Basic Studio Lighting: The Photographer's Complete Guide to Professional Techniques

by Tony Corbell

Book Overview

A guide to mastering the complexities of one of the most important aspects of making a photograph: proper lighting. The author explores how to use equipment properly and suggests ways of utilising... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0817435506
• ISBN13: 9780817435509
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: Amphoto Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 10.7"

Customer Reviews

Basic is the Key Word

If you are learning lighting and need diagrams, skip this book. If you are learning lighting and enjoy creating your own lighting setups and are willing to experiment to be different than the masses, buy this book. The information will get your feet on the ground and help you grasp what light does, you can then take this a build your own lighting setups to match your personal vision. If you have lots of experience and know lighting back and forth, then this book may be too basic for you. I enjoyed, even though I knew I was ahead of some of the topics, but if I had been looking from an experience point of view for a new "Wow factor" I would have been disapointed.

Want to learn studio lighting ? This is THE BOOK !

I've just bought about 10 top rated studio lighting books. This is the best book I've ever read about studio lighting with much more than basic information. Tony Corbell explains about all I ever wanted to know about studio lighting: their types (main/key light, fill light, etc); equipment and accessories (and what you get from them); light control (e.g. what happens when you put the light near the subject, etc); measuring light (you will really like to know how to measure an f11.0 key light + f8.0 fill light and all then do it by yourself in all the other situations); one light setup and lighting for deep. Tony Corbell won't give you the fish but you will learn how to go fishing. No photo diagrams and schemas (thank you Mr. Corbell, I didn't want to learn how to copy a lighting schema but did want to learn how to understand them all and how to build my next one) and full of information I've been waiting for. If you want to take the long road do as I did search all lighting books, then search inside this book and also visit the Hasselblad website just to get references on this book and Mr. Corbell work. But if you want to take the short road, just buy it: it's all worthwhile. Oh, just in case you want to take the long road, I could sell you all the other nine books...

Great book to learn lighting

This book is one of the best I've read on learning to light...it doesn't spoon feed you lighting diagrams, it explains the principles of light, why light does what it does and then the author expects you to work with your own lights to see the results for yourself and LEARN to light.Corbell does a super job of explaining different lighting tools...from hot lights to the various types of strobes available, reflectors, scrims and gobos...when to use them and why.The diagrams and photographs are most helpful in explaining the text which is very clearly written.Excellent...I wish I'd bought it ages ago.

Do you want to follow recipes by rote, or learn to cook?

This is one of the most inspiring photography books I've read. There are a hundred books about studio lighting that are little more than collections of photos followed by diagrams of the lighting setups. If you're looking for simple ways to duplicate somebody else's photos, this book is not for you. Instead, the author's intent is to make you understand the underlying principles of controlling light. He takes pains not to dictate rules or give formulas, but tries to help you make your own decisions based on your personal taste and the demands of a particular photo. This book, although it appears superficially simple, puts demands on the reader that many other lighting books do not. Some people would prefer to follow diagrams by rote; I'd much rather develop the mental tools to design my own lighting setups for my own needs, rather than look at the exact placement of lights that somebody else used. Corbell's explanation of the Chromazone system (for controlling the effects of gelled light on backgrounds) was more than worth the price of the book.

The best studio lighting book

This is the best studio lighting book I've read... and I've read a few! It explains theories of light, color and photography techniques in detail, which are essential to the understanding of lighting. This book complemented perfectly the lighting class I was taking, and helped me tremendously. The explanations are simple enough for all to understand and although it doesn't tell you what to do, it teaches you how to light your subjects, according to the result you are looking for. Obviously, you need to practice using the tools and techniques to truly learn studio lighting. But this book will definitely help you and it's worth every single penny.