I have taken some courses about lighting in my country, I would like to say that I cannot understand very well what I had in the course without what this book's instruction.Every creative lighting skill should be started from here.

This book is a required text for my Commerical 1 photo class, and what a great book it is! I love how it assumes that you know the basics plus, and uses terms that aren't novice level. This book should be in every pro photographer's library, very well written, loads of examples and real world lighting techniques.

This book is excellent, describing how to light a variety of common but tricky situations. It discusses all of the necessary physics in non-technical detail and in that way is a good practical accompaniment to technical physics texts such as Principles of Optics: Electromagnetic Theory of Propagation, Interference and Diffraction of Light (7th Edition) and Optics (4th Edition). I highly recommend it for those interested in doing photographic lighting as well as those trying to understand the physics of light.

Lighting is what photography ("light writing", in Greek) is all about, right? If you haven't mastered lighting, you're not taking photographs; you're making snapshots.

This book is a masterful guide to light in all its forms and uses. Read it to learn what you can really do with your camera. I recommend it highly.

This book is the basic text for how light works. It will introduce you to the behavior of light and the work of handling various surfaces, including what makes good portrait lighting. If you're into product photography, handling glass and metal is in there. If you're just interested in people, everything you need to know is here. Unless you're already in college for photography and are getting a solid grounding in all the technical (physics) aspects of photographic lighting, buy this book and be "enlightened".

Loads of information / explanations. A little bit of physics but only that necessary. Details how light works, how to photograph glass and metal, and much more. One of my favourite photography books, and so far the ONLY book (I've purchased around 20 photography related books from Amazon) I've been motivated to review on Amazon!

When I buy a Tec Book. I am happy if I get at least 1 really good chapter of info I can use. This book had many good chapters and I use it as a on going reference for my work. I recommend this book for anyone serious in improving their lighting techniques in the studio.

PS It's not filled with a lot of poor attempts at humor like some of the "Photoshop" technique books. You probably know who I am talking about...

I bought this book in my quest to begin studio photography. I was hoping that this book would give me diagrams to follow to achieve these affects along with any other information I'd need. While the book does include some diagrams, this is NOT the purpose of the book.

The book is written in textbook form and is a comprehensive lesson on how light behaves. After reading it I now understand that these are the basics of lighting and having someone give you a bunch of diagrams will not be the answer to studio photography unless you also understand WHY these lighting diagrams work.

Being written in textbook form, this book is not for the faint of heart. I found myself on several occassions looking up more information to go along with what I was reading so that I could better understand the principles taught. (This is NOT because there was any information lacking...this was soley due to my capacity to understand science).

I have found myself looking at light differently now and feel I have a much better understanding on how to achieve the lighting effects I desire. If you are interested in studio photography (this book is about much more than studio portraiture however)I recommend reading this book FIRST and then following it up with a *fun* book on portrait photography.

This is essential reading for any photographer serious about "getting good."

Lighting is simple in theory but complex in practice; this book helps you with both. As the authors point out, one has all the practical knowledge about light and shadow they'll ever need stored in the brain already. But, also as the authors state, it's difficult to translate that into actionable ideas for your photography. That's where this book comes into play.

You'll learn the difference between, say, a polarized reflection, and diffuse reflection, and what each of those things -- among others -- means to your photographic composition. Read this book and attempt the examples provided; doing so will give you a MUCH better understanding of how to correctly light virtually any subject.

"Light: Science and Magic" is the end-all-and-be-all when it comes to learning lighting.

Very good Technical.
Gives you good shortcuts for some studio problems.
Like already said, a good reference for product photographers and for everyone who hated physiscs at school.
Nothing new about light behaviour, but good explanations about it ver products.
"Changed my life ..." wasn't a little bit "DIVA"?

This is essential handbook for about everything you'll encounter in studio. You'll learn the basics and master the laws of light & surface and how to overcome many difficult situations, written in a language that is quite easy to understand. Every photographer should own (and read) this book, from rookie to pro! Outstanding!

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.

no serious amatuer or pro photographer should be without this book on light and how to use it properly for better pictures.....film or digital it makes no difference

It would be hard to add much to what has already been said by so many. This is an excellent book on lighting for photography. I'd highlight again that this isn't a cookbook but instead focuses on the fundamentals. If you're looking for step by step instructions on how to reproduce the latest lighting gimmick you've seen in magazine ads then go elsewhere. If you're looking for a book on the fundamentals that will allow you to create your own lighting with ease and reverse engineer anyone else's lighting then this is the book you want. There are lots of books on photography and lighting out there and few that have much useful to say. This is probably one of the highest quality and most consistently useful books in the field of photography I've ever seen.

