Lighting Books

This is a nice coffee table book with some very nice images, but really doesn't contain much of value to anyone other than a rank amateur. Let's face it. There's a limit on how much you can write about the interplay of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and that's pretty much all this book covers for the aspiring photographer.

I am an amateur photographer, I care about it, and I enjoy reading about it. I find the discussion of the mechanics of getting a good shot in most photo books, and especially those with "digital photography" in their titles, really frustrating. I find they either explain how typical generic controls work (I can read the manual, thanks, and get that information about the actual camera that's in my hands), or they give a dry discussion of the relationships among the various factors and choices, without relating it meaningfully to the picture that comes out. Sometimes they are mostly a gentle introduction to Photoshop.

The least satisfying books, and there are lots of them, are the ones whose authors approach digital photography as simply a logical continuation of film photography. This happens in every field in which there is a "paradigm shift" and, believe me, digital photography is a paradigm shift. It's almost as if they do a "search and replace" on their old knowledge. Really, things are different here and, except for a couple of cultural artifacts (like the fact that we get a handful of F-Stops instead of the continuous aperture function digital could offer), one needs to start fresh.

The reason I'm griping about other books is to contrast them with this terrific and refreshing book. Although the book covers lots of other topics, the main theme is exposure (and thus light). Davis clearly correlates what you do with the dials with what comes out in your shots, and he illustrates the correlation with his own beautiful pictures. He expresses technical details and concepts clearly, and writes intelligently without ever talking down to the reader. And he does so from the perspective of true digital photography.

We all know that there are plenty of aspects of artistry that have little to do with the word "practical". But with photography, the practical side of artistry is 90% the use of light. Unless you are very lucky, you will not get that special shot unless you know how to turn those dials. Davis does a marvelous job of teaching just that.

I had the good fortune to read this book before it was published and offer comments to the author on some of the technical aspects. I recently saw the reviews on Amazon, and was delighted--but not surprised--that they were so positive. This is a book I'm really glad to own.

Being fairly new to the arena of digital photography, beyond point and shoot cameras, I often found myself underwhelmed with a lot of the pictures I have been taking. I understood what all of the settings on my camera did, and what their effects on the resulting image where, but things just weren't coming together for me. This book has helped me understand that digital photography, really is a process. From choosing the scene, and exposing for the portions that are important, all the way to loading the RAW image into processing software to put on the "finishing touches." While it doesn't teach you how to go out and shoot an award winning photo, it does give you the knowledge you need to correctly use your camera and computer as a tool to create that photo.

Each Chapter of Mr. Davis' book reads very well, and provides interesting dialog that doesn't seem to speak over my head. It's written in a clear concise manner that goes into just enough detail to help you understand why each step is important. I'm sure that each chapter in this book could probably be a book on its own. There are times that I found myself wishing to know more about a particular topic in the book, but adding such content to it would probably take away from the flow as a whole. The many sidebars in the book give you that extra bit of information you may be looking for, or just urge you to do more research on your own.

In my opinion, the best part of this book is all the wonderful examples that Mr. Davis provides in his discussion. For every concept, idea, and method that is discussed in the book there is at least one, if not multiple images detailing the application of each. Each image has an explanation of why the particular setting in discussion was chosen, along with all of the other settings used to compose each image. Simply browsing through the images and their narrative alone is inspirational and fun.

I often found myself reading this book with my camera on one side of me, playing with each setting as I read about them, and a book about my particular camera on the other side. I would often take breaks between each chapter to explore the ramifications of changing each setting on my camera and learning how it affects different outcomes.

All in all, I would say this book is aimed at people exactly like myself. New to photography as something more than just a point and shoot for the family scrap book, and eager to learn more. It contains just enough detail to help you understand what's going on inside the little box without boring you, and provides real life examples the illustrate them. It provides a window into the mind of a professional photographer willing to share important informational details into what makes a picture good.

