Advanced photo book recommendations

I'm looking to pick up some advanced composition and lighting books, but I'm not sure which ones would be good. I was considering picking up Light Science and Magic and The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman, but from what the reviews said, they appear to be more introductory with a little bit of advanced stuff at the end. If anyone has read these and can confirm the opposite to be true, I will pick them up in a heartbeat

I want to get my lighting and composition out of the typical Strobist style by getting a better handle on the finer points of lighting and composition; especially backgrounds, tones/gradation, and ambient/flash mixing. I would just work my way through the above books and pick out what I can, but I can't afford to buy books willy-nilly on a college student's budget .

EDIT: Anyone read Sketching Light: An Illustrated Tour of the Possibilities of Flash by Joe Mcnally? If so, opinions?

Light Science and Magic is well worth getting as is the Speedliters Handbook by Syl Arena.

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Don't be in such a rush to buy...spend some time perusing the internet. Often the simplest solution is ignored > http://www.youtube.com …l4904l6403l3.7.​1.9-1l12l0

I have both books Mike mentioned. They were worth the price of admission. I'm working my way through the Speedlighter's handbook right now. I just ordered a 33' off camera ETTL cord.

I also enjoyed Photographically Speaking: A Deeper Look at Creating Stronger Images (Voices That Matter) and Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision by David duChemin. I'm not sure you could call them "advanced" but they explore the thinking behind the shot; why certain things work or don't work.

I'm looking forward to the suggestions of others here for additional reading.

Kim

Mike wrote in post #13894635
Light Science and Magic is well worth getting as is the Speedliters Handbook by Syl Arena.

Just ordered Light Science and Magic on Amazon, hope its as good as everyone says!

chauncey wrote in post #13901144
Don't be in such a rush to buy...spend some time perusing the internet. Often the simplest solution is ignored > http://www.youtube.com …l4904l6403l3.7.​1.9-1l12l0

I do extensive video watching and reading online about lighting, but I feel like at a certain point getting all of your info from different places isnt as good as a solid single source from a book

Anyone else have any advanced composition books to recommend?