Recently, I was asked to photograph clear, glass dishware. My search for resources led me to "Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting" by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua. My questions about glass photography were answered, and the examples and hints given were extremely useful. This text will not answer all your questions, and other sources are needed for detailed operational instructions for flash lighting. Hunter, Biver, and Fuqua will give you an excellent overview of concepts and "how to" for key lighting problems including shiny metal, glass and protraits. An excellent use is as a text for continuing education photography students, and as an addition to the library of advanced, non-pro photographers.

If you're just starting with photography and have mastered your camera, exposure basics and composition basics - it's time to read this book. If you're a professional or advanced amateur - it's time to read this book. Absolutely eye opening. Worth every penny. Enlightenment in every chapter.

I bought this book because of it's promise of information on lighting difficult surfaces (glass, metal, etc.). What I got was so much more! The authors take the time to explain in detail what all the issues are with lighting these types of subjects, including the science of how light acts, and then applies this information to real life situations. Even though the information is technical, it is written in a very readable and user-friendly style. All this information is accompanied by easy to understand illustrations showing how various lighting set-ups will affect the final photo.

One of the statements that really stood out is that photography is a matter of controling reflections, since that is what we are capturing. This one single idea has really changed how I approach a subject, even in natural light. By applying the principles taught in this book, I approach subjects differently, knowing specifically how to adjust my camera angle or the position of the subject to the light source in order to get the effect I want.

I have several books on studio lighting, but none of them are as comprehensive as this one. It is my favorite, and I'm sure I'll come back to it in the future again and again!

Okay so when I opened this book I wasn't too excited. There weren't a lot of pretty pictures... and there were (eek) diagrams. It looked like a text book, and an old fashioned one at that. But once I started reading it, everything began to come clear. For the longest time, lighting has been a mystery to me. And achieving acceptable lighting has been a guessing game because no one has ever explained it to me. This book explains it all. It covers some of the more notoriously difficult lighting scenarios on the premise that if can master those, you can photograph anything. It also lays the groundwork for you to make your own creative lighting choices. After reading a good portion of this book, I feel like I understand the science of lighting enough feel more confident in choosing appropriate lighting for many situations. If you are new to photography you can save yourself a lot of time and a lot frustration by reading this book.

I am not a photographer by trade, I am in fact a technology officer with nearly 30 years of technical background. My interest in photography has been simmering for my adult working life, and as I look toward retirement I have started to take on a serious investigation of the art and science of digital photography.

This book, Light Science & Magic is one of the best text books I have read in any field. I think if you find yourself in a stage of learning photography that I am, you like me will discover that you learn something valuable on every page you turn over in this book.

I cannot recommend it enough for anyone trying to understand the concepts of lighting for any aspect of photography....... and it is well enough written that it is just plain interesting reading.

LSM gives an easy to understand explanation of the physics of lighting and how it applies to various subject matters and surfaces. This is a must have for any photographer; student, professional, amateur, novice... If you're a photographer and don't already own this book, buy it now.

I was recently faced with my first photography project that required lighting.

At the time, I had never used lights before in my photography and, to be completely honest, I was a little scared of the prospect. I had to learn a lot in a short amount of time so I needed a solid resource. After a little research, I bought Light: Science and Magic to get things started. I'm glad I did.

Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua ease the novice reader in with very basic lighting concepts focused on two-dimensional subjects. Each chapter builds until you have an understanding of how to light complicated objects like metal and glass. The diagrams and supporting pictures clearly illustrate the concepts, and the writing is very natural and easy to understand. When I finished the book, I had the know-how and confidence to light just about any project.

This is such a great book because the authors teach the principles of lighting instead of just showing you how to achieve certain effects or lighting styles. These principles can be applied to many situations and utilized to achieve any effect you desire. In other words, you won't find just a lighting cookbook here. Rather, read this book and you will learn how to think about lighting and understand it from the ground up. This puts you in control of how your photos will look.

If you want to get started with lighting, Light: Science and Magic is an essential read.

Photography is.... the manipulation of Light. What is the single most important decision in lighting a photograph.....the size of the light source. Being able to describe light is the first step in ....being able to control it. What are the 3 primary properties of light that photographers are concerned with....Brightness, color and contrast. Lighting is a relationship between....the light, the subject and the viewer. To control lighting we must understand the subject, it can ...transmit, absorb or reflect the light. These are just a few of my notecards from this fascinating book. It is easy to read and has radically changed my photography.

