Crafting the Natural Light Look: The One-Light Approach to Creating Striking Portraits with a Strobe or Flash

I had already been using strobe for years, and had just started using it with film, so I thought I’d get a refresher and a different perspective. This book was fantastic! Not just a refresher, but some great new info, and some validation that I don’t need 3 or more lights to make something beautiful.Thank you Sandra for this easy to read, easy to reference, well illustrated and written book!

I have been using speed lights for years at weddings, but opening a studio with a smaller north facing window made me want to learn more about strobe flash!I can’t wait to implement even more about using natural looking light in my studio shoots. There is also valuable film photography information as well as session flow, this was awesome to know when to meter!Sandra was (and still is) a teacher at heart. This book meets photographers where they are and encourages them to keep learning. I never felt like she talked down to me as the reader, instead felt like she understood my frustrations and told me how to beat them.Cheers to more dynamic galleries for my clients.

And it just gets better the further in you go. Someone here said that she kept name-dropping Profoto. My response to that is who cares and why does it bother you? So she didn't mention more inexpensive brands like Flashpoint, Yongnuo, and so on. Light is light, and you can get the same results with pretty much any brand of strobe or speedlight. If all you can go on about is the fact that she uses a very expensive brand of lights, your focus on what's important - i.e. the entire contents of the book - is completely skewed. You ignore the entire book and chose to focus on the fact that she mentions Profoto several times. I mean, really? Jeez. What a way to miss the plot. Anyhow, Sandra.......your book is fantastic and I hope you write another one!

Her words and education are so accessible to any and every photographer. As an in home newborn photographer I don’t feel like other lighting education speaks to my needs, but Sandra nails it.

Honestly this is super simplified and a great learning tool. From listing her actual tools she uses, to truly understanding your camera exposure and different types of lighting. This book is just great and luckily very affordable!

This book is so user friendly. Sandra speaks in a voice that it easy to understand. She doesn’t get too technical with her words when speaking about lighting. She explains all her terms that she uses and is very through. With tips and trick along the way she answers questions that you might have in your mind as you are reading. There are a wealth of images that demonstrate the techniques. As well as images that show you what she is talking about in each section. I have never read a more well put together and thought out book that is simple and easy to understand. I would recommend this book for any beginner and pro looking to get versed in something new like film with strobes. She talked about both film and digital! You won’t be disappointed in this lighting book.

I am so excited that this book is finally here!!! I could (and will!) read this book over and over! Sandra Coan takes an overwhelming topic that feels very complicated and turns it into something that makes perfect sense. I love that she uses one light and one light modifier, so there isn't a lot of gear you need. Coan literally explains everything you could possibly want to know about a one-light approach to shooting with studio lights. There are images for every single topic she's teaching to make all of it easy to understand. Every photographer who wants to replicate natural light with strobes or flash needs this book!! Thank you so much for writing it, Sandra!

This is a great book for those who are not only just starting out with artificial light but also those who are completely knew to photography in general. Sandra has a great comprehensive overview of exposure theory and I loved the examples of digital vs. film with it comes to over and under exposing. To seasoned photographers this information might feel redundant but even with a passing understanding of artificial light I felt this was a great resource. My light meter is on order and I can't wait to put these skills into practice!

Very basic but great for beginners.

I didn't read all of it. What I did read was very practical in nature. What I don't like is some of the pictures. Nudity, I realize in the ones I saw, nothing is "showing", is still nudity to me. I'm not talking about the babies, it's the pregnant ladies! I really question the need for it in photography books and it is not ok in my opinion. It wasn't needed to illustrate anything the Author wanted to teach the reader. For a family oriented photographer I had high hopes that this would be a book I could learn from...it is disappointing and I will not be reading further.

I debating buying this book for a few months, but am glad I finally did. It is a straightforward guide to better off-camera lighting. I've been using strobe lighting for years, but have cobbled together random information on how to do it. I knew I could improve, I just didn't know how. Sandra's instruction filled in so many gaps in my knowledge. I just completed 75 Santa Sessions in one weekend, that went wonderfully in large part due to a beautiful, simple lighting set up. Thank you for this excellent resource, Sandra. It gave me the courage to take on this large project.

This is a great book to have by my side as I work to create great looking light in the studio. It walks you through all things lighting in such a simple and clear way. Easy to follow instructions that really do work because I hate flash that looks like flash and this book is all about how to achieve a natural light look. For film and digital photographers - I have used this book for both. I can watch videos online, but there is just something about having a book in my hand really has helped me pick up the concepts and make great looking photos.