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Still Life and Special Effects Photography: A Guide to Professional Lighting Techniques, Second Edition Paperback – October 2, 2005

by Roger Hicks (Author), Frances Schultz (Author)

4.1 45 ratings

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"Studio-based still life photography is amongst the most challenging of subjects for the photographer. It's a genre which demands a high level of compositional skill and a mastery of lighting techniques. Here, over 40 professional still life photographers share their secrets and reveal the precise lighting arrangements behind some of their most successful shots. By copying some of these tried and tested setups novices to the studio will be able to create great lighting with the minimum of effort. More experienced photographers can benefit, by adapting the setups for their own needs - and of course there's always a few new tricks worth borrowing." Once the basics have been mastered, readers can move on to the second section of the book, which explains how to create convincing, studio-based special effects. Everything from mounting a light on a revolving set, to projecting an image onto a subject to change its appearance, to creating the effect of a starlit sky is explained in an easy to follow way. Montage, superimposition, room sets and digital imaging effects are just a few of the techniques covered - along, of course, with the lighting set-up for each image.

Length

287
Pages
Language

EN
English
Publisher

Rotovision
Publication date

2005
October 2
ISBN-10

2940361304
ISBN-13

978-2940361304
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Gary Perweiler
34
Paperback
44 offers from $1.51
Steve Bavister
7
Paperback
10 offers from $3.81

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rotovision; 2nd edition (October 2, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 287 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 2940361304
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-2940361304
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.25 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #949,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #95 in Photography Lighting (Books)
- #797 in Photography Reference (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 45 ratings

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4.1 out of 5

45 global ratings

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Doyle

wow ... it's a great book for semi pro

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2008

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Well. .I ordered this book and when I open it I realize that I found the book I was searching for a long time!

The sets designs are very very helpuful to know the practise of lights and the shots help me a lot in my creative though!

Very good book. I recommend it to all the photographer with a hard passion for still life photography.

2 people found this helpful

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Syl Arena

Beautiful Photos - Great Lighting Diagrams

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2008

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From the original review on PixSylated.com: I love the format of RotoVision books. A big, beautiful photo opposite a detailed lighting diagram with just enough words to explain how the image came together. This book is a compilation covering a wide range of still life photography.There are lessons to be learned for all types of still life and product photography. For instance, I found that the techniques for making a length of rusty chain look beautiful are equally applicable to lighting bread. Given that it costs about as much as a good pizza, Still Life and Special Effects Photography is another must-have.

2 people found this helpful

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Poppygirl 81

Get This Book!

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2015

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This book and "Light Science..." combined are the two books that will earn you an A+ in your photography class. Get this book!

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A H

Good guide book for photography

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2012

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Guide to set up for creative photography shots. Mostly products but it is a start to give a base to develop creative settings and photo.

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SetterSpeaker

but rather that is totally useless as a learning tool

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2015

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Not worth the time or money. The problem is not that its film based, but rather that is totally useless as a learning tool. Unless you can find a specific trick for a specific problem, this book is useless. There is no organization, no theme, no index, etc. Its a helter-skelter collection of anecdotes by individual photographers to display their success in solving a particular problem. Its hard to buy a book that is totally useless, but this one is precisely that.

One person found this helpful

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H. YILDIZELI

Very useful book

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2009

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Very useful book for digital photography, I recommended who want to learn about shooting studio photography.
Easy expression, great lighting skills. Buy and enjoy it.

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2011

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This book has some really good ideas in it. If you're wanting an introduction of some sort this is not the book you're looking for. However, if you have understanding of lighting principals and are looking to expand and create some interesting images using dynamic effects, this is what you're looking for. The book details a lot of different lighting techniques and gives great schematics of how they set up the shot allowing you to set up and adapt these images to what you want to do. This book creates stepping stones for still life photographers and can be adapted to a degree for portraiture.

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S. White

Hicks and Schultz, what a team...

