Light Science and Magic

"Why" you may be asking yourself, "is he posting a picture of a spatula?"

The answer lies in the title of this post, which happens to be the title of a book I've heard tell of for quite awhile but only got around to reading this weekend. I'm referring to what is apparently a classic in the photographic literature, "Light Science and Magic", now in it's third edition and available from Amazon.com.

I'm really starting to get the hang of lighting people. I need to stretch my creative vision some but I'm pretty confident and comfortable now that I can pull of a reasonably good portrait under normal conditions.

What has eluded me has been photographing things rather than people. I've always said that I don't have much interest in shooting objects. But some of that ambivalence is due to the fact that I really had no concept on how to light them. So whenever I try it, I end up just doing a lot of guessing, coupled with trial and error. This does not make for a very enjoyable photography experience.

I've always read rave reviews about this book and finally plunked down for it. I read through the first several chapters in one setting. After wards I decided to take a quick attempt at one of the exercises for photographing shiny metal objects - one of the subjects that gives most photographers fits.

Using the principals explained in Light Science and Magic, I set this shot up on my bedroom floor with one light and had it in the camera and ready to upload in about 5 minutes. The last time I tried to shoot something shiny like this, I must have taken 50 frames in one hour and never did get something even close to usable.

This one wouldn't get me an A at the Parson's School of Design but I was very pleased with the result on a first attempt and the ease with which I was able to achieve it.

Next chapter...Glass.