Rating: 
Summary: Good for a starting point
Review: Maybe I bought the book with the wrong impression. I was wanting more in-depth knowledge and new lighting set-ups. This book gave good examples of standard lighting sets. I think this book is best for someone who has minimal knowledge of lighting. It will walk you through the basics of lighting. There was alot of emphasis placed on "easy" lighting, with bare bulbs. I didn't feel that there were enough different lighting set-ups with actual studio lights for portraits. I would recommend this book to someone who is trying to learn how to use light.
Rating: 
Summary: Good photographer... Bad book for the non-pro...
Review: Ok, I'm sorry, but I gotta tell you this book is way out of date and doesn't have very many low-budget ideas. I made myself read this book cover to cover because I really needed to learn some lighting techniques fast. Well, when I was finished, I was impressed with the author and her friend's work, but I didn't know much more than I did before picking up the book. It's almost as if the author has put together a personal portfolio accompanied with some bragging and some stories. The thing that bothers me is that the title "The Lighting Cookbook" seems to suggest that it's like a reference guide for the average Joe that's easy to use, like a real cookbook. Not so. I don't know how many times I've flipped through this book looking for a "recipe" to use for my lighting needs and I always end up putting it back on the shelf. The "recipes" are too specific and based on things that most people will never do. When's the next time you plan on shooting some pictures of beakers filled with green liquid on top of a piece of plexiglass? Never you say? Ah, too bad because it's covered in this book. The reason I said this book is out of date is because most people (that aren't stuck in the past) are moving on to digital. We're not using these insanely expensive "view cameras" that only big companies can afford. I've got a top of the line prosumer digital camera and there's not much in this book that even applies to shooting pictures with a regular camera. The cameras that they use are not the only rediculously expensive items. The lighting equiptment that they use in all the indoor recipes are equally out of the question for most people. It would cost thousands and thousands of dollars to buy the "ingredients" to these recipes. A photographer like the author probably doesn't have any problem affording this equiptment because she's a pro, but what about your middle class audience? I'd like to say that I really hate to be negative about anything. I like to give everything I'm reading the benifit of the doubt. That's why I read this whole book. When I finished, I placed it on my shelf and it pisses me off every time I look at it. Today, when I typed in "lighting" and it came up as one of the three most popular, I had to say something because I know that regular people like me are buying this book because they think it has the answers to their questions. Well, my friend it doesn't and I just thought I'd warn you. As I finish this review I find myself asking a certain question. Who is this book for? It's not for regular people or beginners, because they don't need to take glamour shots of jewelry. So, I started to think that maybe it was for people that own a photography business and own all of this expensive equiptment, but wouldn't a professional photographer who owns their own business already know how to use their own equiptment? I don't know. Maybe it's for rich people that own a hundred thousand dollars worth of equiptment, but don't know how to use any of it and have no creativity. Since reading this book, I've gone on to learn way more by flipping through catelogs and websites. Let me say that I do give this book two stars instead of one because it features some great inspirational photography and is probably useful to some small group of people out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Too broad to be helpful
Review: Though there are clearly things in here that will be useful to any photographer I found that, in general, it covered too much material in too little detail. I think you need to be an experienced studio photographer with a lot of gear and equipment already to make much use of this book. I think beginners, like myself, who want to establish a solid foundation will not find it as helpful. That is the situation I am in and wish I'd gotten "The Portrait" from the Lighting series.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money
Review: Very little helpful information on lighting in this book. Tries to cover too broad a range for photographic lighting.
Rating: 
Summary: To achieve a PRO-look with creativity and ease!!!
Review: You can quickly broaden your scope on photography with this book. Yes, it is a book based on HAVING the equipment, but with a little bit of creativity, you can arrange yourself improvised equipment for doing most of the things on the book. It is not a "technocracy" book. I is *mostly* a book for showing you how do the PROS achieve a PRO look on their pictures. Buy this book if you have plenty of notion in photography, since it is not meant for beginners. Great "secrets" on the book!!!
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