The School of B&H
Article by Emily Anne Epstein
Published in Resource Magazine
In the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton poked himself in the eye repeatedly with a needle while staring at the sun to uncover the secret structures of light and color.
Nowadays, rather than injuring your optic nerve or skimming Sir Newton’s “Optiks” you can just read through B&H’s Professional Lighting Sourcebook to learn about light, lighting, and which equipment to use (and even how to use it).
With around eight-hundred and fifty-nine pages (and growing), the book is anything but, and all about, light. Sometimes called the “bible” of lighting, professionals, students and amateurs herald the book as THE resource for the industry. And luckily, it’s free. B&H released the first edition of the book in 2004. It has since not been re-printed, but eco-friendly .pdfs are available online at the B&H website.
B&H had a team of four experts researching, dissecting and explaining the spectrum of tools available. They worked on it for a year. They contacted manufacturers who had models and no manuals. They tried their hand at explaining basic physics; inverse square law? Lux? Candelas? The book is divided into fifteen sections that range in topic from packs to heads, strobes to light meters. Each chapter opens with an explanatory section, followed by a detailed list of products and their specifications. There are lessons on how to position equipment and how to troubleshoot different situations- unfortunately, there is only so much a softbox can do to fix 80s hair…(see page 848).
As a part of the philosophy of B&H, the book exemplifies their commitment to education. Whatever your lighting need, you will be able to benefit from it. We heard from a reliable source that the book is soon to be updated as the technology changes, but for now it remains the ultimate guide to lighting. Sorry Newton…