In Studio Anywhere 2: Hard Light, photographer and author Nick Fancher builds on the success of his previous book (Studio Anywhere: A Photographer’s Guide to Shooting in Unconventional Locations) as he continues to offer candid, practical, and valuable lessons on how to create successful and fresh photographs armed with only minimal gear, a resourceful mind, and a creative spirit. The heart and soul of Studio Anywhere 2: Hard Light resemble its predecessor, but this time Nick focuses his approach on hard light, demonstrating how to use it in innovative and flattering ways, working with subjects ranging from products to people. You’ll learn: • How to work with both available light (e.g., the sun) and manufactured light (such as inexpensive small flash) • How to shape, bounce, and manipulate your unmodified flash to get the results you want • The importance of proper light placement and ambient balance • How to create dramatic, intentional photographs with hard light • DIY techniques for making your own gobos and photo hacks (such as with a reflector) • How to incorporate colored gels into your work to create expressive and innovative imagery • Post-processing tricks and techniques that Nick uses to achieve the final look of the image Included in the book are behind-the-scenes photos, lighting diagrams, and Lightroom settings for every scenario, so the reader can follow along from idea through the shoot and on to the final edit. There is also a feature throughout the book called “Making a Scene” where, upon being presented with an “empty” scene, you’re challenged to figure out where you might place your subject and your light(s) in order to achieve a specific effect or result. At the back of the book, Nick shows you how he chose to tackle each scenario. The goal is to train yourself to look at the everyday, commonplace locations and scenarios you encounter and begin to see them full of photographic potential.

What’s your definition of a photo studio? Is it a room with a white seamless backdrop or a cyc wall? Maybe it’s simply anywhere you’re in control of the lighting. In a perfect world, where every day is a breezy 72 degrees with partial cloud coverage, we would all have a 5,000-square-foot studio–and the entire catalog of B&H™ in our equipment lockups. But the reality is that you may have an outdated DSLR with two decent lenses (which took you several years to save up for), and all you have at your disposal is an unfinished basement, your garage, or the empty conference room at your office. That’s where Studio Anywhere comes in. With photographer Nick Fancher as your guide, you’ll learn how to get portfolio-ready photos while working in some of the most problematic scenarios imaginable. Whether shooting a corporate portrait, a test shoot with a model, or a promo shoot with a band, you’ll discover that most of the time, there’s no need for an expensive studio–you just have to get creative. Studio Anywhere is a resource for photographers to learn through behind-the-scenes photos and lighting diagrams from a range of photo shoots–but it doesn’t stop there. Because directing a photo shoot involves more than simply knowing how to wield a camera or process a raw file, Nick also lets you in on the aesthetic decisions he makes in his signature photos, inspiring you to develop your own vision. And, finally, he describes his Lightroom and Photoshop workflow so you can learn how to deftly navigate post-processing. Shows how to create images with minimal equipment that is within reach of anyone’s budget Takes you through the entire shoot, from concept to lighting to exposure to post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop Teaches how to build a portfolio without a dedicated studio space

The concept for Studio Anywhere came from photographer Nick Fancher's experience trying to build model shots for his portfolio. As a young professional photographer with a family, he didn't have the money to rent out a studio, and he wasn't familiar with all the areas around some of his models' locations (when he was traveling, for example). So he started shooting in the models' living spaces. Each place was different-a penthouse here, a dark art space there-and they all forced him to think a bit outside the box and seek out photographic opportunities. He also had to carry little gear, traveling light.All this gave him the idea for this book, which highlights what one can do with a bit of portable gear, a grasp of photographic basics, and a lot of imagination in order to see the possibilities in any given situation. In Studio Anywhere: A Photographer's Guide to Shooting in Unconventional Locations, Nick will cover different "studios" that can be created anywhere, from a basement to a street, from an office to a park, from a living room to a backyard. And he will do all this with just the following gear: 1-3 Speedlites, a foam core board, a grid for the flash, an umbrella, an ND filter, and gaffer tape. And because his photos have a unique "look" to them, Nick will also include his post-processing in Lightroom, with occasional "pro tips" as he jumps over to Photoshop for just a bit of heavier lifting in the digital darkroom.Nick will also have a "Deconstruct this photo" thread running throughout the book (one for each studio section), which will help students be able to better read photos (how many lights were used? what kind of modifier was used? where was the light placed?) in order to "reverse engineer" them, so that they can recreate similar lighting scenarios themselves. After reading Studio Anywhere, students will be inspired to get out and shoot in more "unconventional" locations, and will be equipped with the knowledge and know-how to do so.

Learning to work with light is an important milestone in every photographer’s career, and the ability to craft light to fit your vision for an image is a skill that cannot be overrated. Most often, that crafting of light is spoken of in terms of the quality and quantity of light. But there is an important, third component of light that heavily influences the final look of the image: the color of light. In Chroma: A Photographer’s Guide to Lighting with Color, photographer Nick Fancher helps you elevate your game when it comes to introducing the bold, creative, and intentional use of color into your work.

Whether you’re using a high-powered strobe or a small hotshoe flash, Chroma is for you. Nick begins with a discussion of color theory, gels, and white balance, then examines how to determine which colors complement your subject matter (whether that’s people or products). He moves on to cover topics such as:

• Balancing, mixing, and overpowering ambient light with artificial light
• Layering colors for unique color combinations
• Mixing hard and soft light to achieve extremely rich color
• Lighting detail and texture
• Modifier options, such as ring flash, snoots, barn doors, softboxes, and filters
• Gobos to control the light
• Post-processing for vibrant, powerful colors
• How (and why) to light with color, even when the end goal is a black and white image

Illustrated throughout with innovative and expressive imagery, Chroma also includes behind-the-scenes photos, lighting diagrams, and Lightroom settings so you can follow along from the initial concept through to the final edit.

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Providing readers with a study of learning how to turn poorly lit images into finely crafted, masterfully lit photographs, this guidebook instills photographers with the self-confidence to think on their feet and photograph any portrait subject anywhere. Acclaimed photographer Neil van Niekirk presents seven distinctly different lighting scenarios—available light, exposure metering, a touch of flash, bounced on-camera flash, off-camera flash, video light, and hard sunlight—to show readers how to manipulate the direction and quality of light, the subject’s and photographer’s position, and numerous other variables so as to turn a bad image into a stunning, professional-level portrait. Packed with dozens of instructional, full-color photos, this work also features 10 sample photo sessions, allowing readers the opportunity to see the seven lighting scenarios put to practice.

This book is renowned for being the book to own to understand lighting! This is better than all the other how to books on the market which just provide set examples for photographers to follow. Light Science and Magic provides photographers with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light to allow individual photographers to use lighting to express their own creativity. It will show you in-depth how to light the most difficult subjects such as surfaces, metal, glass, liquids, extremes (black-on-black and white-on-white), and people. With more information specific for degital photographers, a brand new chapter on equipment, much more information on location lighting, and more on photographing people, you'll see why this is one of the only recommended books by www.strobist.com.