Christopher Grey's Vintage Lighting: The Digital Photographer's Guide to Portrait Lighting Techniques from 1910 to 1970

The book is a very hands on study on emulating vintage lighting using modern photography equipment. The author is detailing in his reasoning and the equipment and steps used to produce the effects. The photos in the book illustrate the themes being talked about for each period.The only thing I was missing in the book were actual historical era examples for comparison. They were probably committed for reasons of copyright and the costs in obtaining reproduction rights. Since there are plenty of comparative photos in the internet today it does not reflect poorly own the book.I would recommend the book for mid-range and professional portrait photographers.

I am sorry. But this book is rubbish. It has no in-depth analysis of lighting per period, it doesn't talk much about ratios people used, about actual lighting techniques and how to achieve same results (ok, admittedly you can't cheat physics completely and mimic fresnel lens effect with mere snoot, but come on..).Has few decent photographs, but thats about it. Useless, if you really want to learn something and not just copy. Better spend your money on cinematography operator books if you want to do vintage (pre-70s) , and on 70s/80s photography books...

This book is informative and easy to understand, There are clear diagrams and a lot of useful information

This guide contains information I have found nowhere else to practice lighting as done by our forefathers.

If vintage portraiture is your thing. Then this book is a must. Very well written.Covers many styles over the decades.

Beautiful book

great thanks

What I have always loved about Chris Grey's books is his attention to the "why" of what he does in a particular setup, not just the how. In his latest book, Vintage Lighting, he continues to teach at this high level of understanding that helps the reader not only understand the technical side of his setups, but also the reasoning behind each element.Vintage lighting can be hard for modern photographers, especially those just starting out, and Chris does a great job of translating the techniques from each era into setups easy to understand and replicate. His use of models fitting for each era, complete with appropriate clothing/hair/makeup and poses means the resulting photo is one that you can easily recognize the parts that make it perfect for the decade he is portraying. With each new era he discusses how each type of photograph represents the state of society at the time, how the lighting either showed more or less of the model, why certain props and accessories were used and how each type of lighting changed as the years went on.While most photographers who shoot vintage today choose to modernize their take on it, Chris does a great job of starting you off from the most culturally accurate point in all aspects of the setup. I think it's important to have a good base for each era and if you want to put your own spin on it, at least it comes from a great point of reference.His attention to detail on even the most minuscule level, from exact focal length or how far/close a light is to the subject, shows the gradual change between the decades but gives you the edge to really replicate each time period with incredible accuracy.My only con to this book (and this comes purely from a personal want) is that I wish there had been a bit more tutorial on the hair and makeup, as well as the clothing, for those who are just starting out. But being that this is a lighting book, I think the fact that those aspects are even mentioned is a bonus!Overall I would say this is a great book for someone getting into shooting vintage and retro style photography.

This book deals more with flash then continuous light. I myself prefer to shoot with hotlights rather then flash.Thanks