Photographer and writer Henry Carroll has a great little book coming out simply titled “Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs of People,” which promises to help you figure out “how and why you want to photograph people.” It’s perfect for aspiring photographers and anyone looking to learn more about taking portraits without being weighed down with too much technical information. I particularly enjoyed his curation of images to go along with the tips and have included a few of my favorites below. The book features work by 50 photographers ranging from August Sander to Mike Brodie and is published by Laurence King.

1. The light touch: The most beautiful studio portraits employ the simplest lighting setups.

© Hendrik Kerstens

2. It’s all in the details: Don’t let your preconceptions about portraiture interfere with what you instincts are telling you.

©Zed Nelson

3. Making eyes: Photographing people results in a tense power play of gazes between subject, photographer and viewer.

©Pieter Hugo

4. Assault your subject: Allow your own personality to feed into your portraits.

©Bruce Gilden

5. Link the layers: Keep one eye on your subject and the other on the background.

©Sam Abell