Personally, I'm a digital photographer and videographer that has been perplexed by the whole lighting thing for years. I'm no pro if you're wondering. This is the third book that I've bought about lighting and the prior two books really didn't teach me anything at all (see my very bad review of the Lighting Cookbook). The authors of the other books are just spoon feeding you tips and diagrams without explaining the logic behind them. It's as if they don't want you to learn anything. Well, John Jackman doesn't just give you a fish, he teaches you to fish and once you finish this book you'll have enough knowledge of lighting to do just about anything and actually understand what you're doing and why.

I received this book in the mail about four days ago and already finished. I just couldn't stop reading it. Once I read the first few pages, I knew that I had bought the right book and I felt like I was actually learning something the whole time.

I'm a digital photographer and if you shoot digital with a prosumer camera, you should know that you can't use the same equipment that they use at your local studio. It's just not very compatible. So, I have to use continuous lighting like they do for video and film making. It has many advantages and is every bit as good. I do video too, so the lighting equipment can be used for both. Anyway, I've got this huge lighting catalog from B&H photo and it's got pretty much any kind of light and accessory that you could want. The only problem is that it doesn't explain what they are and how to use it. This book explains all of this and that's actually why I bought it in the first place. If it wasn't for the "look inside" feature here at amazon.com, I wouldn't have been able to tell what the book covered. So, after seeing the table of contents I bought it. Now when I flip through the catalog, I know what I'm looking at and what it does. Instead of just blindly buying something, I know exactly what I need for my purposes.

Unlike other books that claim to give you low to no budget solutions, this book actually has quite a few. Although much of the equipment mentioned is very expensive. Another one of my favorite things about this book is the glossary with plain language that's easy to read. Almost every term that I didn't know could be found in the back with a simple explanation.

My only complaint and it's really a non-complaint is the excruciatingly boring detail the author would go into when explaining the way our eyes work and some other things. I know that it is relevant and useful information and he means well, but I almost fell asleep through that part. The studio lighting chapter is pretty boring too unless you're going to be a gaffer for CNN. It shouldn't be skipped, but maybe skimmed through.

All in all, I knew this book would be good, but it exceeded my expectations. When they say "expert series" they mean it because this guy knows it all and doesn't mind making an expert out of you either. The great thing about this book is that it assumes that you don't really know anything like a "for dummies" book, but it's not insulting to your intelligence. The author doesn't try to keep you interested by telling stupid jokes or using childish examples. He isn't so full of himself that the book is about him or his work. The book is about lighting and he takes you from the very basics to the advanced Hollywood style lighting.

I'm sorry if this review was annoyingly over-positive, but I'm just very happy with it and I highly recommend it. I also recommend getting a lighting catelog from B&H Photo or some other place so you can see photos of all the lights and tools that are mentioned.

"Excellent easy to read book...", I been using lights for a couple of years now but really did not have much of a clue until I read this book. I felt the scales drop off of my eyes as I read though the book. It's a very easy read as well.