Book Recommendations

[kerryN]

Can anyone recommend any good books to purchase on flash photography? I have a Canon DSLR and external flash but I am failing to have any success with photos and so would like to purchase something to help me get the best out of my set up.

Many thanks
KerryN

[matonanjin]

Not a book, but there isn't much better learning resource than:
http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/

Go through Strobist 101 and 102 (201?). Do the weekly assignments.

[kerryN]

Many thanks for that recommendation. I will fit that in as I can but would also be grateful for any recommendations on books as I want something that I can have with me to pick up and read in spare moments while on the move.

All the best
KerryN

[speedster00]

there are lots of good books. Scott Kelby's stuff is a great read. I have been looking at Rick Sammons book called "exploring the light" but have yet to read it. He comes pretty highly recomended adn has a number of books published.

[Jim M]

Can anyone recommend any good books to purchase on flash photography? I have a Canon DSLR and external flash but I am failing to have any success with photos and so would like to purchase something to help me get the best out of my set up.

Many thanks
KerryN
What level of help are you looking for? What do you mean by "failing to have any success?" What kind of pictures are you wanting to produce? Which external flash do you have? I would recommend "Light, Science and Magic" if you want to understand lighting in depth, but if you are trying to figure out why your pictures are overexposed or how to use ETTL, it is the wrong book.

[kerryN]

What level of help are you looking for? What do you mean by "failing to have any success?" What kind of pictures are you wanting to produce? Which external flash do you have? I would recommend "Light, Science and Magic" if you want to understand lighting in depth, but if you are trying to figure out why your pictures are overexposed or how to use ETTL, it is the wrong book.


I understand the general light aspect of photography but it is the use of the actual flash and how to get he exposure right. I seem to always either under or over expose an image and the lighting seems just plain harsh. I have a Canon 400D and a Canon 430 EX 11 flash. I have tried manual exposure but seem to have even more trouble with that than the ETTL setting. I want to be able to produce indoor shots and I had always assumed that the flash would mean that I didn't have to have long exposure times but this doesn't seem to be the case or am I doing something wrong for long exposures to be needed? I am quite good on getting the lighting right on general shots. Here are links to a couple of them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerry-n-b/3232010278/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerry-n-b/3089616595/

But as for flash well I need help!

Thanks for your input.

KerryN

[kerryN]

there are lots of good books. Scott Kelby's stuff is a great read. I have been looking at Rick Sammons book called "exploring the light" but have yet to read it. He comes pretty highly recomended adn has a number of books published.

Thanks for the recommendations. I have read some of Scott Kelby's work and really enjoyed it and found it very useful. I shall have a look for the other author.

Thanks for your input.

KerryN

[matonanjin]

I I seem to always either under or over expose an image and the lighting seems just plain harsh.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerry-n-b/3232010278/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerry-n-b/3089616595/

But as for flash well I need help!

Thanks for your input.

KerryN

Those images of the finches are exposed correctly and you nailed the focus, too. They are great!

If your lighting seems harsh you are probably using your flash on camera yet. You need to get your flash off the axis of your camera. At the risk of redundancy go to Strobist. I know you said you wanted a book to read but print out the pages and take them with you.

At a minimum, bounce your flash. That will get rid of the harsh look and look a lot more natural:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-bouncing-off-of-walls-and.html

HTH

[kerryN]

Those images of the finches are exposed correctly and you nailed the focus, too. They are great!

If your lighting seems harsh you are probably using your flash on camera yet. You need to get your flash off the axis of your camera. At the risk of redundancy go to Strobist. I know you said you wanted a book to read but print out the pages and take them with you.

At a minimum, bounce your flash. That will get rid of the harsh look and look a lot more natural:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-bouncing-off-of-walls-and.html

HTH

Yes I am using the flash on camera. I have subscribed to the Strobists emails and will definitely explore the site. Thanks!

KerryN

[Jim M]

I understand the general light aspect of photography but it is the use of the actual flash and how to get he exposure right. I seem to always either under or over expose an image and the lighting seems just plain harsh. I have a Canon 400D and a Canon 430 EX 11 flash. I have tried manual exposure but seem to have even more trouble with that than the ETTL setting. I want to be able to produce indoor shots and I had always assumed that the flash would mean that I didn't have to have long exposure times but this doesn't seem to be the case or am I doing something wrong for long exposures to be needed?

KerryN
You might try putting the camera on manual and the flash on ETTL. I suspect you have been using Av mode with your camera. When you do that, the camera tries to set exposure for the ambient light, pretty much ignoring that you have a flash attached. The flash is then used as fill. So try this: Set the flash to ETTL. Set the camera to Manual. Then set the shutter speed to the sync speed or slower - say 1/200. Set the aperture to a reasonable amount - say f/5.6. Set the ISO to something manageable - say 200 or 400. Now take some pictures and see what you get.

[kerryN]

You might try putting the camera on manual and the flash on ETTL. I suspect you have been using Av mode with your camera. When you do that, the camera tries to set exposure for the ambient light, pretty much ignoring that you have a flash attached. The flash is then used as fill. So try this: Set the flash to ETTL. Set the camera to Manual. Then set the shutter speed to the sync speed or slower - say 1/200. Set the aperture to a reasonable amount - say f/5.6. Set the ISO to something manageable - say 200 or 400. Now take some pictures and see what you get.

Yes, you've cracked it, that is exactly what I am doing: using AV mode. I always use AV mode for general photography and had just thought it would be OK for flash photography as well. I shall experiment this coming weekend. Many thanks.

Kerry

[Jim M]

Yes, you've cracked it, that is exactly what I am doing: using AV mode. I always use AV mode for general photography and had just thought it would be OK for flash photography as well. I shall experiment this coming weekend. Many thanks.

Kerry
Good. Glad I could help. Once you get the basics covered, you can start playing around with introducing varying amounts of ambient light, getting into bounce flash, and so on. You will probably start noticing that the light will be off a little bit in certain situations, like with a lot of white or black in the picture, and can begin to figure out Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) settings. Just take it slowly and experiment once you have the basics down.

[boubou]

I'm in a similar situation. I looked at amazon.com, and I'm thinking of getting :
- Understanding the Canon Speedlite 580EX / 430EX on Dvd,
- Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
It's the best I can find....

[SYS]

The guy from the Planet Neil website has a book coming out later this year. I pre-ordered a copy:

http://www.amazon.com/Camera-Techniques-Wedding-Portrait-Photography/dp/1584282584/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3VLG7ZG7KPHMD&colid=3H5LRX20WOEUJ

In the meantime, you can read his flash techniques on www.planetneil.com. I like his writings because he explains things with picture examples to go with. I'm looking forward to reading his book when it's available.

[nadtz]

To understand how eos flash works

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/

read it, then read it again, then go out and take lots of photos. Wash, rinse, repeat, and after you do it enough it will start making sense.

Light; science and magic is also a great book. Its more of a textbook than a tutorial type book, but i find myself going through it more than just about any of the other book i have on lighting.