Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting [Paperback]

Fil Hunter (Author), Steven Biver (Author), Paul Fuqua (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0240808193 | ISBN-13: 978-0240808192 | Edition: 3rd

An amazing (and some would say magical) resource on photographic lighting that has been talked about in the community and recommended for years. This highly respected guide has been thoroughly updated and revised for content and design - it is now produced in full color! It introduces a logical theory of photographic lighting so if you are starting out in photography you will learn how to predict results before setting up lights. This is not primarily a how-to book with only set examples for you to copy. Rather, Light: Science and Magic provides you with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light to allow you to use lighting to express your own creativity.

Numerous photographs and illustrations provide clear examples of the theories, while sidebars highlight special lighting questions. Expanded chapters on available light in portraiture, as well as new information on digital equipment and terminology make this a must have update!

*New four color art package with contemporary lighting examples
*Based on the behaviour of light
*Theory book for serious photographers

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Fil Hunter, Paul Fuqua, and Steven Biver, authors of Light--Science & Magic, on Lighting

Fil Hunter

Paul Fuqua

Steven Biver

We photographers now live in a gadget-based world. If you don’t believe me, just look at the Web or any photography magazine. What do you see but item after item extolling the virtue of this or that gizmo?

The lighting side of picture making is no exception. In fact it has become so intense that a huge proportion of questions I’m asked are of the “How can I work without a . . . ?” or “Will I ever be able to make good portraits without a . . . ?”

Fortunately two sentences written for the first edition of Light--Science & Magic some 25 years ago by our co-author, Fil Hunter are just as relevant today as they were then, a quarter of a century ago:

“No photographer has enough lighting equipment to do every assignment as well as possible." and “Most photographers have enough equipment to do almost every assignment well.”

To put those two pithy lines another way, it’s what you do with what you’ve got that counts.

Sure, there most certainly are those times when the newest and niftiest piece of gear would make life a lot easier. But if you can’t afford it, don’t go out and shoot yourself. Instead, start trying to figure out a different way of getting the job done.

You’ll be amazed at how many times you can.

--Fil Hunter, Paul Fuqua, and Steven Biver

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Amazon Exclusive: An Example from Paul Fuqua, One of the Authors of Light--Science & Magic, on Lighting

For the most part, my co-author, Steven, and I specialize in very different kinds of photography. Steven usually works using lights. I almost always work with only the ambient light I find where I’m shooting.

But as different as these two ways of working are, the approaches we use to lighting our subjects are almost identical. That’s because no matter where you find it or what its sources may be, light always behaves in certain predictable ways.

Take this portrait of my friend Howard. To make it I moved him into the “open” shade of a nearby barn. This flooded him with the kind of softly diffused light I had pre-visualized for the picture.

I then positioned Howard close to the edge of the barn’s shadow. This allowed a small number of the sun’s brighter rays to fall on the camera right side of his face.

The result of this slightly uneven lighting was twofold. First, Howard’s facial features were nicely modeled and second, the diffused light prevented any unattractive hard-edged shadows on it.

What’s important about the above is that I was able to use the ambient light I found on a location to make this portrait using exactly the same basic approach that Steven could use to produce identical looking lighting using studio strobes. Simply put, light is light, and it always follows the same laws of nature wherever it is and whatever produces it.

And that’s exactly what Light--Science & Magic is all about.

-- Paul Fuqua

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Featured Photographs from the Authors of Light--Science & Magic

This glass of water was photographed with two lights--one on the background and the other in the foreground. (For more on photographing glass see Chapter 7).

This dramatic studio portrait was created using three lights--a Fresnel for the hair light, a grid spot and, a strip light for the face. (For more on portrait lighting see Chapter 8).

Exterior lamp on building wall shot with available light. The hard-edged shadow is a result of the bright specular light, the sun.

Still life was lit with one large soft box. This type of light modifier enables you to create as soft and often pleasing “window light” look.

Location portrait photographed with dappled ambient light.

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Featured Excerpts from Light--Science & Magic

Read a few sample pages on how the cover was made. [PDF]

Read a few sample pages on how to photograph glass. [PDF]

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"If you are a photographer of any type, especially on who does studio work, this is a must have reference." - BC Books (May 2007) "The first book on photographic lighting that is worth using as a text. Light - Science and Magic is about principles, not cheap tricks or the authors' portfolio." -Pete Christman, Savannah College of Art and Design.

"I've found Light Science and Magic to be an invaluable tool." -Pointsinfocus.com

"This is the indispensable guide to photographic lighting for photographers at all stages of their craft." -Professional Photographer Magazine "I believe Light: Science & Magic should be a part of every serious photographer's library, and I feel strongly about it." -Photofidelity.com 

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 3rd edition (March 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240808193
• ISBN-13: 978-0240808192
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (163 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Lighting
  • #96 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Reference

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lighting Book that Teaches You How to Think, April 6, 2007

By 

D. Hobby "dhobby" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (Paperback)

Not just a bag of tricks, it teaches a way of thinking about light that promotes a better understanding and enhanced problem solving. At Strobist we are way into photographic lighting - too much so, our spouses might add - and this is the best book on the subject that I have seen yet.

