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ABOUT THE BOOK

This unique book is a photographer’s guide to the powerful medium of the environmental portrait. It explores in lucid detail the many "moving parts" of this imaging style, including the techniques and creative processes that drive some of this genre’s finest contemporary practitioners.

In Environmental Portraiture, author Jim Cornfield puts his readers behind the viewfinder to help them successfully master what he calls "the portrait photographer’s most high-powered tool." In a series of detailed tutorial chapters and study models, Cornfield unpacks every practical aspect of the environmental portrait scenario, including research, location scouting, lighting interior and exterior environments, props and wardrobe, lens selection, composition, color, and after-capture.

Along with this wealth of comprehensive nuts-and-bolts information, the book probes the deep structure of environmental portraiture—the blend of a sitter’s backstory with the meaningful visual clues in their surroundings. He introduces such concepts as "portraitcraft," "cognitive weight," and "the ideas and emotions quotient," among the many dimensions of an environmental portrait that create eye-opening revelations about the person in front of your lens.

A separate section of the book is devoted to a prestigious roster of contemporary environmental portraitists, specifically recruited for this book to explore in-depth selected samples from their diverse portfolios. They bring with them a score of insights, tips and fascinating anecdotes that demonstrate their individualized approaches to this versatile branch of the photographer’s craft.

Written for professionals, amateurs and serious students of photography, this book is both a guide and inspiration to creating powerful, communicative environmental portraiture.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I: Fundamentals

Chapter One: Discovering the Environmental Portrait—A Memoir

Chapter Two: Portraiture and the Invisible Thread

Chapter Three: Deconstructing the Environmental Portrait, Phase One: A Look Backward

Chapter Four: Deconstructing the Environmental Portrait, Phase Two: In The Here And Now

Chapter Five: Executing the Environmental Portrait: The Opening Gambit

Part II: The Environmental Portrait In The Real World

Study Models: Ways to Actualize the Environmental Portrait

"The Four T’s": A Template—a Guide for Organizing and Creating Serious Environmental Portraiture

• The Tale
• The Task
• The Tactics
• The Tools

Chapter Six: Study Model

• The Four T’s At Work
• Professor Steve Mayo and the Ethos of a Great University

Chapter Seven: Study Model

• Kid Thomas on The Vieux Carré

Chapter Eight: Study Model

• Tony Costanza in the Lair of The Rat Pack
• The Bartender Project

Chapter Nine: Study Model:

• Craig Calfee and the Bamboo Bicycle

Chapter Ten: Study Model

• Albert Lee, Country Music’s Most Famous Unknown Artist

Chapter Eleven: Study Model:

• Capt. Curry and the Saga of Aqua 2

Part III: Masters Of The Environmental Portrait - An Annotated Portfolio

Introduction to Part III

Chapter Twelve: Portraitcraft

• Michael Grecco

Chapter Thirteen: Community

• Phil Borges
• Rania Matar
• Tom Atwood

Chapter Fourteen: Interactions

• Eric Myer

Chapter Fifteen: The Art Of Improvising

• Al Satterwhite

Chapter Sixteen: The Fictive Persona

• Larry Schiller
• Michael Wilson

Chapter Seventeen: Dr. Light

• Lou Jones

Chapter Eighteen: The Gold Standard

• Joe McNally
• Cathy Church and the Total Immersion Environmental Portrait

A Parting Word: On Newman, Self-Confidence, and the Critics in The Room Next Door