Creative Lighting: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

There are books that teach you how to take pictures by specifying exact camera settings and walk you through the post processing work flow from there on, and then, there is Harold Davis and his Creative Series of books. Photography is not just about framing your scene sticking rigidly to compositional rules. It's about understanding the subtle interplay of light with the subject, the camera and the scene in general. Davis does an amazing job teaching you each of these nuances. What are the different kinds of light?, Where should I position the camera to make the best use of light?, How do I use available light? These are just some of the many questions for which you will find insightful answers.Creative Lighting is not a book about camera settings that you need to get to make your pictures pop, nor is it a book extolling the glory of photoshop or lightroom. It is a book about understanding light, about understanding the dynamics of various kinds of light right from natural light to more complicated lighting setups in studios . Why do you need this? Understanding light is crucial and is in most cases the "make or break" factor in your images. No amount of post-processing can fix an image that has been shot without accounting for the quality of light.The book has five sections:1)Seeing the Light2)Exposure and Lighting3)Working with Ambient Light4)Lighting in the Studio5)Lighting in the Digital DarkroomEach section takes on different aspects of light with numerous images as examples. In fact, you would get your money's worth just looking at the inspiring images that are in the book. For those of you who want to know the camera settings, the book has them too. The author explains his intent behind shooting each example in a certain way. Some images are built by stacking multiple exposures together, for example, star trails. However, there could have been some more detail in areas such as light painting, where I felt, the author could have shared some more of his insight.The language is simple, the writing is clear and the examples are very useful and inspiring. Creative Lighting in my opinion is more tailored to beginners but is a valuable refresher for more advanced photographers as well. This is a must have for anyone who wants to make good images great.

Awesome Book. Harold Davis is an incredible photographer and teacher. I have taken an online class of his via Craftsy: Close-up Flowers and I have bought several of his books on amazon. He makes learning new ways and techniques so much fun and really brings out the creativity in every shot he takes. I highly recommend this book and his other books. He tells you the technical aspects of his photos, BUT he is more on the creative side of photography and motivates the reader to be creative in shooting. I will definitely buy more of his books!!

I had seen Davis' videos on youTube, and was very impressed by him. I bought a couple of his books initially, and then several others so that I now have 9 of them. Each one, so far, is excellent--it is taking me longer than I expected to read them because there is so much information to absorb. If you want to learn whatever the subject matter of the book is, from the concepts behind the subject (night photography, lighting, etc.) planning for the picture (e.g., the use of lightboxes to create translucent pictures), to the detailed post-processing of them in Photoshop or equivalent, you will not be disappointed--at least, I haven't.

I now own all his books on various aspects of digital photography. They are all great. They are relatively shorter than most such books, but he gets right to the point and explains things clearly with great shots, most of which are his own. This one is mostly about natural light situations, and he explores most of the common situations (twilight, sunset, after dark, direction of sun, etc.). I learned a fair amount and although I may not use it again (it's not a bible or set of recipes) it was worth the money.

I am having a great time reading this book. The author has a very casual and friendly style which is very inviting. The examples are quite beautiful. And the book is full of interesting techniques that I cannot wait to try.

Useful tips and techniques for transition from what the 'eye' observes and what we can capture through the 'camera' lens. Emphasis upon conceptual 'visualizations', 'manipulation' of available lighting, and the use of 'supplemental' lighting [as opposed to thinking that we can capture a scene in its natural state] was a real bonus. The illustrative photographs and narratives were quite impressive and food for thought.

I take a lot of photos and belong to photography club so I am always looking for creative ideas. This book is well written and has some great photos. It arrived very quickly with the free shipping from Amazon.

Interesting book, good ideas. Beautiful photos inside. I have read it twice and refer to it often when I know I will be taking some fun night photos.

A really great read, well illustrated and explained throughout. Lots of practical tips and tricks. We can't all go through Uni, spend half a lifetime on internships and the school of hard knocks. Books like this one summarise a lifetime of excellence.

Good one.

If you are serious about your photography techniques, you need this book, helpfull from one cover to the end. A must.

Très bonne approche pratique à lire sur Kindle mais on y perd la couleur mais revoir sur PC sans pb