Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers [Paperback]

Stephen A. Dantzig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2007

Softboxes—specialized photographic lighting devices that produce a flattering and soft, low-contrast look—are the main focus of this resource for photographers. Professional and amateur photographers alike will be able to apply the thorough explanations on the simple, yet highly effective, light- and shadow-altering methodologies found in this guidebook to any subject matter in portrait, fashion, and editorial images. Additional chapters cover the use of softboxes in partnership with other light sources, including sunlight and various types of studio lighting treatments.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dantzig has done his research and used excellent photographs to illustrate his points."  —Rangefinder

About the Author

Stephen A. Dantzig is an internationally renowned lighting expert and the author of Lighting Techniques for Fashion and Glamour Photography and Master Lighting for Outdoor & Location Digital Portrait Photography. He is a frequent contributor to Rangefinder, and his more than 30 lessons on photographic lighting and ethics have appeared in Professional Photographer, PCPhoto, and Studio Photography and on ShootSmarter.com. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc. (May 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584282029
• ISBN-13: 978-1584282020
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #807,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a dreamer with a sound foundation. I love photography and I enjoy writing about it and teaching it. I am happiest when working behind a camera. My friends would describe me as a very caring person who is not afraid to get to the heart of a problem. I take risks when needed and have a drive to succeed. I have a physical disability--cerebral palsy, and I use two canes to get around. However, this has never held me back and my accomplishments have surprised many people. I have rolled around on snow covered slopes [I'm not really sure you would call it "skiing!"] and explored the seas with a scuba tank strapped on. I have dragged many pounds of camera gear down ridiculous cliffs and stairs just to get "the shot." I have written five books [one in psychology and four on photography]. I have a great deal of passion about the things that are important to me. My interests outside of photography and education involve a study of Hawaiian and Polynesian culture. I was born and raised in New York, and while I love being a "New Yorker," Polynesia presents such a fascinating and beautiful contrast. I am truly relaxed watching a young lady tell her story through the hula.

Official Bio: Stephen Dantzig is a nationally renowned lighting expert and author of Lighting Techniques for Fashion and Glamour Photography for Film and Digital Photographers, Mastering Lighting Techniques for Outdoor and Location Digital Portrait Photography and Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers (Amherst Media). His fourth book for Amherst Media, Portrait Lighting for Digital Photographers: The Basics and Beyond is set for a November 2009 release. He has written more than sixty articles and lessons on photographic lighting and ethics. He is a frequent contributor to RANGEFINDER Magazine and his lessons have appeared in Professional Photographer Magazine, PC Photo Magazine, Studio Photography and Design, ProPhoto West, ShootSmarter.com, ProPhotoResource.com, the Photoflex Web Photo School. His work has appeared on more than 22 magazine covers including local, regional and national markets. Some of his published works have appeared in the Amherst Media's Portrait Photographer's Handbook, Group Portrait Photography Handbook, The Best of Portraiture, The Best of Photographic Lighting (First and Second Editions), Lighting and Posing Techniques for Photographing Women, Professional Portrait Lighting Techniques and Images from Master Photographers, 500 Poses for Photographing Women, and Rangefinder's Professional Photography This Week Magazine (Hawaii), Pleasant Hawaii Magazine, Doll Reader, Metropolitan Home, Studio City Lifestyles Magazine, Santa Clarita Valley Living, and The Los Angeles Times. Stephen is a twenty-one time Award of Merit recipient from the Professional Photographers of Los Angeles County and has received two Awards of Merit from The Professional Photographers of Hawaii. His specialties include fashion, beauty and corporate photography. Commercial clients in Hawaii include: United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii; Mr. Brickwood Galuteria; Miss Raeceen Woolford (Miss Hawaii 2009), Mrs. Alicia Jones (Miss Hawaii USA 2003); several past and current Miss Hawaii and Miss Hawaii USA preliminary title holders and Miss Hawaii Teen/Miss Hawaii Teen USA preliminary title and title holders. Stephen also holds a Doctor of Psychology degree from the Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. He now works, teaches and resides in Honolulu, HI.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Resource for Softbox Lighting Techniques, August 12, 2007

By 

Cris Mitchell "Publisher ProPhotoResource.com" (Pismo Beach, Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers (Paperback)

Unlike Steve's previous two books "Lighting Techniques for Fashion and Glamour Photography" and Master Lighting Techniques for Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography", "Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers" is light on all the theoretical techie talk ie: Inverse Square Law etc . . . and heavy on the creative use of Softbox Lighting. Almost every page of the 122 page book is illustrated with Stephen's beautiful photography along with diagrams to help illustrate his points. For those of you who are technically impaired like myself this will be a breath of fresh air! If you like the nuts and bolts of lighting, then make sure you pick either of Stephen's previous two books, which go into much greater detail on these topics.

Once you get through a short chapter on the Characteristics of Light, you are headlong into the practical use of Softbox lighting along with chapters on softbox modiefiers and combining hard and soft light sources to give you images some snap. The book does not stop there, it finishes with chapters on using softboxes to light commercial interiors and products as well as a chapter on using the softbox for outdoor lighting. Stephen has left no stone unturned with this latest in his Trilogy of Lighting books.

The only real complaint I have for this book are the Lighting Diagrams, for my personal taste I prefer diagrams illustrated from the Camera's perspective and not the models, which avoids me having to constantly flip the image in my head. A minor nitpick at best.

Even acclaimed commercial photographer Will Crockett was noted as saying "Professionals and non-pros alike will find something of use in Steve's new book and we think the info on "Combining Light Sources" in Chapter 4, is some of the best we've seen on this topic." I totally Agree!

Bottom line, if you are a seasoned portrait shooter looking to spice up your typical softbox images or a beginner looking into adding the softbox to your arsenal of lighting tools, we highly recommend this book!

Cris Mitchell

Publisher

ProPhotoResource[dot]com

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite there yet, January 30, 2009

By 

P. West (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers (Paperback)

This book is both informative and frustrating. It awkwardly tries to to be both breezy and technical at the same time and as a result often fails to properly explain technical details properly. This results in nebulous expressions such as "pop" being used to describe when a scene is properly lit. While there are many excellent photos showing the effect of varying the setup, sometimes the sets are incomplete or the captions confusing. Also there are lots of lighting layout diagrams that would be a very good thing if it wasn't for the fact that they mix top-view and side-view symbols in the same diagram making them almost incomprehensible - arrrgh! I hope there will be a revised second edition that fixes the problems because it could be a really great textbook for the advanced photographer - but it isn't that yet.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Didn't like this approach, March 18, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers (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 Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. Of the three, I got much less out of Softbox Lighting Techniques than either of the other two. Maybe it's just me, but this just looked like a random collection of different studio lighting setups. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, no explanation, no general drift, just a grab-bag of different light arrangements.

On the plus side, the photographer did something I always thought should be done, but have never actually seen in the wild: he used a Gretag-Macbeth chart in some of the photos as a reference for doing color balance.