Front Cover -- Copyright -- Table of Contents -- About the Author -- To My Three Fathers -- Preface -- Introduction -- My History -- Real-World Clients and Jobs -- Photography: A Brief History -- Traditional Night Photography -- Painting with Light: Single-Exposure Approaches -- Painting with Light: Multiple-Exposure Approach -- Create, Don't Copy -- 1. Logistics (Camera, Lights, and Other Tools) -- Cameras: Almost Any Digital Camera Will Work -- Manual Shutter -- Manual Focus -- Manual White Balance -- Optical Viewfinder -- Lenses: The Best Focal Length for the Job -- Lights: Which Lights to Use -- Smaller Scenes -- Larger Scenes (and Not-Quite-Dark Environments) -- Snoots: Shielding the Light from Splashing Everywhere -- Tripods: Stability Is Key -- A Cable Release -- Spare Batteries -- Portable DVD Player or Laptop for Screen Display -- Painter's Poles for Holding Lights -- Plugs, Switches, and Extension Cords -- Plan for Comfort -- Keep It Simple: A Final Thought on Logistics -- 2. Preparing for the Shoot -- Scouting the Location in Advance -- Qualities that Make a Good Subject and Scene -- A Subject with Mass -- An Interesting Environment -- A Dark Environment -- For More Ambitious Projects, Ask Permission -- 3. The Shoot -- Set Up in Daylight and Wait -- Basic Camera Settings -- Noise Reduction -- White Balance -- File Format -- ISO Setting -- Aperture Setting -- Focusing -- Begin Shooting -- Don't Move the Tripod or Camera After You Start -- Shoot the Whole Scene -- Capture the Sunset -- Exposure -- Charts, Graphs, Exposure Tables, and Formulas? Skip It! -- What's "Right" Is Subjective -- Making Basic Exposures -- Shutter Operation -- Lighting the Subject and Environment -- Have a Lighting Plan -- Work on Small Sections -- Try Some Variations -- Lighting the Overall Scene -- Stand to the Side -- Hard Light and Soft Light.

The Mechanics of Exposing Everything -- Include All Existing Light Sources -- Get Physical, Stay Focused -- 4. Adding Human Subjects -- People Move! -- Design a Stable Pose -- Light in a Single, Smooth Pass -- Lighting People with Strobes -- Postproduction -- 5. Postproduction -- Image-Editing and Management Software -- Using Photoshop to Recombine the Images -- Creating the Layers -- Using Photoshop to Recombine People (Dr. Frankenstein) -- 6. Practical Examples -- Corvette -- Yellow Submarine -- Airstream Trailer -- B-25 Bomber -- Conclusion -- APPENDIX: A Quick-and-Dirty Review -- Index -- Back Cover.