While too basic for the experienced photographer who already understands the interplay of focal length, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings, this is an excellent primer on these subjects for the new photographer. As the title indicates the focus is on teaching the reader how to work with light and exposure to get the results they want, and the results can be stunning. Harold Davis is at the top of his game as a master photographer with this book. For the new photographer who wants to move up the quality of their work from the photograph category to the art category these are the most critical things to understand and this is one of the easiest to understand books on the subject. After providing a strong understanding of these items Mr. Davis teaches how to use them to get the effect you want. He includes intentional over and underexposure, depth of field and focus, macro photography, longer exposures, and white balance. Throughout the book you will find example photographs with complete detail of what he did to achieve the effect. Pick up a good book on composition and you have the complete package to top level photography. Light and Exposure for Digital Photographers is highly recommended.

In the old days (before cameras had built-in light meters) every photographer had to understand the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Then cameras got automated and photographers began to forget about this relationship. But any photographer who wants to advance in his or her skill as a photographer had better learn about this trio. This book is aimed at teaching this subject and its corollary, the nature of light.

After a general chapter on understanding exposure, the author deals with aperture, shutter speed, ISO (and the related topic, noise), light, and finally the digital darkroom. The author writes in clear easy to understand style, and the book is illustrated profusely with the author's pictures. Each picture is annotated with the image's shooting information and any special exposure considerations the author had.

Any book on exposure that I read aimed at digital photographers must pass a litmus test: Does the author show how to use the histogram? Unfortunately, other then a brief two-paragraph reference, Davis does not. Nor does he discuss the overexposure indicator (the "blinkie"). There is no reference to exposure compensation.

Some of the author's comments are a bit misleading. He says to always turn off vibration reduction when using a tripod unless the lens has a special tripod mode, which suggests that there may be some kind of tripod setting on a lens. But at least some lenses sense the lens is mounted on a tripod and thus can be left in image stabilization mode on a tripod. (To be fair, Davis does say to check the documentation.) He says ISO 1000 captures 10 times the light of ISO 100. While that is true, the faster speed only results in an increase of 4 and one third f/stops which is the traditional way that photographers consider exposure. It's too bad the author didn't try to be a little more precise about the relationship of f/stops and exposure, which some photographers refer to as reciprocity. He says that adjusting a single RAW image is better then processing in HDR for a large dynamic range. Often multiple processing of a raw image can capture the range of light in a scene. But sometimes the range of light exceeds the range that can be extracted from a single raw image.

Sometimes the author misses the opportunity to discuss important considerations that an amateur should know, as when, in his discussion of depth of field, he fails to point out that for a particular image size of a subject, the depth of field is the same for a particular f/stop regardless of focal length; or that bright light can be controlled with neutral density filters; or that the fall off of light from a flash can create dark backgrounds.

As part of my campaign against the use of the word "artistry" in book titles, I'll just note that the closest the author comes to teaching artistry is to suggest that controlling exposure can lead to more creative pictures.

It's a shame that a book with so many beautiful pictures does such a poor job of explaining such an important topic. Readers interested in a better explanation should consider "Exposure and Lighting for Digital Photographers Only (For Only)" by Michael Meadhra and Charlotte K. Lowrie.

Lee Frost covers all the basics in this book. If you're just starting out in photography, this will help you out. But having been written more than 10 years ago, it is simply not relevant anymore for someone shooting digital. He refers to digital cameras as "nearing megapixel resolution" which just seems so silly now. If you're shooting film and you need to know the basics, buy this book. If you, like most people just starting out, are going digital, then there are more recent books, including one by this author, which will better serve your needs.

I bought this book for my niece, a budding photographer.
She has learned a lot in a short time so I would say this book does what it promises very well.

Excellent book for beginner photographers or even for persons who would just like to take better family or vacation pictures.

Overall I thought the book was good. It starts at the basics, explaining aperature, film speed, etc. A good overview of all the different types of photography (landscape, portraits, etc) is also included. The only complaint I have is the book is a little dated. The majority of the book covers film cameras, with only a small section on digital cameras. However, I just bought my first Digital SLR and many of the features it has are just like the older film cameras the book describes. So, it was still relevant.

A few weeks ago my digital camera quit working at a very bad time. I had to break out my twenty year old 35mm film camera and use it. I was stunned at the quality that my old Yaschica had over my digital camera. So I bought this wonderful book and never looked back. It is filled with great tips that are easy to understand. Tips on how to use differant lenses, filters and film. Not to mention great flash tips that almost eliminate red eye. My wife and friends are amazed at the quality of some of the pictures that I have taken. Plus digital pictures won't last but a few years stored on disk and a negative is almost forever. So if you want your memories to last a lifetime break out the old 35mm film camera and BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!

