Customer Reviews

Beginner's Guide to Photographic Lighting: Techniques for Success in the Studio or on Location

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On page 7 of the introduction he says "As far as lighting equipment is concerned, you will need at least one strobe head and a light meter in order to practice what is presented in this book. Two strobe heads would be better. If you are just starting with lighting and can't afford strobe equipment, read the book anyway."

I assumed the definition of beginner is someone who doesn't have expensive studio quality equipment. I have lighting stands, 2 quartz/halogen and 1 tungsten hot lights and umbrellas, and that set up cost over $300. The book really wasn't helpful for me and not well-written.

I also purchased Photographic Lighting Simplified by Susan McCartney and that was exactly what I needed. Truly for beginners and much better written and more understandable.

I bought this book hoping to get insights on getting into product photography. The author definitely knows his stuff, unfortunately, he doesn't describe some stuff in enough detail for someone getting started. I saw the word beginner and assumed it was a good book for someone who knew nothing on the subject. It isn't. He describes techniques very well; however, you need to know what grids, cookies, flags, etc are before you can really follow his techniques. He describes a lot of the equipment with words and not pictures. This book really is for someone who've actually already have some familiarity with equipment and the studio and just looking for techniques. I think this book would be great after reading a true beginner's book.

This is an excellent introduction to studio lighting, written by someone with years of experience in teaching the subject. Many of the lighting books I have read try to convince you that lighting is a mysterious art that is hard to master. Instead, Don demonstrates that the foundations of effective lighting are relatively straighforward and easy to learn. While applying those skills effectively may take years of experience, with Don you learn that the basic skills are not that mysterious.

I had the good fortune to take a lighting class with Don Marr at the Santa Fe Workshops. By the end of the 6 day course, we all went from rank amatueurs to being able to recreate many of the images we found in magazines and advertisements. Don was a patient and careful teachers, explaining the subjects in a way that both made sense and was easy to remember. Reading this books now (a year and a half after I took the class), I find that it mimics the style of his class very effectively -- reading it was like taking the class over again. Don Marr breaks the subject down into easily understood chunks, and clearly explains each. I now use this book a reference guide for lighting, turning to it whenever I need a refresher on my core techniques.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in starting out in studio lighting, and anyone who has some experience but could use a helping hand in the studio.

If you are new to photography you may find the first two chapters useful. However, if you are not fully comfortable with terms like exposure, highlights, and bracketing this book will be confusing if not intimidating.


The book covers all aspects of studio photography lighting. Here are some of the useful things I found in this book:

*A clear description of the basics of light (that was useful soft vs hard, etc)
*Why and how to use light meters (yes they can be useful for digital photography too!)
*Practical one light setups (I learned the classics light setups here)
*Using background lighting ( like white or black background)
*Various useful tips and information throughout the book like using gels to change color temperature and using fill lights to increase details in shadows

However the book comes with some weaknesses too, like:

*Its mainly written for film photography (you will have to be creative to use his tips with digital photography)
*The writing level is pretty average and at times boring
*The book needs to be better organized
*More pictures would help illustrate concepts and practices better (for God sake he is a photographer!)


The title of the book is missing one word, professional. The title should read Beginners Guide to "Professional" Photographic Lighting.

If you want a book that's truly for beginners then consider Photographic Lighting Simplified by Susan McCartney.

I buy a lot of books on photoshop and photographyand this is one book you have to have. Concepts are explained well and bakced up with helpful diagrams. I have been looking for a book the last three year's on Lighting that I could understand and this did.
It even discussses special lighting effects used in high quality studio shots. Having this book will let you cross over from amateur to professional.
Thanks Mr. Marr for a great tome!

The first few chapters are ok for a beginner like myself but most of it is dealing with pro equipment which I dont have and studio which I dont have. I am not going to throw the book out it does have good points, but not really what I was looking for. I did like the light explantion with out all the math Hard and soft. I am still looking for the book that will tell me how to get good lighting at home with what I have on hand.

I bought this book almost a year ago and really tried to make use of it. Although it's obvious that the author has extensive photography knowledge I don't think he did a very good job of passing it on to the beginner. He gives really no diagrams for lighting set up or any other beginning helps. If you are like me and really are a visual self learner and an absolute beginner to photography I would not recommend buying this book.

I consider myself a professional amateur photographer, but I really needed one good lighting handbook - I found it with this one! It begins at the beginning, but takes you far enough so you can venture out and be creative on your own.

Congratulations - you bought a fancy camera, purchase expensive lighting equipment, now you are searching for a book to help you learn the tricks of the trade. Sadly, you search DOES NOT end here. This book, if you want to read it is much better checked out from the free library than purchasing it. The author sorely misses the idea of what beginners need to succeed in studio photogrpahy. The images seem out dated and the author provides no diagrams. In an attempt to make his book readable to a larger audience he waste space assuming that his readers do not have the correct equipment for the job. Don't waste the money, but I cannot be too critical as there are some morsles of lighting wisdom scattered around.

This book is the first of many lignting books I have purchased. It is great for beginners who are self-motivated and is easy to read. The pictures and diagrams are easily understood. I have to say that there are a lot of references to film format cameras, and I have a DSLR. Even so, this book is a great way to open your eyes to studio lighting and what's already around you.