Studio Anywhere: A Photographer's Guide to Capturing Unique Images in Unconventional Locations

Alatariel: I sent this back - it's a book about photography and the reference photos are really important, so I couldn't accept that the photos were all slightly blurry. I have another Nick Fancher book (Chroma) and the pages were gloss, not matte like this one. So I'm wondering if it's an issue with cheap matte copies. The book itself is amazing, love him as an author, so I'm looking forward to purchasing a nicer copy.

United Kingdom on May 22, 2023

Anne: Well written and set out. Lots of information and ideas for this amateur photographer with limited tools and no studio. Highly recommended so get in whilst there are still copies available as it was printed a while ago, there is a second follow up book which I will be purchasing!

Australia on Mar 16, 2023

Trev: Having discovered the author online and read some of his tips relating to the content in this book,I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately it isn't the treasure trove of ideas and inspiration I'd hoped for; in fact most of the best and most helpful ideas are discussed by Fancher online.

That said, it is well-written and Fancher covers a lot of ground. The paper quality isn't great and it's a smaller format book, so it loses another star there, I'm afraid.

Probably worth it if you find one for a good price, like I did, but moderate your expectations if you've read his online content and watched his videos.

United Kingdom on Jun 04, 2022

Michael Dziedzic: I'll be honest. I enjoyed this book the first time I read it, but really considered it only about 1/2 good, since it includes a lot of Lightroom examples and I don't use Lightroom. While the content I read was good and felt it was worth the money, I just considered it a good solid book, but not a standout.

However, as I've had this for a few years I continue to gain new knowledge every time I pick it up. For example, Nick's gear is simple, but does the job. It's a clear example of how little you really need to do professional work. Anytime you find yourself "Needing" more photo gear, take a look at Nick's gear and you may find you have more than enough gear to do excellent photography.

Then there are the examples. As I grow as a photographer different chapters appeal to me. Nick covers people and products...and those have had different appeal to me at different times. However, whichever subject I find myself interested at the time, I find Nick's book to have something to help me grow in that area.

And then there's the extensive Lightroom examples. I haven't made it to using Lightroom yet, however I have now found that I can at least apply many of his...

United States on Oct 31, 2017

HeavyLunch: I got a lot out of this book as a novice level portrait photographer. It was very helpful to see the "pullback" views of how these great shots were brought together in production and in post production. This is a great way to learn about human portrait and small product photography using some very available and inexpensive modifiers and materials. If you are fairly new to the game like me, it is a great read. I could see how this might be less informative to an old pro, but each of these shots is as good as I would ever hope to produce, and I would take the advice of any photographer that could create these shots. Particularly if I saw how small and attainable his kit was. Very good practical read.

United States on Feb 28, 2017

Manuel: This is a really well written book that unveils the easiness of recreating stunning images everywhere. It keeps things simple and goes straight to the point: achieving studio-like pictures literally everywhere.

Each chapter analyzes one different set giving details about light schemes, showing the actual backstage and the raw image as it comes straight out of camera; finally there is always a brief description of the Lightroom tweaks needed and used accompanied by the final image.
For every picture and set described you can find valuable tips & tricks (T&T you could already have heard about if you are accustomed to working with strobes, but maybe not) to get the best out of your equipment; the author has a solid knowledge of the matter and generously shows everyone how simple is to achieve great results against a very little effort.
This is a great book, simple and clear, worth every penny spent for it!

EDIT: I've now finished reading this great book, and I must confirm all that I've written here above.
This is a great resource full of details that allows anyone to build up a studio-like portfolio with really limited resources (I mean, just a camera,...

Italy on Oct 27, 2016

R. Philipkoski: Nick Fancher has a style of photography that derives from his experience in shooting portraits in various locations, which he accesses by optimizing how much and what king of equipment to carry into the field. He takes most photos with bare flash, meaning, in this context, few if any flash modifiers. His style is also heavily influenced by his post-processing workflow, mostly with Lightroom. This would be a handsome book if it just showed a collection of his most outstanding photographs. The photographs are there, but Fancher, with his clear writing style, describes how each was made, from concept to lighting setup to showing screen shots of his Lightroom settings. This is an enjoyable book. It is based on working with speed lights, so some familiarization with their use is really a prerequisite. Given that caveat, you will not find a better book to demystify the process of using flash for portraiture.

United States on Mar 15, 2016

David Travis: This book is for you if you are a location photographer that uses portable, off-camera flash and you want simple and effective ideas to spice up your shots. It’s packed with tips and ideas to create simple but realistic environments, backdrops and lighting.

I bought the book after finding a sample chapter online. The book is split into six sections with each section showing you how to create a studio-like environment in your living room, backyard, basement, office, local park or street. Each section includes a handful of case studies that show the environment the photographer found himself in and how he went about crafting a great image from it. Some of his ideas are extremely creative, such as shooting a perfume bottle in a puddle in the street and shooting a model in a kids' paddling pool, and the images are often very compelling.

For most of the images, the author also shows his editing workflow in Lightroom and Photoshop. I found these sections less useful than the photography parts, although they did teach me a little about colour grading. The book also includes a short quiz where you have to ‘guess the lighting’, which was a fun way to test your...

United Kingdom on Jul 18, 2015

Brent A. Thale: "Studio Anywhere" is a great guide for photographers who want to improve the quality of their images without needing a ton of expensive gear or a permanent studio location. I really enjoyed the book, the author is very specific about how he lit each example picture, even including screenshots of Lightroom settings of how he color graded the pictures and fixed problems.

The author covers many different scenarios: low-key portraits, bright and dark product shots, shooting with water, bright sky and dark night portraits... always in tight spots with minimal gear. Keep in mind the author really likes hard light, like rock-hard light from an unmodified speedlight. If you're a fan of soft, subtle lighting, you might not like all of his photos.

A few nitpicks: The author frequently refers to speedlights as "bare-bulb strobes". Speedlights have lenses and mirrors that enable their features, they are not bare-bulb strobes. I think he just means "bare flash", meaning no modifier was used. Also he makes a big deal about how superior Neutral Density filters are to High-Speed Sync modes on speedlights, but he compares the two unfairly to make ND filters sound wonderful and HSS...

United States on Jun 01, 2015