Michael Freeman seems to be a passionate traveler and artist before being a talented professional photographer.
With " Light and Lighting", he shares with us his experience, taking us on a captivating journey from the nature of light through the technical intricacies and complexities that the serious and dedicated photographer is bound to encounter (staying clear, from the pitfalls of pedantry and tediousness) to lead us beyond the limitations of technology into the wide open space of our own limitless creativity and freedom of expression.
If you have been inspired by this book, I would also recommend its companions, "Mastering Color Digital Photography" and "Mastering Black and White Digital Photography". They are of the same caliber.

I agree strongly with the first review of this book. I bought this one and a wedding photo book. Reading this one has been a much better use of my time! It takes a more scientific and pragmatic approach to successful photography. Light is what you are capturing and the essence of photography. One should really know something about it :) I really like the series shots towards the back of the book that include a bust, a ball and a figurine with different light treatments (reflectors, angles, blah blah blah). He also does series shots of the same objects only with different exposures, different times of day and different lighting setting, which helps you get a better understanding of white balance and how to use it to your advantage. It shows progressive evening to night shots. I do wish it had more night shooting tips, but it was well worth the $30. He uses a Nikon D2X, I believe, which might make the Nikon users feel a bit more comfortable, but really this info applies to all digital SLRs out there. He also touches on photoshop and photomatrix.

I am very pleased with this item. It came in great time and was in perfect condition.

My copy has the same ISBN number as listed above, but has a different cover and is listed "First Edition" 2007. I'm assuming that the book ordered here is virtually identical.

I found the content quite excellent. It explains light color well, bit depth and dynamic range well. It gets a tad bit repetitious comparing different lighting sources, although does point out important differences. The book does well to bridge the gap between Photoshop tuitorial and visual results; it will not tell you how to use Photoshop, but has many Photoshop screen captures discussing the effect of adjustments. There is a good section on High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging.

The book does have an undue amount of typos. If you can look past them then you can enjoy this book. In some cases the typos are extreme: there are four consecutive pages that show different lighting positions on a still life object; 80 images in all. However, the caption key for each picture describing the setup is exactly the same for each image! Somebody forgot to change the captions, so those pages are completely useless. I did email the author about this and received a nice reply and copy from the editor; they promised an update on their website. Time has come and gone, and the update page is still empty - I imagine they are either off slapping together a new book to sell to you, or maybe someone actually did shoot the editor...

This is a great book, with lots of good ideas for how to set up lighting in differing situations. I've already improved my lighting using ideas from this book. What made this a tough slog is that the illustrations sometimes don't match up, and for a photography book, the illustrations tend to be kind of important.

I went on the publisher web site, and haven't found an errata, but will keep looking in the hopes, since cleaning up the figures (and adding the missing ones obviously referred to) would make this a great overall book.

This book was a great introduction to photography lighting in general. The photos and illustrations really help.

The real "goosebump" reader...Light the way I never knew it. It's a natural.

Don't get this book if you are looking for a detailed, "how to" manual. You will learn more if you have mastered the basics of lighting and working with models already. Think of it more as a master class than an instruction manual. I suspect, however, that you will find at least one image or technique that helps you find your own creative "voice."

This is exactly the kind of easy to use and understand photo reference book and at the same time, beautiful photo presentation portfolio that every "how to" book should be.

I am very glad to have added this to my book library and I know it will appreciate greatly once out of print (like any Howard Schatz book has done).

The photo's are a study on what makes a great nude and without any lack of taste that many others tend to be. The schematics are very easy to read and there are enough varied examples to teach everyone from the beginner to the fully equipped professional.

So, when you are ready to make an investment in lots of hardware, don't forget this book to narrow the choices.

I wanted to give it 5 stars, but the overall similarity of style and the focus on black and white and film as opposed to colour and digital (or at least a 50/50 mix) were just barely enough to cost it a perfect rating.

