Lighting Magic: Photography is all about light, and Lighting Magic is all about creating the right light for every type of shot. With 64,000 words and loads of photos. 2nd Edition, September 2020

by Garry Edwards, Michael Sewell, Owen Lloyd

The Internet is full of free videos and tutorials on just about every subject under the sun and many are incredibly helpful, but unfortunately when it comes to photographic lighting it can be hard to identify the really useful content, which usually isn’t as slick and well-presented as the content that you need to avoid!

Many videos and tutorials may be deliberately deceptive, and the videos broadly fall into one of two
1.Videos designed to persuade you to buy into expensive video training courses.
2.Videos designed to sell expensive lighting gadgets that you don’t need.
All of these videos make the finished results look easy, without giving out any real information, and in every case the example photos are very heavily retouched, to give the impression that you will get the same results if you use the same techniques or the same equipment. In reality, in nearly all of these ‘example’ images it would be impossible to achieve even similar results using those techniques or equipment. Once you’ve read this e-book you’ll have the knowledge you need to make your mind up about these promotional videos.

This book, written by an advertising and commercial photographer, covers all types of lighting needs and solutions, and is mainly concerned with artificial lighting, both in the studio and outdoors.

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2018

Reviews

[Angie Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent primer

I'm a natural light photographer. I finally realized that I was using only one of three options for lighting, the other two being artificial light and the mixture of artificial and natural lifgt.

In looking to learn more about lighting, I chose Lighting Magic as the first resource to study. And it's definitely suited for study. Very in-depth and accessible by a newbie to lighting.

[Diame · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has struggled with lighting for years, this book felt like a breath of fresh air. No gimmicks, no sales tricks just solid knowledge from someone who truly understands real world photography. I loved how the author exposes the misleading tutorials online and teaches how lighting really works. It has completely changed the way I approach my shots. A must read for anyone serious about photography!

[Dabac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a lighting book that tells the truth. The author breaks down artificial lighting in a way that is easy to follow but still packed with professional insight. The best part is how it teaches you to avoid being misled by online “experts.” This is real photography education, and it shows. Whether you’re a beginner or working photographer, this book is worth every minute. Five stars, without hesitation.

[Caya]

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