Digital Photography is a remarkable thing. Less than 20 years ago were used film only for capturing our pictures. Then the first digital cameras came on the market, the first ones that were affordable to us everyday mortals from then on it seems like digital camera technology kicked in the warp drive and we have been blazing across the digital imaging universe at break neck speeds ever since. But, digital cameras are not the only things that have done this. The software we use to edit and improve our images has made great strides as well. The other tools we use photographic lights, lenses, memory cards, flash units and more have also done a pretty good job of keeping pace.

But, one area that has been hit and miss in digital photography is how to take a picture of people and get the skin tones right. Let's face it there are almost as many colors skin and shades of those colors of skin as there are stars in the sky. Each one a little different, each one requiring a little different treatment at the time of photographic capture and each one needing a little different post processing mojo as well. But, what are the rules for adjusting images of people, what are the rules for getting skin tones that look right and are pleasing, when is it ok to break those rules, how do you best light people to get the best skin tones? Until recently, each person was on their own and basically had to learn by trial and error. No more. Skin Front Cover | Back Cover by Lee Varis from Sybex (Wiley Publishing Inc.) answers all of these questions and more. This full color almost coffee table like book is loaded with color photos of people and yes of course their skin. There are lots of samples of what does and doesn't work and why. Mr. Varis covers the zone system and how it applies to people and their skin, he covers using studio lighting as well as other lighting tools, the different kinds of natural light and how to get it to do what you want for the effect you want and he even includes lighting and subject placement diagrams for many of these setups so not only can you see what he is talking about you can reproduce the effect yourself often time the perfect skin comes down to the placement of a few lights in the just the right place that is why these lighting and subject placement diagrams are so great.

There is a really nice section of special effects like soft diffused glows and more. This is a 404 page book that deals with people their skin and how to get the best shots of both using your digital camera, lighting, reflectors and image editing software. It is easy to read and Mr. Varis keeps the jargon down and is very clear in his explanations on why things work the way they do. All the major skin colors are covered from white, to brown, to black and more. So no matter what kind of people shots you take you can do their skin and them justice.

Chapters:

Chapter 1: Digital Imaging Basics

Chapter 2: Color Management, Workflow and Calibration

Chapter 3: Lighting and Photographing People

Chapter 4: The Color of Skin

Chapter 5: Tone and Contrast: Color and Black and White

Chapter 6: Retouching

Chapter 7: Special Effects

Chapter 8: Preparing for Print

Chapter 9: Parting Shot

Also, included with the book is a CD that contains the tutorials in the book with numerous before and after sample image files. You'll also find technical reference materials to enhance and reinforce your learning. If you have always wanted to take stunning people portraits and be able to make adjustments to the images for getting that perfect skin this is the book for you. A must have for any portrait or street photographer that likes to shoot pictures of people.