Light -- Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
- Downloads：2247
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-07 06:51:00
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Fil Hunter
- ISBN：0367860279
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Photographic lighting is a topic that will never go out of style， no matter how sophisticated cameras and other technology get。 Even with the most high-tech gear， photographers still need to put a lot of thought and vision into lighting their photographs in order to get great results。 Mastering this key skill has the power to dramatically and quickly improve your photographs as well as your efficiency。
Light--Science & Magic provides you with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light， with examples and instructions for practical application。 Featuring photographs， diagrams， and step-by-step instructions， this book speaks to photographers of varying levels。 It provides invaluable information on how to light the most difficult subjects， such as surfaces， metal， glass， liquids， extremes （black-on-black and white-on-white）， and portraits。
This new edition includes:
- Expanded chapters on portraiture and lighting equipment
- Chapters on necessary equipment when working on location versus in the studio
- An updated appendix of reliable photo gear sources
- Over 100 new photographs and informational sidebars
- Updated information about advances in flash equipment， LED panels， and fluorescent lights
Lighting styles will evolve， but the science of light will always remain the same。 Once photographers understand the basic physics of lighting （without having to become physicists）， they can apply that knowledge to a broad range of photographic styles。
Light--Science & Magic provides you with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light， with examples and instructions for practical application。 Featuring photographs， diagrams， and step-by-step instructions， this book speaks to photographers of varying levels。 It provides invaluable information on how to light the most difficult subjects， such as surfaces， metal， glass， liquids， extremes （black-on-black and white-on-white）， and portraits。
This new edition includes:
- Expanded chapters on portraiture and lighting equipment
- Chapters on necessary equipment when working on location versus in the studio
- An updated appendix of reliable photo gear sources
- Over 100 new photographs and informational sidebars
- Updated information about advances in flash equipment， LED panels， and fluorescent lights
Lighting styles will evolve， but the science of light will always remain the same。 Once photographers understand the basic physics of lighting （without having to become physicists）， they can apply that knowledge to a broad range of photographic styles。
Reviews
Rosiles
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The book is really fantastic。
Aditi Singh
，
The beginners sometimes go astray in the world filled to the gunwales with latest equipment and technologies and what they neglect is the fact that Photography is substantially all about Light & Lighting。 This is one book that will give you a profound insight into the fundamentals of Light irrespective of what gears you use and what genre you chose to practice and will help you gain mastery over lighting skills especially if you are keen into specialising in controlled light photography。 Along w The beginners sometimes go astray in the world filled to the gunwales with latest equipment and technologies and what they neglect is the fact that Photography is substantially all about Light & Lighting。 This is one book that will give you a profound insight into the fundamentals of Light irrespective of what gears you use and what genre you chose to practice and will help you gain mastery over lighting skills especially if you are keen into specialising in controlled light photography。 Along with some critical insight into relevant theory material with enough examples， it also encourages you to practice lighting only to bring out your own outstanding images。 Call it a textbook or a manual， it’s a must have book for all photographers。 。。。more
Matt Bisbano
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Good Information Good information from clearly qualified photographers， but the text is wordier than necessary！ Overall I have gained so much from this that it is well worth the read！！
Amlan
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A throwback to all the engineering light physics with some very cool breakdowns of how things are lit。 Will need to experiment a bit to ensure that i actually try and experiment with all these lighting styles
Jake
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This is the definitive guide to light and as a photographer it helped me to see and understand light in new ways。 Definitely recommend it for natural light， or studio light photographers wanting to understand the science behind the magic of light！
Adil
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An excellent primer on photographic lighting for all sorts of subjects from product photography to portraits to landscapes。 I'm drawn towards instructional books like these， which seek to explore topics by starting from the fundamentals and building upon them。 An excellent primer on photographic lighting for all sorts of subjects from product photography to portraits to landscapes。 I'm drawn towards instructional books like these， which seek to explore topics by starting from the fundamentals and building upon them。 。。。more
Tomislav Kolar
，
this one is the key light for all those fills out there。 Look no further
Travis
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Very good explanation on how light works and how to use it in photography。 Really surprised me with how many tiny but very important things explained within。
Matthew Walls
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Very good book for photographic lighting。 It covers basic concepts to allow the reader to figure out their own lighting situations。
Elly Anne
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Perfect book to learn about lighting in photography。
Noha Abdelaziz
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Best choose for anyone interested in photography
Dolha Cosmin
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Do you need to understand light？ You will， after reading this。By far the most useful book on understanding light。 Plenty of examples and really useful advice。 It is one thing to look at recipes videos， and quite another to get the required knowledge to light your subject， which will always be different。
Kelly
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Great information！ Now， if only I could find more time for actually taking photos。。。
Gaetano
