SEBASTOPOL, Calif. -- The arrival of balmy weather ushers in the travel season, rich with opportunities for capturing your family, friends and the new people you meet in photos. But taking memorable images is an art. You need to engage people with the camera and understand the photo shoot process.
Fortunately, O'Reilly's latest release -- Face to Face: Rick Sammon's Complete Guide to Photographing People ($34.99) -- offers proven techniques and tips you need for photographing people here and abroad, from different cultures, young and old. Even better, Rick Sammon, master travel photographer and author of 27 books, packed his latest publication with inspiring, beautifully rendered images of people from around the globe.

"In this book, the book I've dreamed about writing for years, I share some behind-the-scenes stories," explains Sammon. "You'll learn how to photograph people in low light and in bright light, with a flash and without a flash. You'll see how reflectors and diffusers can turn a snapshot into a great shot. You'll understand the difference between an environmental portrait (a picture of the person in his or her environment) and a portrait -- and the difference between taking and making a picture."

Sammon's new book comes stocked with his extraordinary images of people from around the world, including Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Cuba, Mongolia and Bhutan. He also shares invaluable advice for taking photos of men, women and children from different cultures.

"When you are looking through your camera's viewfinder, viewing and framing a subject, if you realize that the feeling, the emotion, the attitude and the energy that you project will be reflected in your subject's face -- and eyes -- you'll get a higher percentage of pictures that you like. That's because by your actions, you are subconsciously 'directing' the subject to mirror the way you feel," he writes.

Face to Face blends the beauty of an elegant coffee-table book with expert advice. You'll find practical advice for shooters at every level, including:

• Outdoor techniques for shooting in low light, shooting in bright light, for capturing action, taking profiles, taking group shots and more

• Indoor techniques for using a flash and strobes and for shooting silhouettes, working with mirrors and other techniques

• Photo philosophies and creative advice, such as developing a sense of place, carefully choosing the background, seeing pictures within a picture and more

• How to photograph people in different cultures, along with fascinating behind-the-scenes stories of photos in the book

Throughout Face to Face, Rick encourages and challenges photographers to try his trusted methods. With this book, aspiring photographers, enthusiasts, pro-sumers or pro-shooters will learn how to creatively and technically improve their photos of people.

Rick Sammon has published 27 books, including his latest trio: Rick Sammon's Travel and Nature Photography, _Rick Sammon's Complete Guide to Digital Photography_ and Idea to Image. Sammon is the host of the Digital Photography Workshop on the Do It Yourself network and a guest host of the Canon Photo Safari on the Outdoor Life Network. He writes for PCPhoto, Outdoor Photographer, Shutterbug and Layers magazine.