When I sat down to read the copy of Picture Perfect Lighting by Roberto Valenzuela my first expectation was a book that parroted much of the same content that many other photography books had already laid out many times in the past. Basic lighting tips, the exposure triangle; the usual sorts of stuff that you'd expect from a typical book on photography. To my surprise, however, Picture Perfect Lighting offers a delightfully unique glimpse into lighting that can help beginners and veterans alike.
If you are looking for a book that is more or less a list of lighting recipes this probably isn't the best choice. The goal of the Picture Perfect Lighting is to help you understand how the physics of light behave so that you can make use of almost all lighting situations. Valenzuela delves deep into the fundamentals of how light bounces around the scene by teaching the reader its core behavior patterns. By doing this Valenzuela is then able to construct a system to help the reader better visualize their light before taking a photo. Picture Perfect Lighting starts from using direct sunlight all the way through reflectors and then to creating your own artificial light source. Through this process Valenzuela continually refers back to real world situations to show how the theory that he is teaching can be applied to your shoot workflow.
Picture Perfect Lighting expectedly does have some pitfalls, however. I opted to have the digital, e-book version of Picture Perfect Lighting sent to me for review, which suffers from a major drawback in that the example photos often end up on completely different pages than the text describing them. This initially quite confusing and continued to be a repeated annoyance throughout the book. I'd suggest that if you are looking to purchase Picture Perfect Lighting that you should purchase a printed copy of the book in order to avoid this frustrating nuisance.
My other main complaint from the book is one I often have with photography books, when they can't seem to decide whether they are designed for the new photographer who is first starting out, or a grizzled veteran looking to deepen their knowledge. Picture Perfect Lighting is as guilty of this as most offering about half and half of both. While it isn't as extreme as some books that begin with the assumption that the reader knows next to nothing about photography, I'd have loved to see a greater focus on advanced technique targeted at photographers who already know what they are doing. There is no shortage of books that teach introductory lighting technique, there is, however, a shortage of books that tread down the road of advanced workflow in outlying situations.
What I Liked
- Covers topics I haven't seen covered before
- Does a great job of explaining the "why," instead of just the "what"
- Doesn't re-teach absolute basics of photography
What Could Be Improved
- The e-book format needs improvement
- Tries to please too wide of a range of skill levels
Bottom Line
If you are looking to become more confident when working with light Picture Perfect Lighting by Roberto Valenzuela is a great book that is loaded fantastic information and written by a photographer who has a deep understanding of the topic. It, however, is not the sort of book that will teach a beginner everything they need to know about learning photography. Picture Perfect Lighting expected that you already know how to use you camera and are looking to expand your skill set by understanding lighting in almost all situations.
Just so I understand correctly - Fstoppers, which produces, distributes, and sells photography-oriented educational content also happens to review others' photography-oriented educational content?
Is this akin to one university reviewing the curriculum of another university?
Guys this is all great. I just hope you won't start reviewing your own content :-)
hahah, see now you have me wanting to create a troll article reviewing an Fstoppers tutorial. ;)
I'd say this is no different than when we review lighting modifiers even though Fstoppers makes a lighting modifier.
I learned so much through Roberto Valenzuela's book "Picture Perfect Posing". It has become one of my favorite photography books. I look forward to adding this one to my library as well.
I agree, Picture Perfect Posing was surprisingly rich in ideas. Looking forward to seeing what this new book holds.
Another Canon user selling a guide to over lit, overexposed, flat lighting with buxom blonde models? Do people really still buy into the hype of these guys and attend these seminars? Seriously? For what? So you can look like everyone else and be a cookie cutter photographer?
Why don't you and other people stop being lazy and just go out and learn to shoot instead of wasting money? If you can't do that, quit. Art = Exploration and Experimentation.
This idea that there is an easy path to success. This idea of being like everyone else. Needs to be killed off.
This writer is quite good in my experience, and you clearly have no idea what the book may or may not contain... why waste your time and everyone else's with baseless complaining?
All it took was browsing his website and seeing previews in a Google search to make an assessment. My point is as a community, we should be promoting original thought and focusing less on these cookie cutter books that teach the same old same old cookie cutter stuff. The simplification of photography is and this promotion of it building a group of followers and sheep.
Exploring the ideas of others is a type of exploration and a valid educational method. I'd say the goal that most people have is to expand their knowledge base using tools like this in order for it to facilitate their own creative vision.
This book isn't a "how to shoot like Valenzuela" guide, its a book that helps readers learn how light behaves so that they can wield it to create the images THEY want to create.
We will not agree on that. It's promoting no real challenging thoughts. It's promoting an idea of simplification and ideas being handed to wanna-be photographers. It's building an army of sheep in a photo world that could use a few wolves.
There is a reason why people like Von Wong, Jeremy Cowart and Chase Jarvis stand out among the rest. They spend less time feeding you cookie cuter technical aesthetics, and more time teaching outward thinking and experimentation on ones own art.