That said, the images are (for the most part) beautiful and occasionally quite sexy. Even though the heavy use of black and white (when you'd like to get tips on tungsten, white balance, red vs blue, etc.) gets old, the overall quality and the layout make up for it.

It starts with a somewhat dry but very to-the-point explanation of how light acts, the different types of light and so on, then cuts right to the chase with the photo on one page and a diagram of all the elements used on the opposite/facing page. It gives the location, type of film, all the good stuff...the only thing it lacks is the time the picture was taken where daylight/natural light was used. Some of that does come out in the photographers' descriptions, though.

That's another (very) strong point for this book: multiple artists. Instead of buying a photo book, hating the style and being stuck with 100 pages of it, you can just skip the ones you don't care for...like the handful of pointless macro shots showing 2 square inches of skin scattered throughout.

I haven't tried ''garage glamour'' yet, but it's pretty much the only one I think I'll ''need'' after this. The pictures that are good are VERY good and they far outnumber the crap ones. I'd especially suggest it to someone on a budget who has to be clever with composition to make up for the lack of a $10 trillion camera (the stuff done on old Nikon film cameras in here puts away half of the pics I see from $5,000 Leicas.)

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/08)

"Lighting the Dark Side" contains a collection of six refreshingly different short stories. Each one is very unique and cannot be compared to the others. I really enjoyed reading the stories. They are about human nature and how we deal with hardships. Sometimes we overcome them, sometimes we obliterate them and sometimes we just make adjustments in ourselves to live with them.

What I discovered really interesting is that in almost every story, I found aspects of myself in the characters. This allowed me to feel like I could relate to what they had going on inside themselves. Some of these aspects ranged from a desire for vigilantism in situations with no other way out; a desire to help others by going way beyond what is expected; and that need to ask myself why I allow things to happen when I know the outcome ahead of time. Kind of like, why did I do that again? The examples in the stories are so much more interesting than any story that I have possibly lived.

Each short story or novella is very complete within itself, however, I found myself wishing that the stories would go on longer. I wasn't ready to leave the lives of these interesting characters. This is what made the book even more fun because I found myself thinking about the stories later on, wondering what happened to people that never even existed. The characters are very well developed and intricately woven into their plots that they seem very real. Their humanity is expressed through their shortcomings, and their need to change their situations.

This book, "Lighting the Dark Side," by William R. Potter, will definitely be enjoyed by all fans of fiction. I think that it would make an excellent selection for a reader's group or for a college course. I would love to hear the interesting discussions that will be held about these stories.

If you are looking for an easy, light-hearted read, Lighting the Dark Side is probably not the book you are looking for. If you are looking for a book with rich character development and an unafraid look at the darkness in those characters lives, be prepared for a good book.

Potter has a way of building the characters in his stories so that you can begin to understand what they are going through, and you care what happens to them. That's not to imply that all of the characters are nice, or even likable, but that only adds to the realism of this collection of short stories. We all have to deal with people like the type found in these stories in out daily lives.

These stories show a lot of insight into the dysfunction of people as they deal with love, betrayal, and a host of personal/family/relationship issues in a realistic world where nothing is perfect and sometimes the best you can hope for is to live to try again tomorrow.

Potter has a gift for getting down to what really makes his characters tick. He examines their hopes fears and motivations in a way that captivates the attention and makes you want to keep reading to find out more.

It was a very captivation book, and one that was well worth the time I spent reading it.

I'm so glad I decided to get Lighting the Dark Side. I love books that are compiled of short stories, so this one was right up my ally.

While I realize there are many people out there who truely deal with OCD, I also believe that everyone has their own...tendancies. This piece really shed some light on what people deal with on a day to day basis, as well as being told in a riviting, entertaining way.

The author has made it easy to really connect with the characters in this book through these detailed stories. In fact, you might not notice how time flies when you're reading this one; it really is hard to put it down!

This was one of the most unusual pieces of fiction I have read in quite a while. The stories displayed the characters in all of their dysfunctional glory, but my favorite was Dwayne-he reminds me so much of me sometimes! Readers will enjoy this realistic view into lighting the dark side, and they will fall in love with the men and women brought to life just like I did.

The author has written an engaging book. The characters are so well-developed that you can "feel" them.

