The Complete Guide to Light & Lighting in Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book)
by Michael Freeman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael FreemanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-28
ISBN: 1579908853
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Lark Books
Book Reviews of The Complete Guide to Light & Lighting in Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book)
Book Review: Terrible photography book. Should have been called Light Reference Tome (Pun intended)
Summary: 1 Stars
In his introduction, the author stresses the importance of understanding the nuances of light and taking control of it for better pictures. I think this book failed in both respect. If you were looking for a book that would have allowed you to :
1. Look at a scene to portrait
2. Understand and able to pinpoint all the light nuances/problems that exists within the scene as related to the subject of the photo
3. Come up with a list of solutions to remedy the scene to create the perfect picture given a set list of light sources and light modifiers and light behaviours
4. Set the scene up, and take your perfect shot
Then you are looking at the wrong book.
As well, in the introduction, the author says he makes no apologies in mentioning the more technical digital issues and digital lighting effects. As someone who reads technical textbooks on programming languages all the time, I disagree; this book was written in a confusing manner; not in a technical manner.
Quote in regards to a diagram showing the sun position at 12pm: "Midday, and the sun is at its zenith, though it appears to have changed little in the last hour."
In that sentence, we see an example of how the *whole book* is going to be. In fact, the author would proceed to include a diagram of the sun position every hour of the day, with similar looking explanation; which would mean nothing in terms of bettering your shots at that particular hour. Though, if you didnt know that the sun was at its zenith at 12pm, then this would certainly help!
It will not help you take better photos; but if you are having problems with some of the terms some people throw around when discussing photography in online forums, it *may* tell you the difference between incandescent lighting and fluorescent lighting. It will refer to light throughout the book as measured in Kelvin, for example: 5200 Kelvin for average noon daylight (give or take...oh...i dunno, several thousand? depending on whether its cloudy or covered by trees or anything else).
As a photographer you would then ask yourself, okay. How does this help me take better picture? Well...if you have a semi pro camera or better (several thousand dollars and up), you may be able to set your Camera white balance to Kelvin, to match what the current surrounding is. However, how do you know what the current surrounding color temperature is in Kelvin so that you can set it in your camera? Well, if you have the Sekonic PRODIGI C-500R Color Meter (Black) sold for more than a $1000 here, you may be able to take a reading of the current color temperature of your surroundings.
Otherwise, for the rest of us mortals, this information seems to be useless. And if I am wrong, then this book didnt explain how this information could particularly be used.
Bottom line,
- If you are looking to improve your photoshop skills, this book isnt for you. It will give you scattered photoshop tutorial on how to deal with lighting, without actually giving you the definitive way to improve lighting.
- If you are looking to improve your photo taking skills, this book isnt for you. Chances are 1. You are a novice and this book will be way over your head; 2. You are a pro and you've learned to judge light just by taking a quick glance of your predicament, 3. You are in between and having a book full of list of terms and definitions will not help you take better photos
- If you are a student or a forum frequent debater and need some arsenal to your lighting knowledge and terms, this may be the book for you. It will not make you take better shots, but will definitely help you win forum term wars and school term tests.
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