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2003

I spend allot of time in bookstores searching for useful, yes that's useful books on photography. Once you have long since gone beyond the ranks of amateur, newbie or intermediate and reached the shores of expert and semi pro, wanting to perhaps start making a living from this craft, you find that there is very little at all out there in the way of USEFUL works on the subject at this higher level.
I own great books in the area's where I usually shoot film - (Outdoor, Landscape, Night)- , which I have reviewed elsewhere for those who wonder, but the area of still life and special effects photography is something up until now I have left alone, having always been curious about. Still Life and Special Effects Photography by the above mentioned authors is a superb choice for those looking for an entry point into the professional or fun end of this type of photography.
This is not so much of an in depth step by step guide that teaches you how to shoot Still Life and Special Effects images, but rather it is a primer, explaining in brief tutorial the HOW of individual works of photography.
This work is broken up into various sections which focus on various styles of Still and Special effects images. What you get is a large facing page with the image as final product and on the opposite page a detailed drawing and explanation of HOW everything was set up in black and white sketch style. You get to see exactly what lighting was used, how it was placed, what props were involved and the camera's movements.
Sidebar discussions give technical details of each image, the photographers comments, the art director if there was one and various side bar discussions which give a brief but detailed enough version of HOW this kind of work is achieved. Largely this work is superb not as a 'guide to copy', but it is mean't to serve as a tool for inspiring YOU, the photographer, to create your own works having grasped whats possible and what can be achieved.
I own other excellent works by Hicks and Shultz and this book is just fantastic for whetting the appetite and getting some creative juices flowing. I went down to the art store and bought all kinds of materials after reading this book and am looking forward to expanding my photographic horizons into this fascinating area of image making. Used as a tool for inspiration and you can't go wrong.

93 people found this helpful

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B.

Pari al nuovo

Reviewed in Italy on December 12, 2022

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Quando ho trovato questo libro in vendita, non mi sembrava vero. Il suo contenuto è preziosissimo aper un fotografo che voglia approcciare allo still Life in un modo " pro" e onestamente me lo sarei tenuto anche con evidenti difetti o usure. Invece il libro è praticamente parli al nuovo, questo mi rende ancora più felice. Il testo è inglese ma è ricco di immagini e di schemi, direi che se già si mastica un po' di gergo tecnico, non ci sono problemi di comprensione

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K. Wilkey

Great book for still life photographers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2009

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I've been trying still life photography and thinking my efforts were lacking something, so I treated myself to this book. I have to say, I've found it very helpful! It is set out in two sections. The first concentrates on straight still lifes. Each project occupies two pages and a full page colour photo, a diagram of the lighting, backdrop etc used, including the placement of the props, and one or more plan views of the same setup. Explanations are short but detailed.

The second section, as the title suggests, goes into special effects, such as montaging two or more photos, using coloured gels, etc. Again, diagrams and plan views are shown. In both sections, the camera settings - speed, aperture etc - are listed.

I feel that the book explains everything clearly and, even if you don't like the actual subjects suggested, there is enough information to give you ideas for setting up your own still life photos.

I'd definitely recommend this book.

8 people found this helpful

"レーナリョ"

Impressive!

Reviewed in Japan on September 5, 2004

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This book is a must-buy when it comes to inspiring ideas for still-life photography. The photos within are of exceptional quality and beauty, the techniques used to get the effects are clearly shown in the accompanying diagrams, and most of the set-ups are can be duplicated with minimal equipment for one's own experimentation. Having owned the book for a year, it still remains the most treasured piece on my bookshelf and home-studio, a definite keeper!
The book is sure to impress even a non-photographer just browsing through. To starting photographers, its excellent contents serve as a rough guide to lighting still-life and to advanced photographers, a great piece to return for inspirations!
Also as a much added bonus, the book itself is well worth the price for being printed on very high quality papers and with hardcover, so it probably will last that lifetime!

One person found this helpful

Andrew

Book Review

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 19, 2012

Verified Purchase

The book offers hands on help and advice on how to photograph products (Still Life).
It gets straight to the point and provides usable information. There is no waffle just good advice and usable set ups for a home studio or any studio on a moderate budget.