posing and composition techniques - natural light sources, backgrounds, props, metering, even clothing. The book also covers topics such as working with kids and "difficult" situations. Many of the topics apply equally to candid or quick shots. Wish I'd had the book a few years ago.
| 
