Just One Flash: A Practical Approach to Lighting for Digital Photography [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Based on the subtitle of the book, "a practical approach to lighting for digital photography" I was expecting an instructional book on using one flash both on and off-camera. While just one flash is definitely the topic covered by the book it was not covered in even close enough detail to be called a practical approach. I would instead describe the book as "a book encouraging the use of flash for digital photography but not really teaching how to do it".

If you are intimidated by the idea of flash photography and are looking for a book to encourage you to give it a try, then this is your book. In fact, chapter 1 is completely devoted to encouraging the reader to give flash photography a go. For example, this is from chapter 1: "If you never push yourself - if you never accept a challenge - you'll never discover anything new. Learning to use a flash well takes time, patience, and determination. Yes, it can take a while to master. Yes, you'll be shooting a lot of really bad photos before the good ones start flowing. But through it all, you'll be gaining experience, your vision will grow, and your photos will shine because of it. Flash photography is not hard; it's just an option - an option every serious photographer should master."

That's an excellent point. After reading it (and all of chapter 1) you will be quite motivated to learn flash photography. However, if you expect to be given reasonably detailed instruction on the use of single flash photography in the remainder of the book you are likely to be disappointed.

The majority of the instruction in the book is centered around the equipment needed for flash photography. The authors first cover the camera's built in flash and various pieces of equipment that can be used to modify the light from that flash. Then they move on to using an external flash on the camera's hot shot and the various tools that can be used to modify the light from the flash. Finally, they move on to getting the flash off-camera and the equipment needed to do so (sync cords, wireless remotes, etc) and a further overview of tools to modify the light from the flash.

While they do give a nice, but very basic, overview of these things there is little instruction in how to use these tools. For example, there is one paragraph in the book on the use of a polarizing filter. They write, "There is no tool more powerful than a polarizer when it comes to capturing amazing color. To truly grasp all of the creative options a flash offers, you must master this most basic photographic tool." After stressing the importance of a polarizer and calling it THE most powerful tool for capturing amazing color the authors abandon the topic and move on to the next. Surely that is not the only instruction needed in mastering the polarizing filter? Are there different types of polarizers? If so, will any of them do? Do they all do exactly the same thing? Are there different ways of using a polarizer? None of these questions are even addressed. And since this book is seemingly geared towards novices to flash photography I would expect these types of basic questions to be addressed. But, alas, this is not the case. Now that you know the importance of the polarizing filter you'll have to look elsewhere on how to actually use one.

Another example is the use of bounced flash. The authors devote just 2 paragraphs to this topic and basically tell the reader that bouncing the flash is a good thing but to be aware that it increases the distance the light has to travel to reach the subject, and that the surface the light is being bounced off of will affect the light. In comparison, Neil van Niekerk wrote an entire 128 page book on the use of bounce flash. If the subject of on-camera bounce flash can fill an entire book then surely just 2 paragraphs on this topic are completely insufficient to instruct the reader on how to take advantage of such a powerful method for creating flattering portrait light. What are the differences between bouncing off the ceiling versus a wall? What if the ceiling is very high? What if the walls are colored - how should that be dealt with? And so on.

In summary, if you are looking for encouragement to give flash photography a try then this book might be a good choice. If you are looking for some basic instruction on flash photography then I suggest other books on the topic are likely a better choice (Neil van Nieker's book "On-Camera Flash" is superb).

While the book is well written and includes lots of photographs illustrating the creative possibilities of flash photography I give it just 2 stars since I don't believe it lives up to the subtitle of being a practical approach to lighting.

It's a few kernels of real information on flash mixed in with a bit over a hundred pages of fluff and woo about growing your inner artist. The one thing I did like was the juxtaposition of "the shot" with a wider view of how the shot was set up.

If you're looking for in depth information on flash photography techniques, look elsewhere. If you're looking for pat on the back encouragement about how you can be an artist too, you might like it.

The multiple flash book by the same authors has the same problem.

This is one of the worst photography books I've ever seen. If it were titled "Flash Buyer's Guide" it would maybe deserve 2 stars.

I kept reading about all of these accessories and couldn't wait to get to the part where instruction was given and examples were shown, those parts never came.

Incredibly though, 11 pages are devoted to making a "light scatterer", and 10 pages are devoted to putting your flash on a homemade stick.

A whole page shows 4 pictures on how to hold your flash at the 12,3,6, and 9 o'clock positions, so I guess you could in some way call that instruction.

The photography is terrible for the most part, I'd be ashamed to show shots like this to my friends let alone publish them in a book. Even worse the photos don't make sense in the context of teaching anything. 4 photos shot with a diffuser just show 4 shots taken with a diffuser, exactly alike. I would think you'd have one shot without one, then 3 at varying distances if you were actually trying to illustrate a point.

You'd not only save some money but learn a lot more from just downloading manufacturer's brochures and looking at the pretty pictures in them, at least then you'd be looking at pretty pictures.