This new (3rd) edition has full color all the way through, with updated photos that are simpler, to distill the lessons right down to the concepts being taught. It is about time this book got the production budget that it merited.

I cannot imagine there is a photographer out there that would not benefit from this book.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, October 23, 2008

By 

Tom Iancu "from east" (Bucharest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (Paperback)

I was looking for some literature regarding lighting that would cover basics for product photography. Unfortunately, most books endulge in a certain high level lingo that would confuse most of the readers. One could easily see which author has more experience based on the level of simplicity he or she uses in order to explain some concepts. A friend of mine lent me this book and I have now the chance to write a short review about it.
First of all: the book is excellent. The paper and printing quality (full color for all photographs and diagrams) are outstanding. One can easily see essential details in images, like different textures and apperance of surfaces under various lighting setups. So this is a big plus.
The book is divided in 10 chapters as follow:

1. How to learn lighting; this chapter gives you basic information regarding general lighting principles, the way the author chose the examples and - most important - why did he chose those examples, the rationale behind all exercises and some hints for the way you should approach each exercise (procedures, goals - what you should get) and also some general information about shooting equipment that one needs in order to perform the exercises in the book.

2. Light: the raw material for photography. This chapter explains in detail, but not to boredom and in a very plain and explicit manner the properties of light that each photographer should know and understand in order to take proper images. What I most liked is the fact that the author starts from a basic principle (almost as an axiom) that the most important factor for photography is not the gear but the light and the way a photographer understands and uses light.

3. The management of reflection and the family of angles. Basic information about the way light is reflected by various materials and surfaces, discussions on the placement of the sources of light relative to the observer (camera) in order to get different results, polarization and some exercises that helps you apply the theory.

4. Surface appearances. This chapter elaborate a bit more some concepts from the previous chapters, with focus on surface appearance, textures, boundaries and some many other information about way different objects appear in different lighting setups. Many exercises included, things that you should try by yourself.

5. Revealing shape and contour. A very good read about methods of adding 3D appearance to 2D images using shadows, tonalities, surface detail etc. This is a chapter with a lot of info about "providing real life appearance" of your 2D images.

6. Metal. How to photograph metal surfaces. Detailed examples and information about reflection on metal surfaces, ways to reveal detail and avoid loss of detail in different lighting setups, information and exercises on photographing metal boxes, special challenges imposed by round metal objects (like globes) and the special issues such photos pose.

7. The case of the disappearing glass. This is one of the most interesting chapters and deals with photographing glass and glass objects. Various methods are explained and actions needed for succesful photographs are detailed in very clear steps, with plenty of rationale and concepts in behind. A special section deals with glass objects with liquid inside, that act as lenses and pose special problems to inexperienced photographer.

8. An arsenal of lights. This chapter will be the favourite for portrait shooters, people that want to learn and understand ways of lighting for portraits. The images are "disassembled" in their components by each light source in order to familiarize yourself with the effects of light characteristics, placement, intensity etc.

9. The extremes. This deals mainly with high-key, low-key and special (under or overexposed) images, situations that require such artwork and the interaction of environment (backgrounds etc) and the objects to be photographed.

10. Traveling light. This deals entirely with strobes (flash photography) and with special issues using flash. If you are new to concepts like guide number, bounce, feathering etc., this chapter will place more... light to it. Also, provided are a lot of practical examples that you should also try.

Overall this is one of the best educational books about photography - in general - and lighting - in particular - I have ever read. The language used is plain, concise and extremely to the point, the concepts are extremely well explained, reasons for different results are given and principles are well laid, just to be followed.

I would STRONGLY recommend (actually I have already ordered one for myself) this book to anyone is interested in understanding more the light, lighting, studio setups and general knowledge about light and photography, actually the most important ingredient for each image you might take.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Liked the approach, March 18, 2008

By 

E. Husman "ehusman" (Las Cruces, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (Paperback)

My background is in engineering photography (high-speed events), but I want to learn more about studio photography for marketing and demonstration. I purchased this at the same time I purchased the Creative Lighting Techniques for Studio Photographers and Dantzig Softbox Lighting Techniques. Of the three, I got much more out of Light: Science and Magic than either of the other two. The authors' approach to gradually building the topic from light to reflection, surface, and then contours appealed to me. Since I am interested in photographing a wide variety of materials (paper, fabric, leather, industrial equipment), the fact that the book covers different kinds of materials is good. In particular, I appreciate the way it addresses the illumination of classes of materials (metal, glass, flat, textured) and the use of illumination and lens distortion to show contours in 3D objects.

I wish there had been more technical information covering, for example, the use of different kinds of lights, diffusers, reflectors, and other modifiers. It would also have been nice to get better information on the use of meters and flash units.