This does nothing except suck money and creative thought away on the idea that photography can be easy if you go to this, or do this thing, or buy this book. Reality: It's not. Only way to learn photography is by doing it. Plain and simple. Only way you become creative in your own endeavors is personal exploration and REAL self discovery.
These books are for the lazy. For the fringe players. For the non-dedicated.
Uhmm, no, just no. im reading another book from him (about posing), and let me tell you something, it's not the typical 'recipe' book. The guy gives some good info without the useless and out of place jokes. Actually one of the first things said in the book was something like 'practice is the only way'. Seems like an acomplished photographer to me. I dont get why you hatin him so much.
Then. WHY. SPEND. ANY. MONEY. ON. IT?
Why do you need to be told to go Practice? That logic is so very broken.
While you may have a point about "cookie-cutter" books, I'm really not sure I understand how you can infer that this book is that by "seeing previews in a Google search." You're literally judging a book by its cover.
First impressions are everything. And Yes, I genuinely choose to not read books or buy books that have Flat, Mediocre, and Sub Par High Frequency Separation Retouched images with no story stamped on the front cover. You can call me egoistical or arrogant that's fine, all you like, but I tend to enjoy work that has more to say to it then "Girl in outfit" on "art" books.
Are you actually under the delusion that Vong Wong, Jeremy Cowart, and Chase Jarvis never learned from other photographers?
Learning from each other is why the photography community continues to expand, grow, and improve.
No, but I would absolutely argue they do more leading then following. I would argue impressions are everything and they are producing content that isn't everyday average material which is 10x more interesting. It's how they chose to present it, not just what they present.
But thats not the argument, the argument is whether learning techniques through books is a legitimate learning technique. This book is a technical tool to help a photographer learn the technical aspects of how light works faster.
How they choose to use that information is a completely different matter and completely separate from the content of the book.
Your logic is no different than saying don't shoot with X camera because others who do aren't creating content that you like.
This book is a tool designed to teach you a skill. It doesn't teach you creativity. It isn't meant to.
That is not my logic at all actually.
My argument is to aspire higher, to use your money for something that is not like every other photo here and every where else ever, to save your money and use it for someone or something that will be better then the norm.
My argument is the traditional classroom style that photography started with (books and seminars) is evolving and any type of art and opinion on it is up for challenge or debate.
I respect your choices, I really do, there is no level here where I am going to tell your dead wrong and I'm dead right. Do whatever makes you happy.
Not sure how someone can give a review on a book they've never read. I on the other hand am currently reading it and I think it's an excellent book. I've read a lot of photography books and watched a ton of videos over the past few years and I do agree that there are photographers out there that just want to suck your wallet dry with as you stated, "cookie cutter books that teach the same old same old cookie cutter stuff". But this is definitely not one of them. His main point in this book is to go out and practice. He's merely teaching you how to practice and giving you methods that most others wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
By the way, Chase Jarvis runs a very successful website that does exactly what you're speaking against.
You are proving my point even more then. Why do you need a book to do that? Why do you need a bunch of fancy words thrown at you for you to go experiment with the gear you own.
Your right, it's much better and beyond this.
Your point was that this book is cookie cutter. You couldn't possibly know that without reading it. You're simply trolling. You also mentioned Jeremy Cowart in your post. I guess you haven't heard that he too has started an educational website that has a bunch of cookie cutter material specifically geared toward beginners which he stated 2 days ago on periscope. Maybe you should keep up with your examples before slamming other photographers for doing exactly what your examples are doing.
So far i haven't seen any fancy words in this book. It's well written and has a ton of information that I have never heard another instructor teach. I'll answer your question with a question. Why would I want to take the long road when I could get the information streamlined to me? Photography is a vast topic and I want to learn as much as I can in the shortest amount of time possible. This in no way means that I can't be creative. It means I'll be removing the technical hurdles at a much faster rate than you, there for allowing me to free my creativity.
Your point is akin to telling people they shouldn't go to school. They should just go into a hospital and operate or walk onto a job site and start building. It's by far the most ignorant rant I've read in any of these forums.
I did? I said don't learn things? Where?
I believe I said that I don't like the work and I think it's a waste of money to spend time learning from someone who's work looks like everyone else's.
If you are going to learn, I'm saying set your sights higher and not pay for learning materials that teach you how to be like everyone else, and it's lazy and waste of time to buy into something you could just learn on your own and not pay for.
I'm far from trolling.
Seems like you've really got a bee in your bonnet about this type of material. I agree with you about one point, the only way to really learn is to get out there and do it. However, I feel that books like this (and the countless others and tutorial courses etc) can help new (and in some cases experienced) photographers to try new techniques to expand their repertoire and offerings to clients. By learning fundamental techniques like lighting and posing, photographers are freed to explore more creative areas and discover their own style. Everyone has to start somewhere. Some people progress through discovery while doing, others get motivation and inspiration by watching others demonstrate techniques.