My favorite short story is the first one. It captured me as I see a lot of the main character's actions the same as my own. Thankfully, as I read on more and more I found out I am not as OCD as he is.

For the life of me, I could not put this book down until I finished it in one day! This is only the second book in my 43 years that that has happened to me.

Grecco is a master of light. This book is educational, entertaining, and very well written. Grecco illustrates his lighting concepts with examples of his cutting edge portraiture, and excellent lighting diagrams. I would recommend this book for all photographers, from students, to enthusiasts, to seasoned pros....................

Jeff Sedlik, Photographer, Lighting Instructor at the Art Center College of Design, Board of Directors of the Advertising Photographers of America

I am so grateful to have stumbled upon this wonderful book. I have been wanting to push myself as a portrait photographer, and feel that my use of available light is tremendously limiting as far as location and creativity are concerned. Michael's book describes in detail the equipment he uses, the lighting setups, and the concepts behind the shoots he has done for Entertainment Weekly, Premiere, etc. I can feel that this book is going to help me take my work to another level, and I recommend it to any artist ready to challenge themselves. Thanks much, Michael Grecco, for sharing your knowledge.

I didn't know who Michael Grecco was before coming across this book - and learning his "creative lighting techniques and strategies" won't make an iota of difference in my life.

Most of the Grecco portraits shown in this book are unappealing to me. Instead of naturally striking, they appear strained and posed for effect. A photograph of two actors from a one-time hit TV series has them scowling into the camera with large shadows against the wall. So what? But Grecco claims this is the "noir" look he was after. If you look at the classics of noir cinematography and the publicity stills for those films, you'll see in a moment that this is not noir, but pale and poor imitation of noir.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery - and Grecco does go in heavily for imitation - but it does not necessarily produce striking photographs. And none of the photographs in this book are striking.

Worse, none of them are in color, although the originals clearly were. (Grecco says so in many instances.)

Crude sketches showing the light placement accompany each of the photos, but lend little. For example, no great genius is required to see that in one photo taken outdoors, a single fill light was employed. But this fact is dutifully recorded along with the outline of the pier it was taken on, the river behind the pier and the unmistakable skyline of Manhattan on the other side of the river. I mean, talk about meaningless froth.

Grecco obviously makes a good living peddling his style to magazines, but I'm not impressed by his skills as a photographer or a writer.

Jerry

If you want to learn to think "outside of the box" of traditional portrait lighting, this is the book. You may not like everything he does, but his imagination and technique are outstanding. The only problem is the lack of color in the book.

I enjoyed the ideas Michael Grecco has for using light. The examples are well-explained so the reader can come up with his own ideas. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for new ideas for lighting or needing to learn how to use light when taking photographs.

I learned so much from this book. It was very well written.

Excellant introductory look at Portrait Photography. Part of the art of getting a good result in portraits is the skill of posing your subject correctly & in such a way that you can overcome any flaws etc. Excellent book for Portrait photographers wanting to do more & develop their skills

Given the flood of books on how to correct photographer mistakes in Photoshop, it's about time we had a book that emphasizes good lighting and effective posing first, and addresses retouching in the context of fine-tuning a portrait only after it has been carefully crafted in the camera.

Photographers need to learn the basics presented here. This book is much more useful than those I've seen the purport to show you how to "light" portraits in an image editor. Serious shooters know that lighting and poses must be perfected before the shutter release is pressed.

This book is wonderfully written. It answered most of my questions and some I had not thought of. I would recommend this book to anyone having trouble getting that perfect shot.

Information in here will help you hide the flaws that make people not buy your portraits! Get it... learn it by heart and use it to drive up your sales even on tough-lower-self-esteem-having clients. By all means a must own!

Beforehand the book promised a lot. 100 photos analyzed. However, it turned out that many shots are done in a very similar manner with mostly 3:1 or 4:1 light ratio. I can not see the uniqueness that the cover promises in lightning or styling. Still, the book is informative and it has a good layout. Some worthy ideas.

Worth the money? Hmm... I would not say the Ketchum book is wasted money, but you can find some more versatile lighting instructions/manuals from the sites of lighting equipment manufacturers (e.g. Elinchrome/Joe Graig). It's definitely not a bad book, but not a jewelry in its class either. For an enthusiast - yes, sure.

