Studio Anywhere: A Photographer's Guide to Shooting in Unconventional Locations

I'll be honest. I enjoyed this book the first time I read it, but really considered it only about 1/2 good, since it includes a lot of Lightroom examples and I don't use Lightroom. While the content I read was good and felt it was worth the money, I just considered it a good solid book, but not a standout.However, as I've had this for a few years I continue to gain new knowledge every time I pick it up. For example, Nick's gear is simple, but does the job. It's a clear example of how little you really need to do professional work. Anytime you find yourself "Needing" more photo gear, take a look at Nick's gear and you may find you have more than enough gear to do excellent photography.Then there are the examples. As I grow as a photographer different chapters appeal to me. Nick covers people and products...and those have had different appeal to me at different times. However, whichever subject I find myself interested at the time, I find Nick's book to have something to help me grow in that area.And then there's the extensive Lightroom examples. I haven't made it to using Lightroom yet, however I have now found that I can at least apply many of his principals to my work in Rawtherapee. And once I make it to using Lightroom, I'll bet I can appreciate those even more.I've found myself with the opportunity to have a very small photo studio in my home, and with Nick's book I'm extremely confident that I'll be able to put even that small space to great use.To me, this book has great appeal to someone who may wish to start a photography business. It doesn't cover the travel/landscape/artsy photography. But it DOES cover topics that would be the bread & butter to someone who would like to bring in some money through photography. It covers a lot of corporate type shooting, along with product and portrait photography.I don't usually write reviews...but found myself referencing this book over and over for the past two years...it's good stuff!

"Studio Anywhere" is a great guide for photographers who want to improve the quality of their images without needing a ton of expensive gear or a permanent studio location. I really enjoyed the book, the author is very specific about how he lit each example picture, even including screenshots of Lightroom settings of how he color graded the pictures and fixed problems.The author covers many different scenarios: low-key portraits, bright and dark product shots, shooting with water, bright sky and dark night portraits... always in tight spots with minimal gear. Keep in mind the author really likes hard light, like rock-hard light from an unmodified speedlight. If you're a fan of soft, subtle lighting, you might not like all of his photos.A few nitpicks: The author frequently refers to speedlights as "bare-bulb strobes". Speedlights have lenses and mirrors that enable their features, they are not bare-bulb strobes. I think he just means "bare flash", meaning no modifier was used. Also he makes a big deal about how superior Neutral Density filters are to High-Speed Sync modes on speedlights, but he compares the two unfairly to make ND filters sound wonderful and HSS sound terrible, using different exposure settings for the two tests. HSS costs about two stops of power, if you put a two-stop ND filter in front of your lens, you will also need an additional two stops of flash power. Anyway, I'm just saying ND filters are not some magical solution to flash sync problems, using them requires more flash power just like HSS does, and ND filters make it harder to change lenses, since you also have to change filters when you do, possibly requiring multiple filters for different size lenses, step-up rings, etc. HSS just works.So, if you're looking for a collection of practical tips for using the world as your studio to take great pictures, "Studio Anywhere" is highly recommended!

Nick Fancher has a style of photography that derives from his experience in shooting portraits in various locations, which he accesses by optimizing how much and what king of equipment to carry into the field. He takes most photos with bare flash, meaning, in this context, few if any flash modifiers. His style is also heavily influenced by his post-processing workflow, mostly with Lightroom. This would be a handsome book if it just showed a collection of his most outstanding photographs. The photographs are there, but Fancher, with his clear writing style, describes how each was made, from concept to lighting setup to showing screen shots of his Lightroom settings. This is an enjoyable book. It is based on working with speed lights, so some familiarization with their use is really a prerequisite. Given that caveat, you will not find a better book to demystify the process of using flash for portraiture.

I got a lot out of this book as a novice level portrait photographer. It was very helpful to see the "pullback" views of how these great shots were brought together in production and in post production. This is a great way to learn about human portrait and small product photography using some very available and inexpensive modifiers and materials. If you are fairly new to the game like me, it is a great read. I could see how this might be less informative to an old pro, but each of these shots is as good as I would ever hope to produce, and I would take the advice of any photographer that could create these shots. Particularly if I saw how small and attainable his kit was. Very good practical read.

This book is for you if you are a location photographer that uses portable, off-camera flash and you want simple and effective ideas to spice up your shots. It’s packed with tips and ideas to create simple but realistic environments, backdrops and lighting.I bought the book after finding a sample chapter online. The book is split into six sections with each section showing you how to create a studio-like environment in your living room, backyard, basement, office, local park or street. Each section includes a handful of case studies that show the environment the photographer found himself in and how he went about crafting a great image from it. Some of his ideas are extremely creative, such as shooting a perfume bottle in a puddle in the street and shooting a model in a kids' paddling pool, and the images are often very compelling.For most of the images, the author also shows his editing workflow in Lightroom and Photoshop. I found these sections less useful than the photography parts, although they did teach me a little about colour grading. The book also includes a short quiz where you have to ‘guess the lighting’, which was a fun way to test your knowledge.Because it’s so heavily illustrated, it’s a quick read — I finished it in about three sittings. But I’m sure it’s a book I will come back to as it’s such a great source of ideas.

Having discovered the author online and read some of his tips relating to the content in this book,I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately it isn't the treasure trove of ideas and inspiration I'd hoped for; in fact most of the best and most helpful ideas are discussed by Fancher online.That said, it is well-written and Fancher covers a lot of ground. The paper quality isn't great and it's a smaller format book, so it loses another star there, I'm afraid.Probably worth it if you find one for a good price, like I did, but moderate your expectations if you've read his online content and watched his videos.

I really dug this book.Theres something about the writing and approach that really helped me 'get' the story behind how he did each photo.some shots were in pretty ropey locations (the cool front image is in a 20 foot square space which is in fact a very messy bedroom) but he was always able to improvise round it, and gives a good explanation of his workarounds. plus there is a very strong link to the post work, so you get the 'complete' journey from location arrival to submission of the image.plus i liked the fact that they were 'cool' images not a) really cheesy portraits or b) uber fashion shoots. and his approach varied a lot, so he wasn't stuck in a style.plus his writing is quite funny, not pretentious. it's actually a good read in itself.Just a great book, for any level of photographer. Im sort of semi-pro, and have found it inspiring and educational.Big recommend.

I really enjoyed this book and found it really helpful and inspiring even though a lot of the photos are not to my taste. He shows you how to think outside the box and get creative with what you have which can be adapted to your own style. He doesn't use more than two flashes. I especially liked the fact that he assumes you are a solo shooter without an assistant to help lug gear and hold things. For example he doesn't recommend sandbags because of their impractability when you're on your own. I would highly recommend. It lost a star because of the print quality. The photos aren't as clear as they should be.

Unfortunately I read this after the Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally, which I found to be a much better book so that has probably influenced my opinion of this one. I didn't really get that much out of it and for me there was too much information on processing. It's not a book I would read again, unlike the Hot Shoe Diaries which I keep referring back to.