I think this is the best book available on lighting. It is kind of laid out like a text book, but very readable. It is clear and where possible concise, but it does go into the science of lighting. It does not get too technical but gives you much more information than any other book I have seen. It shows how to light any subject type, such as reflective and non reflective.

Not much else can be said that hasn't already been said about this superb book.
I will add this though; I am in the habit of using a yellow highlighter pen to mark what I consider to be information worth remembering in a book, important info that I want to review when I re-read the book. My thinking is why re-read the whole book when I can just re-read the most important parts of a book - the highlighted parts (usally 2-3 cumulitive paraghraphs per chapter). Well, after reading the first 80 pages of this book, I realized that I had gone thru two new highlighter pens and flipping back through those first 80 pages, I also realized that nearly 90-95 percent of each and every page was highlighted. What an enjoyable and informative read!
Yes, the book is technical, but the subject matter is explained in a very linear fashion, written so as to be very understandable and most importantly, not without relating exactly why it is essential to taking better photographs.
Bottom line, if you are serious about photography, this book will hold a prominent position in your photographic library! Kudos and thanks to the authors.

This book is a real page turner and is probably the best "textbook" I've read in my life. Well at least it's in a textbook like format and is as thick as a textbook but only without the hardcover. Anyways, this book is purely dedicated to lighting. There's a clear introduction about light and how it behaves and you can understand it clearly if you have taken any physics class in school.

This books comes with a good break down of different subjects and how they are lit is very different. The transition from chapter to chapter is very nicely done. Every new chapter you start requires applies the method you've just learned in the previous chapter. As you read on, you gradually learn more and more without feeling like all the lighting information is hitting you all at once which can be overwhelming.

The book shows tons of examples from regular surfaces, to metal, to glass , etc. Surfaces or rather object that are just plain hard to take a picture of. These types of picture can almost never be achieved without proper understanding of light and how it behaves on various surfaces (both subjects and gobos/reflects/etc). However, this book breaks down and explains the setup required to take such a shot and trust me the setups are a piece of cake, anyone can do it.

Even though the examples in the book is in a contained environment like a studio, the principles you learn from this book can be applied to outdoor lighting and many other types of lighting. The author said that the setups are just basic ways of dealing with lighting issues for certain and how to solve lighting problems that seems impossible in a very clear fashion. And that is what the book does. It gives you the tool to so you can create your own masterpieces or money shots.

Basically: It's a great book, for a great price, easy to read, page turner, very informative = must have for any photographer who has a passion for photography and is always aiming to achieve beautiful pictures. (I am one of them)

The third edition of this book contains just the write combination of practical example, clear explanation, and enough theory to know what you're doing and a strong grounding in how to be creative in photography by knowing the rules, not being ignorant of the rules. The book includes a sensible look at digital photography and all but two of the sample images have been photographed using digital. This book will also teach you how to avoid endless hours of software manipulation by getting it right or nearly right before your jpeg or raw file hits the computer.

This book is comprehensive on the subject of studio lighting. The chapter on portrait lighting alone is worth the purchase price. The principles it teaches are straightforward and easily learned, and applicable to a universe of situations. This is the last book I'm buying on the subject. I wish it was the first.

This book is great because it actually explains WHY your lights are lighting your subject a certain way, and shows you diagrams of the setup and the photo result. This is unlike other books I've tried, which just show the picture and tell the setup, with no explanation as to why the choices were made and why they are working. With this book, you will understand HOW to manage shadows, highlights, and reflections. It also talks about WHAT lighting schemes are best for different subjects and materials, and clerly explains WHY. I now feel comfortable setting up any studio lighting for a product because I understand the results of my lighting choices. Highly recommend.

When I needed to learn more about product photography to launch my website, I dreaded the challenge of also having to becoming a professional-level photogapher. Other books I investigated seem to have been written to help aspiring pros--and this book would be great for many of them too--but I wanted a book that could help me simply master the task at hand. This book saved the day. It showed me everything I needed to know to set up and begin taking crisp, detailed and appealing photos. I finally understood why my photos looked flat and what I could do to fix it. The language in this book is accessible and the writers show that they know their stuff without being know-it-alls. There is a great deal here that I'm not using today, but I'll enjoy exploring in the future. As an artist, I appreciate thier balance between the technical and the "magic." This is a great book that I'll keep using for years to come.

