The Magic Of Photography, Vol. 1

Professional photographer and author Gary Bernstein (Pro Techniques of People Photography, 10 Secrets For Taking Dynamic Photographs) is the host and instructor for this guide to shooting glamour photography. After a rather silly opening skit featuring Kay Sutton York, and a pointless-but thankfully brief-cameo by Lee Majors, the program finally gets down to business. Bernstein conducts a series of shoots using a male model, a female model, and both, in a variety of in studio settings requiring a number of different lighting arrangements. In addition to the numerous tips that Bernstein offers derived from years of experience in the field, complete lighting diagrams are shown before and after each shoot, so that viewers can accurately recreate each session. Although the program does offer suggestions for using inexpensive equipment "at home," the overall feeling one gets from watching this tape is that it's aimed at budding professionals. For one thing, only a professional photographer could possibly want to watch a pair of vacuous and vapid poster people being "cooed" at for the better part of an hour. However, there are enough tips here to benefit the amateur shutterbug to warrant purchase. Recommended. (Available from: Mike Craven Productions, P.O. Box 4012, Hollywood, CA 90078;1-800-932-2432.)