There have been many books written on the use of light in photography and many go into a lot of detail about the technical aspects of lighting. While this is interesting, the author's viewpoint centers around getting to the point, simplifying things, and telling you exactly what you need to know to becoming successful at lighting.
Kevin Kubota's Lighting Notebook is a field guide and not a technical manual. His goal was to write it as though you were with him out in the field seeing what he is seeing and hearing what he is thinking as he describes why he chose the equipment and how he overcame the obstacles that presented themselves. Kevin Kubota's Lighting Notebook is 320 pages in length and is contained in six chapters and an extensive notebook section.
Chapter 1, "A Brief History of the World (of Lighting)," begins with looking at how light works beginning with the chiaroscuro method of painting during the Renaissance, which uses light modeling to bring depth, mood, and realism to artwork. Including the chronicling of the varying styles of lighting, Kubota then takes you through the 1930s, '40s, '60's, '70s, and '80s as well as into the new century.
Chapter 2, "The Lingo of Lighting," next takes a closer look at the various lighting styles that are available to you. These include single-point, 2-point, 3-point, Rembrandt, broad, short, butterfly, backlighting, and more. Also included is listing of terminology that you can dazzle your friends with as well.
Chapter 3, "Essential Lighting Skills," starts off with learning how to feel the light through the process of observation. This takes practice and it should be something that you do all the time. Then you look at metering light so that you can see what light you have available for use. You will look at the quality, quantity, as well as the basic rules of light so you can then balance the natural with artificial lighting. You will finish up with high-speed sync and the color of light.
Chapter 4, "An Overview of Essential Lighting Tools," now looks at all of the things to correctly light your scene. This obviously begins with the lights, but then looks at the modifiers as well as setting the mood. Here you will look at flash and continuous lighting, diffusing tools, triggering tools, light powering tools and other things to enhance your image.
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