Lighting a scene to photograph in a pleasing way is either a matter of luck, or the combination of two skills: knowing the physics of light (that is, knowing the results you'll get from lighting decisions), and having the creative sense to use that knowledge toward an aesthetically-pleasing end.

For my part, I generally go with the “luck” option, but that's about to change.

I've recently started reading  Light — Science & Magic:  An Introduction to Photographic Lighting, and the first chapters have made me positively giddy with expectation.

As I lamented once before, good photographers apparently make bad writers (with the most poorly written book I've ever seen, on any subject, being by a photographer). There are plenty of great writers – Bill Bryson is one of my favorites, and those books about a hairy potter are apparently pretty good – but time and again, the books I see about photography are horrible.

So, it was with growing excitement that I read the early pages of Light: Science and Magic (third edition, by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua). It was clear early on that these guys are excellent writers, knowing both what to say and how to say it.

From the introduction, where they talk about the history of the book (whose first edition was published 17 years ago)....

Styles of photographic lighting have changed and will continue to do so. Light — Science and Magic does not go out of style because it was not, is not, and will never be based on style. The book is based on the behavior of light, and its principles will not change until fundamental physics does.

This is clear and concise, letting the reader know that this book addresses the first of the two skills required to set up good lighting. Since no one ever reads the introduction, it's repeated in the first paragraphs of the first chapter:

A few paragraphs later, they sum up what the book really intends to convey...

To photographers, the important principles of light are those that predict how it will behave. Some of these principles are especially powerful. You will probably be surprised to find how few they are, how simple they are to learn, and how much they explain.

In this first chapter they then go on to list three important principles before moving on to other introductory things like “Film or Digital?,” how they chose their examples, etc.

The book offers photographic exercises, and under the heading “Do I Need to Do These Exercises?” they offer advice to the various segments of their readership (teachers, professional photographers, etc.) To those learning photography without formal instruction, they suggest that...

... you try all of the basic examples in this book. Do not simply read about them. What happens in your head is the most important part of lighting, but the eye and the hand are still essential. Guided experience coordinates the three.

Wow, that's excellent writing.

Chapter One's introductory material eventually ends with...

Well, probably not in my case, but again, excellent writing.

Chapter Two covers the basic physics of light. Early on they introduce their intent...

Okay, so that first paragraph is a bit wordy, but their presentation is just excellent. The book not only tells you what you need to know, but they frame it so that you know why you need to know.

The chapter then describes some of the basic physics of light, and then uses that description to clarify common concepts like brightness, color, and contrast, all in tangibly-meaningful ways. It talks about how the subject being photographed can affect light (refraction, transmission, absorption, and reflection). It shows lots of photos that illustrate what they're talking about.

Chapter Two then ends with....

Writing this good is not born in a vacuum. I get the distinct feeling while reading that these guys spent a lot of frustrating years reading poorly-written books on photography, and decided that dammit, they weren't going to produce the same crap as everyone else. Their writing is not simply good, but purposefully good (whatever that means; I'm not exactly sure myself, but it seems to be somehow appropriate).

I'm only a short way into the book, and on the content front, the first two chapters have me looking very forward to the remaining ones. But on the writing front, already this book has taught me something wonderful: it is possible for a photographer to write well.