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Reddit mentions of Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Sentiment score: 10
Reddit mentions: 21

We found 21 Reddit mentions of Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. Here are the top ones.

Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
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Found 21 comments on Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting:

u/alllmossttherrre · 64 pointsr/photography

For this type of photography, my guess is that the elements of success are:

Camera choice: 10%

Lens choice: 15%

Food prep skills: 25%

Mastery of lighting techniques for glass containers and liquids: 50%

A good book is Light, Science, and Magic

and the Strobist website mentioned in another comment is also very good to study.

For the camera, it might be important to pick one hat you can shoot tethered (connected to a computer) so you can use a big computer monitor or TV screen to preview the shot in the studio.

u/returntovendor · 13 pointsr/photography

I'm a portrait photographer primarily. I wouldn't quite say I'm exactly where I want to be, but my photography has improved tenfold in the last 12 months, which I attribute entirely to deliberate effort.

For me, there are two major components- education and practice.

For education, I've proactively worked to educate myself with reading, watching, and asking lots of questions.

Here's a book I found invaluable to understanding light. The main focus is the behavior and characteristics of light, and would be useful for all photographers: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/

Also, following photographers on YouTube/IG/etc. who make work I admire has been greatly helpful. Often, they're available for questions and providing feedback on your own work.

Reading and interacting with the community here has been incredibly useful as well, of course.

For practice, I've worked to establish a feedback loop which enables me to receive critique and evaluation from others I respect. Joe Edelman's TOG Chat group on Facebook provides the most insightful critique I've found and has been invaluable in helping me refine my work.

I also work to be critically honest with myself. This starts with reverse engineering work I admire so I can pick apart the elements which I appreciate.

What does this look like? I focus on the pose, clothing, background, lighting, retouching, sharpness, composition and any other elements of a given image which can be defined and manipulated by the photographer. Once I can understand these variables and how their manipulation changes an image, I can take intentional control of them during the photo-taking process, rather than allowing them to happen incidentally.

I think that these two components- education and practice, are the basis for becoming an "expert" in any field, especially photography.

u/rideThe · 9 pointsr/photography

It's not all that difficult, but you have to "get" how transparent objects behave.

The basic idea is that when you shoot something transparent, you're not so much shooting the thing itself as what you see through the thing. So you have to worry about lighting the background you'll see through the object—shining a light on the glass object won't accomplish much. (You also likely light the object itself to create nice highlights, but that's more of a "detail" job than the main lighting.)

There's different techniques if you're shooting against a black background...

Anyway, the book Light Science & Magic that was recommended elsewhere is a solid introduction

u/anonymoooooooose · 9 pointsr/photography

Light Science and Magic by Hunter, Biver, Fuqua

> Light Science and Magic provides you with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light, with examples and instructions for practical application. Featuring photographs, diagrams, and step-by-step instructions, this book speaks to photographers of varying levels. It provides invaluable information on how to light the most difficult subjects, such as surfaces, metal, glass, liquids, extremes (black-on-black and white-on-white), and portraits.

This is written like a college textbook. It is well organized, well written, dense and informative.

https://www.amazon.ca/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/

u/rogue · 5 pointsr/photography

Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting is the go-to book for various product lighting situations. The 4th edition currently sells for half the price.

u/myzennolan · 4 pointsr/photography

I highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/


It covers a lot of information on lighting and reflections, including how to light a scene without reflecting yourself or your lights on shiny surfaces. What you're looking to accomplish is sufficiently diffuse the light, blocking the the family of angles/reflections.

u/AyEmDublyu · 3 pointsr/AskPhotography

I recommend: Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. http://amzn.com/0415719402. Includes lots of info about photographing art and controlling reflections.

u/mz-s · 3 pointsr/analog

No because essentially the duration of the flash becomes your shutter. The flash overpowers ambient light (unless you're dragging the shutter which you can experiment with).

If you're interested in going deep into flash and artificial lighting, I highly recommend the book Light: Science and Magic. https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402

u/chrisgagne · 3 pointsr/AskPhotography

I recommend also getting the book Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. This will save you so much time shooting metal and glass.

u/pietpelle · 3 pointsr/photography

Since you don't say whether you want to learn how to operate a camera or the field of photography in general and what interests you in photography in particular this is quite a stab in the dark but here are a few suggestions of books I keep coming back to or hold important.

This assumes that you have a basic understanding on how to operate a camera. If you don't, read your camera manual or something like Adam's The Camera and .


Technical advice

  • Light, Science and Magic - the best theoretical book there is about understanding how light behaves and how to work with it. Its exercises are quite focused on artificial light and if you are just getting into photography it won't be easy but at the end of it you will know how to work with light artificial or natural and get to your vision or have a better understanding of other people's work.
  • Studio Anywhere - this is not the most technical book per se (far from it) and the images are not to my taste but what it lacks in pure knowledge it makes up for with motivating you to take images no matter how little you own. This was a fun (if a bit too quick) read and is a good book to jump into when Light, Science and Magic feels like you are a profoto pack and 3 Chimera modifiers short of what you are trying to do.

