Picture Perfect Practice: A Self-Training Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Taking World-Class Photographs

Foreword by Skip Cohen Translating the chaos of the real world into a breathtakingly simple, beautiful photograph can often seem like an impossible task. With busy, cluttered backgrounds and subjects who dont know how to pose, how can you take control and get a great shot no matter the situation? InPicture Perfect Practice, photographer Roberto Valenzuela breaks down the craft of photography into three key elementslocations, poses, and executionthat you can use to unlock the photographic opportunities lying beneath every challenging situation. Valenzuela stresses the need for photographers to actively practice their craft every dayjust like you would practice a musical instrumentin order to master the art of making great images. With chapters that offer practice exercises to strengthen your photographic abilities, youll learn how to approach a scene, break it down, and see your way to a great photograph. The Location section features chapters that cover symmetry, balance, framing, color elements, textures, and much more. The Posing section includes the Five Key Posing Techniques that Valenzuela uses every time hes shooting people, as well as a complete list of poses and how to achieve, customize, and perfect them. The Execution portion, with sections like Lighting through Direction and Simplicity through Subtraction, reveals Valenzuelas overall approach to getting the shot. The book also includes an inspiring and helpful chapter on deliberate practice techniques, where Valenzuela describes his system for practicing and analyzing his work, which leads to constant improvement as a photographer. If youve been frustrated and overwhelmed by the challenges of real-world locations, posing your subjects, or executing a great imageor if you simply want to become a better shooter but dont know where to startPicture Perfect Practice gives you the tools and information you need to finally become the kind of photographer youve always wanted to be: the kind who can confidently walk into any location, under any lighting condition, with any subject, and know that you can create astonishing photographs that have a timeless impact.