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Photographers need light， and this book is a sort of Bible to master the light。Not light to read （we’re talking about light， right？）， but heavily good to study and understand。No matter your level of experience in photos， this books will help you go further。Not perfect， but rather close。。。PS: Sorry， it seems like an advertising slogan: I swear it's not Photographers need light， and this book is a sort of Bible to master the light。Not light to read （we’re talking about light， right？）， but heavily good to study and understand。No matter your level of experience in photos， this books will help you go further。Not perfect， but rather close。。。PS: Sorry， it seems like an advertising slogan: I swear it's not 。。。more
Tim Dumol
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Fantastic treatment of how to get the perfect lighting for your shot。 Starts from first principles （diffusion， direct reflection， polarized reflection） and goes through sample setups for different subjects （metal， glass， white on white， 。。。）
Jason Axley
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Great primer on the subtle techniques and theory for controlling lighting to get better photographs。 Can be used as a textbook or lab book to practice the techniques or a handy reference for common situations。
Satya
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If lighting is the language of photography， the book "Light: Science & Magic" is the heart of the language belaboring on grammar and vocabulary for good photographers。 If lighting is the language of photography， the book "Light: Science & Magic" is the heart of the language belaboring on grammar and vocabulary for good photographers。 。。。more
Alex Netterville
，
This book distills everything you need to know about photographic lighting into just over 300 pages。 Through repetition of key principles， and the gradual layering of more details into the example scenes at a pace that we can all cope with， it is easy to follow and full of tricks。 Through clear diagrams and text， I found myself enjoying the discussion of different surfaces and how they reflect light， how small and large lights create different kinds of shadows， on to how to make perfect copies u This book distills everything you need to know about photographic lighting into just over 300 pages。 Through repetition of key principles， and the gradual layering of more details into the example scenes at a pace that we can all cope with， it is easy to follow and full of tricks。 Through clear diagrams and text， I found myself enjoying the discussion of different surfaces and how they reflect light， how small and large lights create different kinds of shadows， on to how to make perfect copies using some basic principles。 Overall an excellent book， accessible for its teaching of fundamentals that every photographer should know， while providing a path to more advanced learning。 。。。more
Gerry Pelser
，
I would not be the photographer I am without this book。 This is the literal bible for anything lighting related。 If you are serious about your photography， get this book， read， it study， and study it constantly。
Kimberly
，
My editor at my college newspaper job in the early 90s told me to get this book。 It is a practical course in light and shadow that I think still holds relevance for today's digital age。 My editor at my college newspaper job in the early 90s told me to get this book。 It is a practical course in light and shadow that I think still holds relevance for today's digital age。 。。。more
Dario Iacampo
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This is one of the books that changed my way of looking at the world
Scott Orts
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The best book in lighting period。 A little hard to get through in the beginning but the concepts are physical principles of light so you can understand what is going on and make your adjustments。
Andrew
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Not well written， terrible typography， typical textbook。 Redad through to the bitter end， though， because it did contain some valuable information， but finding it was like panning for gold。
Kevin
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Excellent book on light and how it works。 This is universal。。。 it's applied physics。 From this solid foundation the authors show how to light various common photographic situations。This first edition from 1990 doesn't cover more recent developments such as digital cameras。。。 and only briefly touches on colour film。 That said - it does this concisely and does discuss colour correction of lights and lens。 There were quite a few annoying editorial errors （references to wrong figures， etc。） but I as Excellent book on light and how it works。 This is universal。。。 it's applied physics。 From this solid foundation the authors show how to light various common photographic situations。This first edition from 1990 doesn't cover more recent developments such as digital cameras。。。 and only briefly touches on colour film。 That said - it does this concisely and does discuss colour correction of lights and lens。 There were quite a few annoying editorial errors （references to wrong figures， etc。） but I assume these have been addressed in later editions。 The fifth edition was published in 2015 and is on my to-read list already。 It has 100 more pages of detail plus an extra co-author！ 。。。more
Maggie
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Really want to get my hands on the latest edition of this book。 An absolute gem。
Sarah
，
This textbook made me feel stupid。 Not because this book was smart， but because of how stupid it was。 I felt like I lost a few IQ points reading this。 Their examples were either completely wrong or not very well thought out。 According to this book Shakespeare's audience didn't speak English。 And many other things like this。 if this wasn't required reading for a subject I was luckily already very knowledgeable on， I would have thrown it out。 Kids always make sure you question your textbooks。 This textbook made me feel stupid。 Not because this book was smart， but because of how stupid it was。 I felt like I lost a few IQ points reading this。 Their examples were either completely wrong or not very well thought out。 According to this book Shakespeare's audience didn't speak English。 And many other things like this。 if this wasn't required reading for a subject I was luckily already very knowledgeable on， I would have thrown it out。 Kids always make sure you question your textbooks。 。。。more
Hemanth
，
Must read for anyone who wants to understand Photographic Lighting
Andy
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A thought provoking book that talks in simple terms about light and how to work with it。 Literally a revelation。 I will be writing about it soon on my website。 More to the point it has inspired me to learn more， practice more and understand the more I know the more I need to learn。
Salah Bouzgma
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A must have， i really recommend it for every photographer and 3D artist， if you wanna know more about lighting without confusing yourself， This is the right book to read。 The author simplified the topic in a brilliant way and makes it more fun to grasp。
Bru82
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