Reddit reviews Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Light: Science and Magic

Fundamentals of lighting different shapes and materials. It's good for everyone learning lighting, but especially good for people learning to shoot trickier stuff like metal and glass.

Also check out strobist for cheap lighting logistics and general lighting info.

I like Light, Science and Magic.

You should check out Light: Science and Magic and its discussion of the family of angles, if you haven't already. If the subject is reflective, you can utilize the difference between intensity of light falling on a subject and reflecting from a subject. Light that falls on a subject adheres to the inverse square law and quickly loses intensity the further the subject is from the light. However a surface that reflects light sill display the incident light at essentially the same intensity of its source (depending on just how reflective it is).

So here is a more concrete example. You want to photograph a mirror on a wall but you want the wall to be as black as possible. First put the light far enough away from the wall to get the exposure you want. Then angle the camera so you can see the light in the mirror's reflection (note, you'll need the light source to be big enough to fill the mirror's entire field of view). The light source viewed in the mirror will appear as bright as the light source itself while the light that falls on the wall will still be minimal because it isn't reflective.

Anyhow, it's kind of a hard thing to describe without visual help so sorry if that didn't make any sense. But check out the book. It's actually a pretty interesting trick.

>This is a cheap way of eliminating shadows which are unflattering, which makes the person using the mirror look more attractive compared to a bathroom mirror with one large bulb.

I am sorry but that is not true. You use multiple light sources to evenly light an area (usually the face) to be better able to apply and check makeup.
You try to eliminate shadows so you can check for hard transitions and color changes in makeup that are not desired (especially important in beauty photography where the face is magnified plenty fold).
Edit: Oh and of course the idea behind multiple lights is also to get rid of the hand/pen/brush shadow of the person who applies the makeup so she/he can control his strokes better.
BTW: The light from those styling lights (at least modern ones) is not really flattering since the desiered light color temperature is 5500-5600K
to emulate sun light and strobes.

>You can also use diffusers or reflectors to break up the monotony of a single source so that the rays arrive at the destination from all different angles. Again if you've ever seen behind-the-scenes footage of a film shoot there's often a guy whose job is to hold a big speckled white (or sometime shiny) board, a diffuser whose job is to emulate an infinite number of light sources by covering more angles.

Again not exactly true (maybe I have misread you).
The idea behind a diffuser is to create a bigger light source.

First of all: The bigger the light source the softer the shadow.
Hard shadows are seldom desired in movie and photography so you use diffusers and bounces to emulate huge light sources (that was earlier done by the help of a big window without direct sunlight shining in and/or by subtracting all remaining light with the help of black cloth or placing the object/subject in the shadow when outside).
Soft shadows soften skin texture and evoke a certain feeling (depending on the desired effect, like a window or a overclouded sky).

Big light sources have another benefit:
The reflection of a light source on the object that is lit by said light source.
This is also often used in photography and film to alter the look of skin and fabric (in fashion photography for example).
That reflection of course is not clear but diffused by the material that is lit.
The effect can be quite pronounced but you usually don't realize it, except if you know what you are looking for.

Most of that can be read in the book "Light - Science and Magic. An Introduction to Photographic Lighting"

Sorry if some of my syntax or choice of words sounds odd, I am not a native English speaker.


@OP:
>And, also, how much would adding another 90W light bulb do that unlit area? Is there a diminishing return?

Could you maybe explain what you mean by that? Ad another light source to the already existing two or replace the unlit area with a lit light source?

Best advice is to read Light: Science and Magic. Literally "the book" on doing lighting.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193

Your equipment is fine this side of support (a tripod really opens up a lot of flexibility), maybe read a book on lighting like Light Science and Magic. An older edition is dirt cheap.

Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240808193/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_6Xv4xb3DHHAPS

Light: Science & magic
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193

The only book on lighting I've read that treats lighting as a theory, rather than a recipe. More of the why, less of the how.

Light: Science and Magic is a great book on lighting. It doesn't talk about gear but in stead explains the basic principles of how light works so you can apply these principles yourself in any context you may encounter.

Light: Science and Magic

A bit dry, but it is THE definitive guide to lighting. What's not in there about lighting theory isn't worth knowing.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193/

Understanding Exposure is EXTREMELY basic, beware.

The book Light: Science and Magic has all sorts of great stuff about this, flagging the lights for less bleed, preventing reflections, etc.

Glad to be helpful! If you want to learn more about, the first few chapters of the book “Light: Science and Magic” are immensely instructive

I'm not sure if the OP is asking for ideas or learning material, but shooting glassware after reading how in [Light: Science and Magic](http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193"Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting") should cover both.