Basic Studio Lighting: Photographer's Complete Guide to Professional Techniques

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Summary: Do you want to follow recipes by rote, or learn to cook?
Review: This is one of the most inspiring photography books I've read. There are a hundred books about studio lighting that are little more than collections of photos followed by diagrams of the lighting setups. If you're looking for simple ways to duplicate somebody else's photos, this book is not for you. Instead, the author's intent is to make you understand the underlying principles of controlling light. He takes pains not to dictate rules or give formulas, but tries to help you make your own decisions based on your personal taste and the demands of a particular photo.

This book, although it appears superficially simple, puts demands on the reader that many other lighting books do not. Some people would prefer to follow diagrams by rote; I'd much rather develop the mental tools to design my own lighting setups for my own needs, rather than look at the exact placement of lights that somebody else used.

Corbell's explanation of the Chromazone system (for controlling the effects of gelled light on backgrounds) was more than worth the price of the book.

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Summary: The best studio lighting book
Review: This is the best studio lighting book I've read... and I've read a few! It explains theories of light, color and photography techniques in detail, which are essential to the understanding of lighting. This book complemented perfectly the lighting class I was taking, and helped me tremendously.
The explanations are simple enough for all to understand and although it doesn't tell you what to do, it teaches you how to light your subjects, according to the result you are looking for. Obviously, you need to practice using the tools and techniques to truly learn studio lighting. But this book will definitely help you and it's worth every single penny.