This book is the distillation of three decades of experience from a photographer that knows what he is doing; it offers something for almost everyone who loves portraiture. I do not earn a living from photography, but would like to be good enough to do so, if I choose to. So I was looking for a book to inform, inspire, challenge and "tell it like it is"; I was not dissapointed. Steve Sint covers much of the ground in an accessible writing style, with chapter headings ranging from portrait psychology, framing, lighting - both basic and advanced, lights, posing - face and body, make up, equipment, and the business side of photography. To be honest, I skipped much of the first chapter on portrait psychology, because i think that anyone who is interested in capturing images of people, should actually like people, and have some sensitivity about how best to engage them. But from there on, the book worked for me. Perhaps the one complaint I have was the font size, a little small for me, but I guess it was a trade-off between font size and the size of the book; it is over 220 pages. In summary, Encyclopaedic, no, but no single volume could do that. It is however, a book for a serious enthusiast to read or dip into just to see how a seasoned professional might approach the task.