On-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography Paperback – August 1, 2009

Background (you can skip)Since so many reviews have already been written about this book I will keep this brief with my personal reasons why this book is so useful. I have bought TONS of photography books (at least 35), always looking for useful tips to get that pro look to my photos and extort Oooh's and Aaaah's from people looking at my collection. Lighting has always been my downfall, since I cannot seem to get the contrast, shadows, directions etc right. I bought expensive soft boxes and strobes and yet never learned to properly use them, even with all the books at hand. So I have been steadily looking for books that could give me good useful instruction on how to create positive results that would fuel inspiration (success is great fuel)!! I tried some of the books my pro friends recommended. like Light, science & Magic and found that those were too advanced and required too much skill / experience with some of the equipment (like strobes) to be the best start. And then I found this little 20 dollar lesson.About this bookThere are a few things that many photography books do that do not work for me:- The are THICK, I mean endless pages going through basics about cameras that I do not need, forcing me to spend too much time reading, which I do not have- They often assume deep wallets, ie. access to expensive equipment- They often assume everyone wants to be a pro-sumer / semi-pro, whereas what I wanted was just darn good looking pictures without excessive knowledge I will rarely use- Most of all, they assume you have tons of space and great lighting equipment.My reality is: I am a father of many kids, I have a busy busy life. I rarely have time to go shoot outdoors. Mostly I take pictures indoors and often in the evenings, but rarely in studio conditions. In fact, my house is cramped so I cannot set up backgrounds and strobes very easily nor do I enjoy it.Reading is something I enjoy with novels, not with photography or instruction books.Here are the reasons why I think this book excels:- It is thin and to the point- I think it immediately gives you USABLE, applicable instructions to take good looking photos, augmented by flash- It understands that not all of us have strobes, studio space and enormous soft boxes.- It focuses on flash photography albeit indoors or outdoors, augmenting natural light or being the main source.- It teaches quickly and efficientlyThe negative(s):- The first 10 pages are generic detailed scientific explanations of reflection and lighting. Tough material, but after that it gets applied!!- The actual size of the book: it should have been in a little smaller format as this is one you'd want to carry with you.Overall worth EVERY penny you pay for it.

I am a professional photographer who does weddings, bar mitzvahs, portraits and events. I am a voracious reader of photography books (I have read over to 100) and I constantly practice and learn. This book took me to the next level in a way that no other resource has during my career. I constantly refer back to this book to improve my photography skills.If you are interested in improving your exposure metering skills, both with ambient light and flash, this is the book. The author explains the techniques for using the camera's built-in meter, using the histogram, using the blinking highlights display, the Sunny 16 rule and using the LCD. He explains the zone system and how to meter for dark and light subjects. The metering system in a digital camera wants to render both light and dark objects as middle grey, so understanding how to meter properly is crucial for the professional photographer, especially to make a wedding dress white and show off its detail.The author explains how to make on-camera flash a bigger light source to create soft, natural, diffuse light. He also explains how on-camera flash can be used to create directional light for texture, contrast, mood and more interesting photographs. The technique is called bounce flash and once you learn this technique your photography will reach new levels. There is great advice about using flash modifiers. Try making your own flash modifier and you will never go back to the "tupperware" modifiers.The biggest revelation in this book was how to squeeze the most out of my camera, lens and flash. I use professional Nikon cameras and professional Nikon lenses and speedlights. Until I read and digested this book I was not using these tools to their fullest. The book helped me learn how use the high ISO capabilities of my cameras and wide aperture capabilities of my lens and bouncing capabilities of my flash to get properly exposed, razor sharp pictures with just the right amount of light in dark banquet halls... and at the same time lighten the backgrounds so the picture opens up and does not suffer from picture killing black backgrounds. This is not easy to do, but once you understand how to do it, your pictures move to a higher level that the point-and-shoot photographers can not match.I have recommended this book to my partner and all my photographer friends. If you take the time to read and digest this book your photography will move to a higher level.