Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting Author: Amazon Prime | Language: English | ISBN:
0240812255 | Format: PDF
Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting Description
THE book to own if you want to understand lighting!
Light Science and Magic more thanjust provides set examples for photographers to follow. This international bestseller provides photographers with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light to allow individual photographers to use lighting to express their own creativity. It will show you how to light the most difficult subjects such as surfaces, metal, glass, liquids, extremes (black-on-black and white-on-white), and people.
With more information specific for digital photographers, a brand new chapter on equipment, much more information on location lighting, and more on photographing people, this brand new fourth edition will make it clear why this is one of the only recommended books by Strobist.com.
* THE lighting book for serious photographers
* The only book that covers theory and physics of light
* Full of brand new info, specific to digital photography
* Loaded with new and inspiring full color photographs
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Focal Press; 4th edition (September 8, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0240812255
- ISBN-13: 978-0240812250
- Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I consider myself a professional photographer. I don't make my living at it, but I do earn enough from it to pay for all the equipment I own. I am a lover of flash photography, and regularly use about a dozen different strobes, lights, flashes, and controllers.
I also own well over 100 books on photography. They are divided into two groups. The first is a small shelf in my office that holds maybe 15 books, the other is a large shelf in the attic that holds the remainder. This book has earned a place on the small shelf-it is that useful.
The Good Points
* The title is somewhat misleading. When I bought the book I was expecting a collection of lighting tricks designed to produce nifty special effects. That is not what the book is at all. Rather it is a review of many standard lighting techniques useful in everyday situations. There are tips on portraits, still life, product photography, and even some basic theory of light.
* Everything is kept simple. The authors don't go out of their way to impress you with how brilliant they are, they avoid the use of jargon, arcane terms and other vocabulary designed to show off rather than inform.
* The book shows real examples, and shows the lighting setup used and the results obtained. The lighting drawings are somewhat inexact, but certainly detailed enough to understand and duplicate the setup. They also do not go out of their way to specify exact exposure details, and instead direct the reader to "experiment". I have watched several photographers who I could consider first-tier professionals use the same technique-set up the light, take a shot, fix the lights....repeat until you get what you want.
* The examples they use are generic enough to be useful on a wide variety of subjects.
First, I want to be clear that while I am also a photo book writer, I don't personally know any of the authors of this book and I am not affiliated with the publisher in any way. I say that because I have to rave a bit about the quality and content of this book: it's one of the best books on studio lighting that I've ever come across and if you are a professional photographer (or have a desire to become one) and if you work with product photography (particularly glassware) then you should own this book. And while I single out glassware (because the book does such a stellar job of discussing and teaching it) the book deals with a lot of subjects (various reflective products, shiny wooden products, portraits, etc.) and it covers each of them in a very thorough and practical way.
The book starts out with a short but good (very good) lesson on the basic concepts of both natural and studio lighting. The second chapter goes further into light and discusses the topics of brightness, contrast, color, reflection, etc. A very nice chapter. (And some good tips on photographing flat art--very useful basic techniques that will save you a ton of time and wasted energy.)
The bulk of the book, however, consists of photographs of various subjects with diagrams on how they were lit. For years I wrote the "Lighting Masters" column for PDN (Photo District News), a magazine for professionals, and this is exactly what my column was: an examination of how a particular photo (or series of photos) was made and I gave specific diagrams of what the lighting plan looked like.
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