Sculpting with Light: Techniques for Portrait Photographers

The main strength of this book lies in the gap it fills in the market. There are plenty of beginner's books out there explaining basic principles of lighting for photography (and that information is also rehashed in the first few chapters here). There are also plenty of books on using light creatively. What this book does is give very specific tips on a very specific type of photography. For me the heart of the book is the chapter on lighting for different face shapes and skin tones. This information is the building blocks every photographer should know yet is seldom brought up.However, this very same section also betrays the weakness of the book-- lack of variety in its examples. Every portrait is set up with the same formula-- a mottled muslin backdrop with a fill light, key light, two kickers, a hair light, and a background light-- which leads to page after page of examples that essentially look like the same old fashioned, even cliched, photograph. It would be a great benefit to follow up with a more modern portrait that demonstrates the same technique.Overall a good technique book, but not at all inspiring.

The cover might lead you to believe this book only covers studio lighting, but that is not the case. It is a very comprehensive book about sculpting with all kinds of light -- studio strobes, camera flashes, and ambient light.The photos are gorgeous and clearly demonstrate the different lighting scenarios. There is plenty of information about studio portrait photography (open-loop lighting, butterfly lighting, rembrant lighting, etc...). You will learn how to flatter different facial structures with studio lighting patterns.The author also discusses lighting different skin tones, shaping sunlight with scrims, gobos, etc..., and balancing artificial light and ambient light for portraits.Highly recommended for those still learning the language of light.

This is a great book for someone interested in mastering the basics of portrait lighting. I would highly recommend it for anyone who wants to improve their lighting skills and take their photography to the next level!

Handy book for lighting concepts. The author does a nice job of showing examples of multiple lighting scenarios with the same subject. This is very helpful for people who learn by seeing rather than by just written instructions. I own tons of photography books. This is one of the more helpful ones.

love it

Well written, and very informative. I'm just getting into portrait photography and I'm sure I'll reference this book often. What else needs to be said... if you're reading this you're looking for info on how to light portraits, and this is exactly what you're looking for.

This book is packed with great information about how to use lighting equipment to bring out the look and charm of your subjects.

The content of this book is great for photographers that wish to learn TRADITIONAL lighting techniques for portraiture. The text and imagery clearly explain how to achieve the various lighting setups designed for one or two subjects USING ONLY studio strobes and reflectors plus a few using light painting. Also there is an unfair comparison in the book where the author took a couple of exposures with unflattering results using ON-CAMERA FLASH and compared them to a beautifully lit portrait where studio strobes were used, which led me to believe that she does not condone the use of hot shoe flashes.

Wish I read this book firs as this is one of the better books on lightening . It is great if you are starting out, yet it it needs a an appendix explaining some of the jargon.If you are looking for a book that takes you out of the beginners realm, thank you will be disappointed.

In some places the images do not match the description. This leads to confusion.