I’ve been waiting for this book for 3 years!
Way back in Nov 2011 I was jazzed to drive 16 hours to Calgary to have the opportunity to hear Gregory Heisler talk for a couple days. The event was organized by the Prairie Chapter of CAPIC and members of CAPIC knew of his history, but as I mentioned it many other photographers the name was met by blank stares. If you weren’t in the biz back in the 90’s it seems you hadn’t heard of him. But for many of us, he was the kind of photographer we looked up to, over the years. The trip to Calagry was well worth it, Heisler’s openness to share stories from his huge career arc and inspire was amazing. You could ask him anything you wanted about any shoot, and he’s answer. As well he told many a story behind the scenes that you might not hear anywhere else. Then he did a little demo on his methodology which was fun. (you can see snaps of it here)
Then these past few years, slowly but surly Heisler seemed to gain more and more notoriety with the occasion video explaining his lighting and his approach to a shoot, and then his triumphants at Gulf Photo Plus Shootout, here and here. I’d hazard to say Hobby’s constant reverential posts on Heisler have done more for his increase on stature than anything else these past few years. There are a TON of articles and links to Heisler on his site. A Photographer’s Photographer indeed! So when this book finally came out it was eagerly anticipated to say the least. Check out Dave Hobby over at Strobist champion the book.
When you first get into photography and specifically lighting, it really is a very technical field and you have to learn about about shutter speeds and f-stops, but after while once that stuff becomes second nature to you, (awhile being, like 10,000 hrs) you’d much rather talk about the WHY than the HOW. This book is all about the WHY. While there is a technical break down of HOW in each example its really in the WHY that you come to understand his brilliance.
If you have a lighting obsessed photographer in your family this would be the book to get this holiday season. As well I noticed Dave Hobby’s Essential Strobists Bookshelf this week. I was about to create a post similar to this, but rather than duplicate this post, you’d be best to head over there and read all about it.