Lighting for Digital Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

There are thousands of photo technique books, many written by well-known photographers, but few of them are also great educators -- and this is what separates Syl Arena from the pack. This is the most accessible, most practical and generous book you'll read on modern lighting techniques. Syl gets the reader thinking about light right away, provides a memorable framework for thinking and talking about it (Direction, Intensity, Color, Contrast and Hardness -- DICCH), and then takes you on a thoroughly practical tour of how to capture and shape it.The book is generously illustrated throughout. In each chapter, Syl simply shows you exactly what he's talking about. Copious photographs illustrate different light: What happens if we turn off the hair light in this portrait? How about we move the portrait lights to be opposite each other? If we turn off all the strobes, what role is ambient light playing in this photo? What difference can 10 minutes make between golden hour and blue hour light?The book is also intensely practical because it shows you lighting approaches for many common situations: basic portraits, group portraits, tabletop product photography, macro shots, dramatic portraits, white seamless and so on. Because Syl illustrates different options as he builds up to the final "hero" shot, you get to learn not just the recipe, but also the confidence to adapt the recipe when you use it yourself. Assignments at the end of each chapter help you practice and hone your skills.There is an appendix on gear, which I found useful, but you don't need to buy any particular brand of camera or lights. Along the way, Syl covers low cost options for students or those just getting started. If you want hands-on experience, Syl teaches courses where you can try just about any gear he owns or has access to.The net: if you want to learn, practice and develop your photo lighting skills, start here. Then read Brian Smith's  Secrets of Great Portrait Photography  or Joe McNally's  The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes  for inspiration and to see the techniques you've learned applied to great shots.

You won't find shots in this book that wow you. You won't find amusing anecdotes. What you will find is a well thought out and explained introduction to the subject of lighting. First it covers available light, then the use of reflectors. Then we get to using flash. Technical subjects are explained well and usually accompanied by instructive diagrams. Each chapter ends with suggested exercises. If this sounds a bit like a text book, well... Lighting for Digital Photography would make a fine text for a beginning lighting class. The writing is straightforward and neither boring nor dull.This is a beginning lighting book. If you've been working with flashes for a while and want to know how to duplicate that shot by the celebrity photographer, look elsewhere. The photos are ordinary, the kinds we might take ourselves. The models are ordinary, too. They look like they might be family or neighbors. At first this put me off a bit, but once I got into the book I appreciated Arena's approach. The truth is that our first attempts at lighting won't be incredible. We're looking for competence. First master the basics, and by working through the material in this book and practicing the exercises you will get a firm grounding in the basics of lighting.Syl Arena shoots Canon, so the most of the examples come from his 5D3 and he uses Speedlite as a generic term for portable flashes. No problem, there's no preaching and if you have a different system, you'll find that the techniques are generic enough to work with any cameras or flashes.Most of the focus is on TTL flash, though manual shooting does get some love. Arena offers specific suggestions for equipment, which are usually budget oriented. I appreciate that. Good stuff.

There are countless books written on the subject of photographic lighting providing varying degrees of useful and practical advice. What makes this book stand out is that it is a true tutorial, by which I mean it provides a complete learning journey from foundational concepts to detailed step by step instruction and explanations of how each image was accomplished. It is apparent that the author has a mastery of the subject matter (which many others possess as well).What differentiates Syl is his ability to transfer that knowledge to his readers. He goes to great length and in great detail to provide specific examples and explanations on each topic that he covers in this book in a manner that will be clear to any reader regardless of their skill/knowledge level at the time of reading. Those readers who are newer to lighting will appreciate that Syl leaves no detail unexplained. If he is talking about using specific lighting modifiers or accessories, he takes the time to explain the use and often includes photos and even alternatives.In addition to being a great tutorial, it also serves the function of being a great reference resource for photographers as they progress along the learning curve with their lighting skills. If you purchase the paperback, I have no doubt that it become dog eared over time as it is one of those books that you will come back to time and again. If you buy the Kindle edition, you will have a large number of notations and bookmarks.If you are looking to learn lighting or to build on your existing skills, this is a book that you will never regret owning.

