Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting | Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, ... | Best Lighting Book I've Read

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Light: Science and...

	Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, ... Focal Press, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 95 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent study

This book describes itself as a grammar of lighting. I would add that it is a descriptive rather than a prescriptive grammar, that is, it tells you how lighting works as a matter of fact, rather than trying to tell you what you should do as a photographer. I'm still rereading chapters and getting something from them, perhaps especially because I'm taking the authors' suggestion and trying to do the exercises myself.

While it is not terribly technical -- it's well written and easy to read -- the book is a bit abstract, in the sense that it's trying to describe the general properties of lighting as used for photography. For some readers and photographers, the abstract or theoretical approach may not be congenial. The book has very little (almost nothing) to say about equipment, for example. In the section on portrait lighting, the emphasis is simply on what happens when lighting is placed in different positions -- not on which form of lighting is best.

But I personally found the book's approach exhilarating. I've read so many photography books it's hard for me to single out one as THE most informative and THE most helpful to me as a photographer, but if I had to do so, this book might be my pick.

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Best Lighting Book I've Read

As a professional photographer and instructor, I've perused many books on photographic lighting, portrait lighting, etc. I say "perused" because most are complicated in the way they present their information, or, present examples that -while technically sound- are totally impractical for everyday use. So much so that I rarely buy them. This is understandable, as professional lighting is the single most difficult aspect of photography to grasp, let alone master. So explaining it isn't always easy, either.

This book -while it does use a bit of technical language- approaches each example in a very straightforward way, explaining when and where each technique is useful, how to perform each technique and even the troubles you're likely to encounter when you first attempt them. In short it's like someone is sitting there with you leading you through the logic of how the lighting works, and helping you to look out for the pitfalls. And while it's not that thick of a book, it is *dense* with information. There is much to absorb and learn, and frankly I've seen no other book that comes close in terms of making it a pleasure to learn.

This book will be a required text for any university classes I teach in the future.

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Learn What You Already Know, but Don't Know!

I sort of learned nothing from this book, but also learned EVERYTHING.

This book takes what I see everyday, but don't think about, then turns it into thought. I've always known that light reflects from things in three different ways, but that knowledge has sat unconsciously in my lower brain. My higher brain, which does shutter speed, depth of field, and f/stops, was oblivious. The book brings your two brains together!

Required Reading for my Cinematography Class

I've read virtually every book about lighting, and this is my favorite. The principles are clearly illustrated, and the writing is straightforward. I teach cinematography at a local college, and this book is required reading for my students.

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Outstanding

I would like to thank the authors, Hunter, Biver, Fuqua on a outstanding book on lighting. Once I started reading the book, I could not put it down. This book covers alot into detail, as to, how lighting works and how to use it. This is a must have book. I would suggest that those out there (photographers) that want to learn lighting, pick this book up and forget about the others. But, I must say that you do learn more as you read more, that's why I purchased 6 books on lighting. But by far, this is a good book to read. Little on the high price side, but get it, you won't be disappointed. Thank you.

D. Porter, AZ.

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