Stuart writes with the passion and fluidity of an author comfortable with both his subject matter and passionate about its communication. Most of us as photographers wish to see our work published, but lack either the knowledge, the confidence or the means with which to move them from being merely a collection of images resident on our hard drive and viewed only by family members and loyal friends to works of art appreciated by a wider, more discerning and objective audience.

This is where Stuart’s book steps in neatly from stage left to whisper the answers.

In the pragmatic and digestible format typical of a Craft & Vision eBook, Stuart leads us through the various options. He reviews the use of social media and blogs to share your images and to increase the audience that views them.

He looks at Photo sites where you can display and sell your images, and digs deep into the world of self-publishing whether that it is print, canvas or a beautiful coffee table book.

He looks at the use of color correction software for the post processing, viewing and printing of images at home to ensure a consistency and faithful reproduction of the detail you worked so hard to capture in the first place.

And if this was not already worth the $5 price tag, each chapter is brimming with beautiful and inspirational images. I was with Stuart when he took a number of those images, including the cover image, and it is testament to his vision as a photographer and his ability to capture a compelling composition that makes this eBook such a visual treat.

But is it the wealth of tips and insights that really make this eBook invaluable. I particularly liked the personal “workflow” that Stuart shares for each chapter. This feature helps to anchor your belief that the advice dispensed is pragmatic, but it also makes it real and achievable for the non-professional photographer. It acts as the bridge that will inspire all of to seek out that local craft fair, or create and publish our own Blurb book.

In short this is an eBook that will open up a new world to many of you. The thrill of having your work printed, published and bought. As an eBook it stands firmly in the Craft & Vision stable as part pragamtic advice (Craft) and part inspiration (vision).

But in addition – and this is an important addition – it will also become a key catalyst for many of us to move our photrgraphic journeys forward. It will get us to stop thinking that “My images aren’t good enough” or “nobody will be interested in buying that” and give us the confidence and the wherewithal to get out there and share.

Buy it.

It is only $5 and if you don’t make that back from the sale of your first image then you can tickle me with a feather and call me Daphne.

The Craft and Vision approach is characterized by well written, engaging short eBooks, with superb layout and visual identity combined with a relaxed yet consistent editorial style. The latest of these superb publications – and at $5 a complete bargain – is penned by David himself.

“Forget Mugshots – 10 steps to better portraits” does pretty much what it says on the tin. There are 10 steps – actually quite detailed sections – that deconstruct the “secret sauce” of professional and compelling portraits, providing invaluable insights and ideas that you immediately want to go and try.

As is often the case with the Craft and Vision series, this new eBook is not just a theoretical insight into a topic. “Forget Mugshots – 10 steps to better portraits” also contains a practical exercise for each of the steps that will help you understand, practice and retain the key messages of that section. This combination of insight, explanation and exercise is why these ebooks are so useful.

David captures your interest right up front in the introduction. “A snapshot is a photograph of something. A portrait is a photograph about something”. And we are off.

In his 10 Steps – which I am not going to reveal in totality here so that you are incentivized to go and buy the eBook – he covers a range of concepts starting with how to relate to the subject and which lens or compositional style works in different circumstances. David touches on specific aspects of faces – the eyes, the smile – because these are so fundamental to the character of the finished portrait and gives some excellent tips and ideas for us to consider. As importantly, he explores the use of light and its effect on the impact of the portrait; the selection of background, the point of view as well as tackling the “posed vs the spontaneous” image.

As is often the case with David’s writing, this eBook stimulates you to go pick up a camera and try. There is no prescription her: No “take this lens” or “make sure you do this”. Rather there are 10 steps that will help you refine your approach. The skill of course is how we blend those steps, how much emphasis or pressure we put on a certain choices.

I am reminded of the metaphor of the carpenter and his tools. Just because we both go to carpentry school and are taught how to use a plane, a chisel, a jigsaw or a router, does not mean that we both come out master craftsmen. One of us might go on to make beautiful hand made Chippendale furniture and the other struggle to put up shelves. So there are parallels with photography. It is not only about having the tools/gear but rather about understanding the craft and how we can apply that to create our vision

This latest eBook is a glimpse at how a leader in photographic vision uses his mastery of his craft to create compelling portraits. By deconstructing each image – providing a back story if you like to some of the decisions and choices he faced or made – he helps us to understand better the choices and steps that we can take on similar – but different – journeys.BUt beyond that there are the insights and the exercise that turn this eBook into an invaluable tool on its own.

So my advice to you is click on this link and go buy the eBook. For less than the cost of one of those insipid milky coffees from the “TooManyBucks” coffee store, you can have hours of pleasure, an educational read or even just bask in the glow of 10 compelling portraits.

Worth it just for that.

In fact even better than that….If you use the MUGSHOTS4 promo code when you check out you will get it for $4 (applies Mar 13-Mar 17th only) or use MUGSHOSTS20 to get 20% off when you buy 5+ eBooks. Does it get any better!

“Drawing the Eye” refers to the way that we look at pictures and how composition can help to utilise that to make a picture truly compelling. The point of this latest eBook is to help the photographer understand what draws the eye.

David has divided the book into 3 parts – illustrated throughout of course with his stunning images, including some from his recent Lumen Dei Trip. Part one focuses on the the subtitle – visual mass. He explains what it is and why it matters and why factors such as the human figure, comparative size of objects, comparative brightness of objects, comparative focus etc create more visual mass in a picture.

In the second part he then develops this into how visual mass and composition work together, especially focusing on balance and the Point of View and how visual mass affects both of these.

In part three he completes the “journey” and gives some great insight into what he does in Lightroom to help refine all of this further. Of course in true David style there is a fourth part to the book – creative exercises related to each of the chapters to encourage and make you get out there and experiment.

Whether you are a seasoned pro or a keen amateur, I think this eBook will help to challenge, encourage, stimulate and push your ideas around composition and use of visual mass. Whilst I now realize that I already knew most of what had been written, I only knew them as a series of disjointed facts. David’s great skill is in joining up the dots.  He provides the context that makes those linkages logical and that make you go “A-ha! now why did no-one explain that to me so clearly before!”

Lastly the eBook is available here at David’s incredible introductory price of$5….this sort of content is what people pay hundreds of dollars to hear on a one day workshop, so $5 is a steal.