This book is a terrific exposition about the science of light (in simple terms) and why it matters to photographers. It is so jam-packed with information I read it twice in one month! If you're looking for a book about the "best" films, cameras, lights, or other equipment, then don't buy this book. If, instead, you're looking for timeless book about lighting principles and how to handle difficult lighting situations, then this is the one for you.

amazing users guide to the basic principles of how light falls upon subject matter. If you ever want to know how to create better images using better light, then start with this book.

the book is laid out in easy to understand chapters, image examples and lighting diagrams. I had no problems trying out many of the lighting scenarios discussed in the book.

Recommended, especially if you are studying photography in high school or college.

Great book for those looking to develop a deeper understanding of lighting concepts as they relate to still and motion capture. A quick read packed with excellent illustrations.

This book was just what I was hoping it would be, easy to follow with clear explanations and examples.

It takes so much of the guess work out of the difficult situations covered in the book, replacing self doubt with solid principles to be applied to a wide variety of other lighting situations you might encounter.

A very good book, which I highly recommend.

I use this book as a text for my beginning lighting photo class. It is a great book with easy to understand illustrations. The text handles 'dry' material very well and in my opinion is a classic educational book for anyone interested in understanding lighting. I have been asked by the educational institutions to find a more up to date text, and I can not find one better! I am pleased with the updated version and inclusion of color illustrations. Thank you!

Although I've read many books about photography, this one really hit the nail on the head for me. Most other books I've read don't spend nearly enough time on lighting except for a few notes on outdoor back lighting versus front lighting, but this entire book is about it! Of course, the other books I've read didn't have the word "lighting" in their title, so this may be a little unfair.

Aside from learning about photographing still subjects: metal, glass, black on black, white on white, etc., you will learn about how to light a portrait both indoors and out. The book goes into some details on the physics of light, reflected versus diffuse light, and how to position your lighting equipment to get the desired effect. Highly recommended - there may well be better books on this subject out there, but I haven't run into them yet. I think I've learned more from this book than the other ten or so books I have laying around.

I would like to thank the authors, Hunter, Biver, Fuqua on a outstanding book on lighting. Once I started reading the book, I could not put it down. This book covers alot into detail, as to, how lighting works and how to use it. This is a must have book. I would suggest that those out there (photographers) that want to learn lighting, pick this book up and forget about the others. But, I must say that you do learn more as you read more, that's why I purchased 6 books on lighting. But by far, this is a good book to read. Little on the high price side, but get it, you won't be disappointed. Thank you.

D. Porter, AZ.

I've read virtually every book about lighting, and this is my favorite. The principles are clearly illustrated, and the writing is straightforward. I teach cinematography at a local college, and this book is required reading for my students.

This book describes itself as a grammar of lighting. I would add that it is a descriptive rather than a prescriptive grammar, that is, it tells you how lighting works as a matter of fact, rather than trying to tell you what you should do as a photographer. I'm still rereading chapters and getting something from them, perhaps especially because I'm taking the authors' suggestion and trying to do the exercises myself.

While it is not terribly technical -- it's well written and easy to read -- the book is a bit abstract, in the sense that it's trying to describe the general properties of lighting as used for photography. For some readers and photographers, the abstract or theoretical approach may not be congenial. The book has very little (almost nothing) to say about equipment, for example. In the section on portrait lighting, the emphasis is simply on what happens when lighting is placed in different positions -- not on which form of lighting is best.

But I personally found the book's approach exhilarating. I've read so many photography books it's hard for me to single out one as THE most informative and THE most helpful to me as a photographer, but if I had to do so, this book might be my pick.

I sort of learned nothing from this book, but also learned EVERYTHING.

This book takes what I see everyday, but don't think about, then turns it into thought. I've always known that light reflects from things in three different ways, but that knowledge has sat unconsciously in my lower brain. My higher brain, which does shutter speed, depth of field, and f/stops, was oblivious. The book brings your two brains together!

As a professional photographer and instructor, I've perused many books on photographic lighting, portrait lighting, etc. I say "perused" because most are complicated in the way they present their information, or, present examples that -while technically sound- are totally impractical for everyday use. So much so that I rarely buy them. This is understandable, as professional lighting is the single most difficult aspect of photography to grasp, let alone master. So explaining it isn't always easy, either.

This book -while it does use a bit of technical language- approaches each example in a very straightforward way, explaining when and where each technique is useful, how to perform each technique and even the troubles you're likely to encounter when you first attempt them. In short it's like someone is sitting there with you leading you through the logic of how the lighting works, and helping you to look out for the pitfalls. And while it's not that thick of a book, it is *dense* with information. There is much to absorb and learn, and frankly I've seen no other book that comes close in terms of making it a pleasure to learn.

This book will be a required text for any university classes I teach in the future.

