Best Book on Photography with Flash?

JWMster · Feb 22, 2018

Time for me to axe the flash phobia and learn to use it as a tool like any other. I suspect this has more to do with a natural light obsession than I think, so the time to get over it and beyond it is now. So I'm looking for resources. Folks have been generous in the past and hope can count on that again. Any recommendations?

Sirius Glass · Feb 22, 2018

Straight on flash can flatten the photograph by making faces bright with harsh light, so I either use a defusing cover or bounce flash off the wall or ceiling.

JWMster · Feb 22, 2018

Yes, of course. I've even bought remote triggers... so I'm "ready to learn". But it's not been a hot button so much. Simply think to myself that the wonder of natural light is as much of an excuse for a lack of skill in trying to simply infuse it with something more in order to capture more pictures.

Sirius Glass · Feb 22, 2018

I prefer natural light, but sometimes I need fill in flash or flash for illumination.

David Brown · Feb 22, 2018

https://www.hpb.com/products?utf8=✓&keywords=flash+photography

John Koehrer · Feb 22, 2018

Generally I've used flash only for fill. At close distances see #2 above, for greater distance it can be very effective.
I love seeing pictures of huge audiences at concerts filled with tiny white lights.

The above pertains mainly to on/at camera flash, studio setups are a very different animal and are mainly
used with a flash meter.

MattKing · Feb 22, 2018

This one is a useful read: https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Flash-Kodak-Workshop-Neubart/dp/0879857722

jim10219 · Feb 22, 2018

The best way to learn flash is to get in there and use them. There are lots of traditional setups people use, but each situation is different and it’s best to approach each situation independently and not go into it with a set idea already in mind. I would suggest starting out with constant lights or studio flashes with modeling lights so you can get a feel for how the subject will look without having to take a photo. Then you can use a flash incident meter to set your exposure.

If speedlights are your only option for now, I’d recommend using a digital camera so you can get instant feedback. Then, if you want to take the image with film you can swap in a film camera after you get the look you want on the digital. Getting the right balance of light at the right angles with the right levels of diffusion can be really hard, even for an experienced photographer with just speedlights and a film camera. You’re pretty much shooting blind at that point and having to make a ton of guesses which are probably wrong. So you might waste a lot of film and not be able to make much use of the feedback by the time you see the prints from your session.

mjork · Feb 23, 2018

I think the best online resource is the Strobist (and it's free):
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

And this is a great book covering photographic lighting in general: "Light Science & Magic, An Introduction to Photographic Lighting"

Theo Sulphate · Feb 23, 2018

JWMster said:
Time for me to axe the flash phobia and learn to use it as a tool like any other. I suspect this has more to do with a natural light obsession than I think, so the time to get over it and beyond it is now. So I'm looking for resources. Folks have been generous in the past and hope can count on that again. Any recommendations?

Since you say "flash" rather than "lighting", I'm assuming you mean on-camera flash or external flash rather than setting up lights, reflectors, etc.

You may find this site useful; disregard the name and scroll to the flash section:

https://www.scantips.com/

Like you, I've preferred ambient natural light. In the past I would prefer a thin dark photo made with Tri-X at 1/4 second wide open before using flash.

But, being an engineer, I now own (but have yet to use) an SB-15, SB-20, and the fascinating Vivitar 285. Conceptually, the hardest thing for me to realize, in Auto mode, was that at the sync speed or below, the flash itself is your "shutter" and, the flash unit itself is looking at the light output coming back plus the dialed-in aperture to determine how much light to send out.

JWMster · Feb 23, 2018

Folks: THanks! I've always found good suggestions here... Can't thank you enough.

Mr Bill · Feb 23, 2018

mjork said:
I think the best online resource is the Strobist (and it's free):
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

And this is a great book covering photographic lighting in general: "Light Science & Magic, An Introduction to Photographic Lighting"

I would agree, that these are some of the best resources, to understand what is going on. Some people just want "recipes" or proven setups that they can follow - they would need different resources from these. I learned the huge majority of what I know about lighting long before these sources, but if the "me" from today could go back in time to educate the "me" of then, these are two of the resource I'd want to send back.

