99 Portrait Photo Ideas by Annabel Williams
99 Portrait Photo Ideas
by Annabel Williams
ISBN: 9781906245016
RRP: £23
To say that Annabel Williams’ style of portraiture has become very popular is an understatement of mammoth proportion. She is one of the pioneers of lifestyle portraiture and is largely responsible for dragging social photography, kicking and screaming, into this century. Her courses have taught hundreds how to follow in her footsteps, and many now run businesses of their own.
99 Portrait Photo Ideas is Annabel’s latest book, but it isn’t aimed exclusively at those wanting to make a living out of photography, as the introductory chapters soon make clear. Annabel has always been of the opinion that photographic technique can play second fiddle to interpersonal skills when it comes to portraiture, but to be honest (in this book at least) she goes too far down this route. Phrases like “Your camera is like your washing machine. Set it on Auto and let it do its job,” do not inspire me with confidence that a reader is going to learn how to cope in every situation that they are presented with. I get that Annabel would like us stop worrying about f/stops and pay attention to the subject, but this can equally be achieved by knowing your camera so well that it becomes second nature.
But perhaps this is being unfair. As I say, this is not a book aimed exclusively at potential professional photographers and as we progress through the book, we encounter some of the people skills that Annabel is famous for - and this is like gold dust. Chapters on how to direct people during a portrait shoot, work with teenagers, group families together and find locations that flatter your subjects are all brilliantly put together. The writing style is typically enthusiastic (the introductory spread contains no fewer than 17 exclamation marks!), but anyone who has spent any time with Annabel or her business partner Catherine Connor will know this is absolutely representative of their philosophy(!)
Though better suited to beginners; experienced professionals looking for new ideas for their own lifestyle portraiture could do an awful lot worse than have a look at this book.
Words: Ian Farrell