I like the instructions and the look of the book. Very easy to understand.

In terms of its remit, this book was working okay until I got to Page 21, where the author reveals he no longer works in black-and-white. The reason, apparently, is that he can now afford to work in colour. He also suggests the reason great photographers like Ansel Adams, Minor White and Edward Weston used the B&W medium is because they couldn't afford to work in colour either. He then goes on to tell us that colour is the only medium we should consider because painters such as Rembrandt and Cézanne only painted in colour, while completely neglecting to tell us that both Rembrandt and Cézanne, as well as luminaries such as Monet, created many artworks in grey tone (B&W). You could also argue that most Hollywood films are shot in colour for the same reason but that would be to ignore great, modern, B&W movies, such as Spielberg's "Schindler's List". Forgiving his lack of knowledge of art history (and Hollywood), such ridiculous assertions bely a complete lack of understanding of B&W as a medium and, by association, a complete lack of understanding of composition, which completely undermines the author's credibility. Later in the book, we read a good reason to shoot in JPEG mode is to save money on hard drives (I see a pattern emerging here), which is equally as ridiculous and completely misses the point on whether a photographer should shoot in JPEG or RAW mode (a JPEG file is processed in the camera, a RAW file is left unprocessed so it can be processed with more sophistication in a computer using far-more advanced software). This might be a decent book but the author undermines his own credibility to the point it's hard to accept anything he says with any degree of surety.

I bought this book (Kindle version) having seen a couple of Syl Arena's presentations on You Tube and have been very impressed.The book is well written and concentrates on how lighting affects photography, and in particular, how to best use flash either alone or in conjunction with natural daylight. The diagrams and photographs illustrate the points well, the author is clear about which equipment will make the most difference and where large sums of cash are not needed to achieve good results. The writing style is engaging with a good mix of practical and technical explanation.Some of the product names used might need a short search if you want to buy them in the UK or Europe, but in general they are very easy to identify just by asking in a local art shop.There is a Flikr group to go with the book - linked from within the Kindle version and there are plenty of exercises to reinforce the teaching points.The colour illustrations really do make the book come alive so reading on a colour device or PC screen would be recommended.In short - an excellent book for anyone wanting to get beyond the beginner stages and improve their understanding of lighting.

Another excellent publication from Syl Arena. I originally purchased the Speedliter's Handbook (Syl Arena) and without a doubt the best book I have ever owned pertaining to photography.I purchased Lighting for Digital Photography in kindle version so that I always had a reference handy without lugging a book around. This book comes second place to Speedliters Handbook, mainly because I use Canon, but both books are excellent for beginners and those wanting to improve their photography techniques. I give Lighting For Digital Photography 4 stars but I do feel the Speedliters Handbook is the better of the two.

I've brought general knowledge books on digital photography to get me stared and they have been very helpful, but if you need to specialize in a subject you need to get the right reference book to go with that subject and this is it for light (ambient and flash) Syl Arena is a master in my mind and the book lays it out very simply and goes into detail when he needs to, i've watch Syl Arena on you tube and hes a great speaker to check him out on the B&H seminars, i've just purchased his book on speedlights and i know i will come to terms with that subject by reading his book, lighting is a big learning curve for most me included but with this book and the speedlight book i know its going to cut this by half and always going to be a good reference book to look back to when i need to! Great!!!!

This book and the whole 'From Snapshots to Great Shot' series are great to learn more. It has everything you need to light most things you can think of. From getting a great product shot that stands out from it's background, to bringing out the best in portrait photos.Now I wouldn't class my self as a beginner to photography but I am by no means an expert. This book is great for teaching you a little more, or simply as a reminder or point of reference to the pros out there. The instructions are clear and easy to understand and the book is filled with before and after shots to show you the type of effect you will be aiming for before doing it yourself.A great book that would make a perfect gift for anyone wanting to know a little more about photographic techniques and get the best out of there equipment. Or even a gift for yourself!