On the first day of his Physics 45 (i.e., photography) class, Ross Scroggs put a "rock" on his lecture table and told his students that this was an ax, one of the first human tools. He also told them that art, demonstrated in cave paintings, evolved simultaneously with tools. "I do not need to teach you art," he said, "because, if you are human, you will produce art as soon as you have the tools. I intend to give you the tools. I will not mind wasting my time with the overwhelming majority of apes in this class, because the handful of humans here will certainly listen to me and that makes it worth my time."

This book was originally developed by two students from the University where Scroggs taught, and he's the prominent dedicatee of the book. It's not my place to say they have delivered his promise, but read the other reviews of this book, written almost entirely by people who never knew Ross Scroggs, and look at the similarity between their descriptions of the book and Scroggs' promises.

This is a book that will teach you about light and how to apply it. It isn't meant for you to copy a setup to get similar results. It is an outstanding book that tells you why you put the lights in a particular position and why it works in one instance, but not another.

IMHO this is a easy to follow fun to read college course on lighting. If you are looking to improve your craft this is a must read. This is also a book in the reference library of the Certified Professional Photographers association and helps in preparing for their exam.

Everything in this book is so obviously true! But I can't believe I never saw it before!

I think this book achieves true mysticism in what it does to your brain, and I guess that's what the "magic" part of the title is about. Still, everything here is presented as solid technology: here's how light works, here's how it reflects off of different objects, now, go out and do something with this knowledge!

The fact that a metal object has the same brightness, regardless of the distance of the light, while everything else gets brighter or dimmer as the light gets closer or further away is hugely empowering. Think about that for a minute, folks: I can't move the sun, but I can change the lighting ratio by moving this camera I have in my hands.

This is the one and only classic book on this subject.

I found this book to be for commercial photographers. Over 3/4 of the book describes how to photograph glass, metal, ect. If you are working with people there are better lighting books than this. Nothing ground breaking in this one.

An excellent publication.
This is a well-written truly authoritative work.
I could not recommend this book highly enough.

This is a great book! It is very detailed in the examination of why light does the things the things it does. The book delves into the physics of light, but don't let that scare you. The authors are very down to earth and they give real life examples and setup diagrams to explain the techniques. I highly recommend this as a resource for serious photographers (especially if you are interested in studio work).

As a fairly hands on self taught photographer(semi pro)
I can say this book would be a good cheat sheet and advanced reminder to someone that is stuck in a setup with blinders.
We do get lazy sometimes and stick to what works, this book can remind us that there are other options and good rules of lighting we have learned but forgot. Not to say there are not great new meathods mentioned in this book also. For the beginner to lighting this book will explain basics in english to what seems like dbl dutch. In english this book will cover most all the basics up into the advanced lighting techniques. And help understand the science of light.

This is a great book for anyone who wants to learn about lighting for photography for basically any situation. While it doesn't exactly show you to "place a light here and at this angle to the subject", it does give you the information needed so that you can determine where the light will work based on what you are dealing with. Most of the information in the book is based on inanamate objects, but it does cover portrait lighting (in fair detail).

This is THE BOOK for photographic lighting. There are loads on the market. I found out the hard way, buying 15 digital how-to photography books in the last 12 months. It seems many photography books have been re published with the word digital added.

I've been trying to photograph watches for a few years now. The reflections drive me nuts.
This book has taught me how to deal with and control those reflections.

Putting a watch in a light tent just makes it look aluminium no hightlights just flat and boring. If you want to take things to the next level, this is the book.

Not only watches. I photograph a lot of furniture. The reflections are a real pain. This book helped.

Its been like the missing part of a puzzle. I have the best Nikon gear, 3 off camera SB 800's 3 Macro lens. The works. This book showed me how to use it.

Its all to do with the "Family of Angles" as explained in this book.

One reviewer said he only gave it 4 stars because there wasn't enough about digital. My question to him would be. Whats different about lighting for digital than light for film that isn't mentioned?

My only complain is that the title doesn't come up in enough searches. "The ultimate book on photographic lighting" would have come up a lot sooner. I found this book because it was recommended on strobist blog.

Experienced and inexperienced photographers - all those whose interest is the wonderful things that light can do - will love to read , well study , this beautifully written book which marries simple optics and photographic aesthetics in explaining the simple things like why does a piece of grey pewter look different to a piece of grey caard of the same brilliance and hue? And can we manipulate that difference?. It is all forehead- slaping stuff expaining the obvious reasons - when it has been explained to you - about why some things work and others don't.Hard toimagine anyone not benefitting from it, enjoying it, and re- reading it later.