“A wonderful and well-thought-out resource... It’s a treasury of techniques that anyone can use to light their next project beautifully.”
“Jay has such an easy way of explaining the difficult... Not only informative, but fun as well.”
“A concisely presented handbook... I highly recommend this to anyone, from pro to student.”
In April of 2010 while at the annual National Association of Broadcaster's convention in Las Vegas, Holben was approched by the Boston-based publisher Cengage Learning to author a technical book for them. After discussion, Holben pitched a work based on a popular lecture he had been giving each year at the Digital Video Expo: "Lighting From Home Depot." Cengage delighted at the pitch and in January of 2011, a mere nine months later, A Shot in the Dark hit bookshelves worldwide.
The most significant contribution to film imagery is lighting. Lighting is the key to turning amateur footage into professional stories and presentation. A SHOT IN THE DARK: A CREATIVE DIY GUIDE TO DIGITAL VIDEO LIGHTING ON (ALMOST) NO BUDGET shows that good lighting doesn't always require expensive or extensive Hollywood hardware. With a little creativity, ingenuity, and some elbow grease, you can create your own lighting arsenal to handle a multitude of situations. This book will show do-it-yourselfers how to create their own equipment and how best to use it. The first part of the book teaches you about the basics--the fundamentals of light, color, exposure, and electricity--that are the building blocks of lighting. You'll discover what light is and how to control it. Once you have that foundation, the book will introduce tips, techniques, and hands-on projects that instruct you on how to create your own lighting tools from inexpensive, readily available resources. The only limit to what you can do is your imagination.
