Direction & Quality Of Light: Your Key To Better Portrait Photography Anywhere Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Providing readers with a study of learning how to turn poorly lit images into finely crafted, masterfully lit photographs, this guidebook instills photographers with the self-confidence to think on their feet and photograph any portrait subject anywhere. Acclaimed photographer Neil van Niekirk presents seven distinctly different lighting scenarios—available light, exposure metering, a touch of flash, bounced on-camera flash, off-camera flash, video light, and hard sunlight—to show readers how to manipulate the direction and quality of light, the subject’s and photographer’s position, and numerous other variables so as to turn a bad image into a stunning, professional-level portrait. Packed with dozens of instructional, full-color photos, this work also features 10 sample photo sessions, allowing readers the opportunity to see the seven lighting scenarios put to practice.
Paperback: 157 pages
Publisher: Amherst Media; unknown edition (March 4, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608955702
ISBN-13: 978-1608955701
Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.4 x 9.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #174,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #29 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Equipment, Techniques & Reference > Lighting #192 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Portraits
When I was growing up, I recall how my father, a medical professional relied heavily on his 'Physician's Desk Reference' as a quintessential tome to diagnose, prescribe and demystify ailments. Van Niekerk's book is a glorious analogy here. What ails you about light?Just as in any profession, there is a quintessential bible for the craft, Neil Van Niekerk's "Direction and Quality of Light" could easily become the desk reference for photographers!Based on the popularity of his last two bestselling books on wedding lighting, on- and off- camera flash techniques and a widely popular blog Tangents, I was intrigued to read his latest work, "Direction & Quality of Light". Defining light as the most vital element to mastering photography, Van Niekerk demonstrates interplay between the essentials like depth of field, shutter speed, composition, timing and more ...using directional light as one's starting point. After all, that is what photography IS supposed to be! This book teaches one to recognize, diagnose, modify and prescribe solutions to lighting challenges. I found the Rx to my lighting ailments. YES!... it is that good.As a portrait photographer, I am always on a journey to improve my technical and artistic mastery. However, I do not embrace my inner tech geek by any means. It's true that Direction & Quality of Light truly focuses on the technical elements. However, it is as delightfully eloquent and elegant as Van Niekerk himself, a renowned workshop leader known to demystify flash and studio photography. He evades the exasperating "ivory tower" lingo, making it an easy, enjoyable read.
Disclaimers:1) I read a draft manuscript of this book and provided some proofreading assistance. I received a finished copy, but I was under no obligation to write a review.2) I do read the author's blog semi-regularly, and I have attended his workshops.Review:In some ways, I think people learning about photography should read this book first before the author's other earlier books, primarily because this book spends some time describing the thought process the author uses to determine how he would light a given scene. This thought process is important regardless of the lighting tools you have.Is the ambient light adequate or good?If the ambient light is insufficient or bad, can I do something to change it without adding artificial lighting?If I need artificial lighting, how can I use my artificial lighting?Is the light source falling on my subject in a pleasing way?The first chapters go through the author's thought process on how he analyzes his lighting needs and later chapters tackle this topic in these areas.a) Ambient light onlyb) Single flash unit with and without a softbox (The 'revelation' that once you bounce flash off a surface, that becomes the 'softbox' is something beginners miss initially.)c) Powerful studio light unit or multiple flash units, both with and without softboxesd) Video light / Videographer lightThe book is easy to read and well-written. The passages are not long-winded nor are they filled with jargon. The content is to the point, without any joking around that some other authors use. The writing is "just right" as if you were watching a presentation done by the author.
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