    Theory/Motivational advice

  • The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer - Great book about the history of American photography, its origin and how it flourished. This book is really easy to read and a very good way to start gaining some theoretical knowledge about the wide field of photography.
  • Understanding a photograph by John Berger - Great collection of essays from one of the greatest art theorist and a fervent believer in photography as a medium pieced together by Geoff Dyer. Super engaging reads on a variety of topics and styles.
  • Ways of Seeing by John Berger - An absolute must read in my opinion, not focused solely on photography but in the arts in general. The BBC series is also a great watch and its content is still as relevant today as it was when it came out.
  • On Photography by Susan Sontag - A very important book, if not the most important when it comes to identifying the role of photography in our world. Personally found it quite hard to read but when it finally hit home it was with great impact.
u/michaelmacmanus · 3 pointsr/Nexus6P

Did you look at the photos? This is a very obvious low light environment. Its not even really debatable. Refer to this if examples, vernacular, and/or further explanation is required.

u/SonyNx5t · 3 pointsr/photography

Reddit suggested this book to me, and it's amazing.

It also is structured to be used for students, self learners, pros, or a teacher. It would be a great text book. or a resource you can just use and teach from.
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/ref=pd_cp_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SE0J882QNS0W5BE7XZW1

u/wickeddimension · 3 pointsr/photography

I havent personally had a chance yet to purchase this book but Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting came highly recommend to me. It covers fundamentals rather than being a guide/tutorial on how to do stuff without making you understand why.

u/brianmerwinphoto · 2 pointsr/AskPhotography

For what you're hoping to accomplish, nearly any DSLR and lens combo will get the job done. It mostly depends on the size of the products you're shooting and what your final use of the image files will be. (Ie just for web, print ads, billboards etc - do your research based on that).

Some mirrorless camera systems would work, but you need the ability to change lenses, set exposure controls manually, have a hot shoe to trigger strobe lights (even if you don't have any yet it's good to plan for) and ideally have the ability to shoot tethered to a computer - and you can get all that reasonably inexpensively with some of the base model Canon & Nikon DSLRs.

That said, the difference between mediocre product images and excellent images has little to do with the camera and EVERYTHING to do with lighting. Especially with reflective or glass objects.

You don't necessarily need to drop $10k on ProFoto lights, but you'll want to start looking into strobes and light modifiers because you'll reach the limit of what you can accomplish with Home Depot clamp lights super fast.

You also need to understand that product photography is one of the most technically complicated styles of lighting and if you want to level up your images, it's going to take a bit of an investment and a lot of damned patience.

Step 1: buy a copy Light: Science & Magic

Have fun!

u/iZoooom · 2 pointsr/SWORDS

I would imagine any hot-light setup would work.

LED's are just nice as they're (fairly) inexpensive and adjustable without being too physically hot. I thought about just using the modeling lights on my strobes, but didn't think that would put out enough light.

Apparently this book has an entire chapter how to light shiny metal objects, but I've not (yet) had a chance to read it.

u/mayanaut · 1 pointr/photography

Light Science & Magic: http://amzn.com/0415719402
The Moment It Clicks: http://amzn.com/0321544080
Best Business Practices for Photographers: http://amzn.com/1435454294

u/ForTheChef · 1 pointr/FoodPorn

Thank you! Yes it's a plate. I love shooting on dark tables, plates, and backgrounds. It can add really nice contrast to an image.

The most important thing for food photography is the styling so being a chef should give you a huge advantage. Grab the book Light Science and Magic to get an understanding of lighting and you will be producing masterpieces in no time!

u/inkista · 1 pointr/AskPhotography

You mean basic books on lighting? I would recommend Syl Arena's Lighting for Digital Photography, and the standard college textbook on lighting, Light: Science & Magic.

Or, you could just hit the Strobist. But if you have no flash experience at all, I would highly recommend you just get yourself a speedlight, first, and master on-camera flash and bouncing. Neil van Niekerk's Tangents website is great for giving you the really ground-level zero flash basics. Much easier for learning if all you have to buy and learn at first is the flash. Blind recommendation gear-wise, get a Godox TT685 for your camera's brand.

What is it you're confused about with ratios? Ratios just mean your light groups are set to different brightness levels. But I wouldn't attempt multiple off-camera lights until you've mastered a single light. And I wouldn't attempt an off-camera light until you've mastered an on-camera one. Walk before you run; run before you fly.

u/LoadInSubduedLight · 1 pointr/photography

These really are great skills to have as a photographer, and applicable to so many situations!

I'd really recommend Light: Science and magic to anyone who wants to learn about this.