Basics Photography: Lighting

Description

"Basics Photography: Lighting" textbook offers a good introduction to many of the basic topics in photographic lighting. Much of this has been covered in some detail in other reviews. One thing I liked are some simple images of how to convey 3D form with light for solid shapes, which many other lighting books seem to overlook this basic concept. I also liked the portrait lighting images that breakdown separately each individual light (key, fill, rim) to show how each contributes to the overall image.
A weakness in the book is the lack of an index in the back. Also, some example lighting diagrams showing how the lights are set up would be useful to explain how some images were lit.
Another issue, not just limited to this lighting text, is defining three-quarter (3/4)lighting. It seems to be contradictorily defined among different authors. This author seems to imply that it is similar to quarter (1/4) lighting which is a combination of front & side lighting. Other books distinguish 3/4 lighting to be a combination of front, side and TOP lighting which is the bases of creating 3D form in lighting in many cases. This text didn't have a directional term for front + side + top.
Again, I reiterate that overall, I think this is a good introductory book, but has some areas that could be improved, so I rated it 4-star instead of 5-star. Title Page......Page 2 Copyright......Page 3 Contents......Page 5 How to get the most out of this book......Page 7 Introduction......Page 9 What is light?......Page 11 Basic theory......Page 13 Colour theory......Page 21 Exposure......Page 33 Polarized light......Page 51 Imaging at the endsof the spectrum......Page 53 Natural light......Page 57 Daylight......Page 59 Evening light......Page 65 Night......Page 67 Seasonal quality......Page 69 Effect of location......Page 71 Available light......Page 73 Flames......Page 75 Incandescent lamps......Page 78 Fluorescent light......Page 79 Street lighting......Page 81 Neon light ......Page 83 Gig photography......Page 85 Photographic light......Page 87 Continuous light......Page 89 Flash......Page 91 Controlling light......Page 111 Studios......Page 113 Shaping light ......Page 117 Building lighting......Page 127 Rembrandt lighting......Page 133 Butterfly lighting......Page 136 Commercial lighting......Page 137 Light tents......Page 139 Cinematic lighting......Page 142 Using light ......Page 143 Quality of light......Page 145 Revealing shape......Page 155 Revealing form......Page 158 Revealing texture......Page 159 Revealing tone and colour......Page 162 Experimenting withlight......Page 163 Conclusion......Page 173 Contacts......Page 174 Glossary......Page 175 Acknowledgements and credits......Page 177 Back Cover......Page 178