Light Fantastic: The Art and Design of Stage Lighting Hardcover – April 20, 2010

I got this for my boyfriend for Christmas (he's the technical director for our theatre company) and he said it's a great book. I was hoping it would have more pictures of stages with different lighting designs (you know, like pictures taken during performances so you could see the designs in action), but a lot of the pictures are more technical -- diagrams and things. There are still a lot of really neat pictures though, and out of all the books I looked at getting for him, this is hands-down the best one I found. It's hard to find good lighting books, but I think most of the reviewers were correct when they said this is the best book on the subject, and well worth the money. It's also an attractive enough book that it can make a good coffee table book.

2022 Edit: 17 years later, this book is still a fantastic representation of the art of lighting. I am 25+ years into my career, and this is still a book I recommend. Both to designers and technicians.Keller is an absolutely amazing designer. The photos in this book will open up your eyes to the realm of possibility of lighting composition as a fine art. The techincal info is extremely helpful and I would suggest all people who are interested in lighting design buy this book. There are better books out there on the theory of design, but not as colorful as this one, which makes it stand out for me.

The book is fantastic it has great photos and explains every thing clearly. I would recommend this book for any theater lighting class. or any kind of lighting class.

Fantastic book.

This book may not have all the LD nuts and bolts that one is looking for but the photos of the lighting are worth the cost.

Collection of pictures to study Artistic Light Aspect.Nices pictures linking with technics concepts.Too many historical, not enought up to date...But... great color pictures!

Readers here should note that this is a book concerned with the "European Aesthetic" and techniques of Theatre Lighting.. not to say that it doesn't apply in the US - it does! - but it's not how "Theatre Lighting" is usually taught in the USA! But as I'm from Europe - I say, if you're REALLY interested in the full range of possibilities of theatre lighting, this book will OPEN your eyes to more options!! MUST read. Worth every penny. ChrisP.

Wow is all I can say. This book is expensive but worth it for the photographs alone. Before I read anything I flipped through and digested all the pictures. The section on color theory is amazing. What more can I say but that this book is amazing?

A bíblia da iluminação de palco - Qualidade do livro é incrível, com diversos diagramas, fotos e muita informação técnica.

il libro è stupendo, quest'edizione non conteneva il dvd di contenuti speciali, pazienza.purtroppo il libro è arrivato 'fallato' ossia con un angolo completamente accartocciato, a causa del cattivo imballo di amazon (troppo grande, il libro dentro ballava e probabilmente sarà caduto o sarà stato sbattuto)il servizio clienti mi ha rimborsato le spese di spedizione come 'contentino' per il danno, non sostituibile perchè nel periodo dell'acquisto era l'ultima copia disponibile. pazienza...

Really fast delivery ..Nice book too

I found this book browsing the library, but reaching chapter two I knew I'd have to get a copy for myself. Deep content, beautiful pictures, great read!

The section on color theory is excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in all aspects of lighting, from design to technical information.