Art Ketchum is one of the best photographers currently working with models and light. The technical tips in this book are excellent and will benefit both pro and amateur shooters alike. I had the opportunity of attending one of Art's workshops and Art sums up his skills and techniques in this book. It's simply one of the best and I'm glad I was fortunate enough to learn some tips, first hand, from Art. I highly recommend this book.

This book captures model photography at its best. The text is easy to follow and the author provides the reader with a step by step easy to follow explanation of all the photographs presented. This book is a must for both the beginner and the seasoned professional.

"You've got to be kidding me" is what I exclaimed when I received this book in the mail. I was shocked that it had a solid 5 stars from all of the reviewers as I think this book is very outdated. If you are interested in current fashion and beauty trends, this book is not for you. Although the copyright is 2001, it might as well be 1986 -- that's what the photos look like. Yes, the diagrams are somewhat helpful but if you are a lover of current fashion photography, you won't be inspired by any of the photographs to actually use the techniques. I found the photographs and the art direction of the photographs to be a bit cheesy and tacky.

This is the first book that got me interested in studio lighting and I'd recommend it to anyone.

What I like about the book:

1) Art shows on every page the lighting setup that he used to create the image. Not just the light placement, but right down to the f stops of the lights, the brand of the lights, the camera used and so forth. If you're looking for a simple, straight forward explanation of how to use studio lighting, this is a great place to start.

2) This is a very readable book. There are a lot of photography books out there that may have something to teach you, but they're so poorly written that it's agony to bring yourself to finish the book. This one is different. This is a book that you could read for pleasure.

3) The book is filled with sidebars of Art's wisdom... covering such topics as 'Mentors', The Importance of Make-up', 'Creating Sensuality In Your Photography', 'Building An Extraordinary Portfolio'... and so on. The sidebars alone are worth the price of the book.

4) All in all, this is a great starter book on model photography and studio lights.

This book provided an abundance of perspective on three forms of landscape photography. The format focuses not just on images of the experts but on many other photographers. A feast.

Yes an outstanding slection of photos - just wish I'd been there. Those photos only prove to have your camera ready where ever you go and get those award winning results.

I found this book to be a great addition to my Libary. It is an educational master piece. This book has shown me a new World, and how to capture that World. On my Road Trips I use both the book and camera.

Recommended; top quality prints. Haven't seen one like it. Notes from the pros for each individual photo offer the aspiring phtographer valuable insight. A true treat for the eye and stimulus for the art in us.

As a previous reviewer mentioned, it's intimidating to see such incredible photography, especially if you're an aspiring photographer (as I am).

However, I find the beauty of the photography here to be inspirational, and the critiques provided are very informative. I highly recommend reading this book if you're an aspiring nature photographer.

I have been in the concert production business for a couple of years and this is a great book to have around.

A great book that is not to technical and shows some real world ideas and solutions

The tips, tricks and techniques have been invaluable for both conventional and moving lighting programming. An excellent purchase for anyone interested in a more organized production. Very well organized, and generalized to facilitate programming virtually any console or utilizing any instrument.

While specific manufacturers are mentioned, they are not covered in great detail. This book is a wonderful suppliment to any programmers library, but cannot replace a thourough understanding of console syntax that is only obtained through expereience and reading console system manuals.

Hands down, this is the best book for aspiring and practicing automated programmers available today. It's full of very useful and practical ideas, tips, observations and recommendations. Any programmer who is mindful of raising their game should have a copy and read it regularly.

Buying this book to expand my knowledge into this area, I found it a bit thin. It feels stretched to me - like a padded long article. The info about cue types was good, but I'm sure it's covered in user manuals, and the insistence on avoiding mention of specific products diluted the rest of it too much for my liking. I think picking a console and fixtures, even if it's one per chapter, would allow a little more detail. As it is, readable, but unsatisfying.

Certainly room for another edition, hopefully with more detail. I should note that I'm not a beginner, I've been programming other aspects of shows for decades. Possibly a beginner would get more out of it. I gave it more stars because it covers the exact topic I was looking for.