Having watched some of Roberto's courses on cL and having looked through his previous books, I find his teaching style quite enjoyable. He often focuses on problem analysis and solving. IME he doesn't just say "do it this way". He takes "real-world" shooting scenarios that have challenges and works his audience through assessing those challenges and then discusses various ways of overcoming them.
Another thought, not all photographers are in the industry to make art. Some people like to offer a service, taking good photos, for people who want that service. I realise there is a growing number of people in the world with high quality photographic equipment, not all of them can take a good photo. It doesn't have to be a creative masterpiece. Most of my clients don't want creative genius hanging on their wall. They want a nice, large print of their kids/family/car/etc. If I can learn how to produce reliable results in any situation I'm thrown into, by reading some books like this, or watching some cL courses to help build my problem solving knowledgebase, I'm in. Of course, as my confidence with supplying solid results for my clients grows, I'm more likely to experiment and get more creative with what I do during a shoot. Some stuff works out, some stuff doesn't. But again, I'm not usually hired for my creative genius. I'm hired because I can produce results that meet a clients needs. Sometimes that might require some creativity, but often it's more about problem solving..which could be a form of creativity I guess.
By all means, continue to have a whinge about this type of material. Obviously you don't need/want it...but that doesn't mean others won't benefit from it. And if it really creates a tribe of cookie-cutter / sheep photographers, it should make life easy for those truly creative people out there.
An opposite opinion to everyone's else's here does not mean whining or being upset. It means I just don't agree with you, something apparently people don't take very kindly to on the internet. Not really my problem.
Why do you call him "Roberta" in the article?
Final note: People are assuming I don't think the photographer is a good person based off their work. As I am attacking them personally. On the contrary, I bet the photographer is a great person. He's probably really nice. People are also assuming I hate you for buying into this book, which I also false, I'm sure you are a great person too.
At the end of the day, You do whatever you have to do and buy whatever you want to buy, I'm going to continue to remain honest with my core values and speak how I feel about what I read and saw in front of me.
I love a good contrasting opinion, so I am not mad at all by what people have to say to me. I do hope you don't either.
I'm commenting on the work I see and saying that I believe people should learn to aspire higher then what they see online and transcend generic portrait work.
My assessment is based on what's around you. This is the SAME. EXACT. WORK. you see everyday on Fstoppers, Peta Pixel, Adorama TV, 500PX, Flickr, PhotoShelter, Facebook, IG. Just look around you and honestly tell me the work is not the same as EVERYONE else on here. There are tons of books that start and look just like this. TONS people.
Why pay 5000, 1000, 500, 200, hell, even the 30 on this book to be like all the other people in the room? if you are going to invest in photographic materials, give it to people who aspire higher themselves (people I mentioned before), simply because they offer more than just an OK photo with OK lighting.
To do work (from what I have seen on his sight, his book covers, his promotional material), that you can figure out on your own with ease, (and from what people tell me) where he just tells you to go practice?
There is a massive difference between learning to do tech (which, holy crap, you can learn so much from Youtube, and ProFoto blog for FREE and just putting in the practice), and being a photographic artist. Save your money, use it for a new modifier, use it for some good food to eat so you feel good, buy a business book and learn to market. Seek higher, think bigger. It's a far better investment.
I don't think anyone here made any assumptions as to whether you hate us for buying this book or that you think the photographer is a bad person. I personally just find it hard to swallow someones opinion on a book they themselves haven't read. To make an opinion about an entire body of work based on a few blurbs you saw on google is just wrong. I fully agree with you on the fact that there are so many books that waste your time and money. But I disagree that this is one of them and I have that opinion based on the fact that I'm reading it and I know first hand that it's nothing like any of the other books I've read.
I have read all three of Roberto Valenzuela's books and I find his approach refreshing, the pages informative and the body of work to be complete. His examples include some of his failures and a pathway from ametuer mistakes to a confident photographer, able to handle many difficult situations.
You need not question Roberto's motives for writing these. Just look at his images and listen to his passion for his craft and you will come to a conclusion that Mr. Valenzuela is a natural teacher and one hell of a photographer.
Travis Alex is misinformed at best. His insulting opinions are suspect to anyone whom has truly read any of these books. I would not pay two cents to listen to the negative advice of this fool.
Buy the book.
I have been studying photography for many years and have read many books on all aspects of photography, and I have found Roberto's books to shine above all others. I have read all three of his books over and over and have learned so much from them, ESPECIALLY the lighting book. He uses understandable language, touches on many topics, gives comprehensive diagrams and excellent photographic examples. I would highly recommend his lighting book, along with all of his other books.
I've read all three of Roberto's books and especially reccomend Picture Perfect Posing. I agree that the last thing the world needs is another book aimed at the beginning photographer while a "Master Class" would be welcome.
Looks like the fanboys and fangirls are out in full swing.