When you understand more about the sources and controlling them (via diffusers and reflecting, etc) per "...Science & Magic" there is so much that you can do. Even if it is just a small boost to overcome slight problems with existing light. Using a gel on the flash to match color, and then a low-power bounce flash to accent the scene can really fine tune a scene (but I don't think either of these resources covers much about balancing with gels).

I made a full-time living in photography starting from about 1970s, including a lot of portraits studio type work and photofinishing, including lighting system design work. Long ago I became convinced that many people who were adamant about sticking strictly to ambient lighting really didn't understand how to put flash to work. So you stick to what you know.

Personally, for just casual indoor shooting (of people) with available light, I like to gel a pop-up flash, then set it at -1 to -2 exposure compensation. It helps overcome "racoon eyes" from overhead lights, yet almost no one realizes it's there when looking at photos. (As a note, for people who don't have any gels, a piece of clear C-41film (orange base) taped over the flash comes pretty close to incandescent lighting.)

jtk · Feb 24, 2018

JWMster said:
Time for me to axe the flash phobia and learn to use it as a tool like any other. I suspect this has more to do with a natural light obsession than I think, so the time to get over it and beyond it is now. So I'm looking for resources. Folks have been generous in the past and hope can count on that again. Any recommendations?

Strongly advise Strobist...famous & excellent blog re: small flash

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

Sirius Glass · Feb 24, 2018

I use the Nikon SB800 for 35mm and 120 and flashbulbs for the Speed Graphic.

JWMster · Feb 24, 2018

On camera flash? Sure... I'd love to feel I could use it and not dislike the results. Off camera.... more to my liking. As to studio lights, I've gathered a few cheaply off B&H that I used to light some eBay shots. Constant lights. All lower power than they should have been, but got the job done. And I'm not bad with that stuff.... not scientific either. But that was mostly LED's and a tad dimmer than it should be. Worked fine for non-moving stuff ...like eBay. But portraits? and fill lighting? Gonna need to turn up the light and get a better handle on using it. I've watched some videos, but never made a concerted effort here. I'm just sayin' the time has come. Appreciate all the good suggestions here. Thank you!

JWMster · Feb 24, 2018

I have a little SB-30 for my Leica M6, and that's intentionally meant as little more than a "brightener-upper", and I suspect it's a little weak for use with a Rollei MF SLR. Appreciate suggestions, here, too.

removed account4 · Feb 24, 2018

jtk said:
Strongly advise Strobist...famous & excellent blog re: small flash

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

+1

i had always heard of strobist but never went there, and i did today
what a great site ! he's got some great ideas and tutorials
and the best thing about today's tech is with a digthing you can get INSTANT feedback
so when it comes time to dedicate a frame to silver .. you can feel confident.
i learned on the fly, no tutorials, no help just with a long PC cord and a pentax K1000 or yashicamat124
and a tripod ... the flash i used was a sunpack ... a lumedyne came next .. super portable and
with the handle unit can be dialed down to 2ws or up to 200/400ws. the best thing to do
is practice ( like anything ) its really not as hard as it is intimidating ...

the roger hicks and frances schultz books ( pro series ) aren't bad .. they have portraits
and diagrams that are easy to understand
the strobist site is every bit as good ( if not better) suggests equipment to buy that won't break
the budget and .. the site is free

RalphLambrecht · Feb 24, 2018

JWMster said:
Time for me to axe the flash phobia and learn to use it as a tool like any other. I suspect this has more to do with a natural light obsession than I think, so the time to get over it and beyond it is now. So I'm looking for resources. Folks have been generous in the past and hope can count on that again. Any recommendations?

I agree, flash light is a useful tool; In studio photography, you can create your own lighting environment and be weather-independent.

jtk · Feb 26, 2018

Not doing much studio work these days, but when I was I relied on 2000WS and 800WS Norman strobes with soft boxes.... but that would have been vastly too much horsepower with digital cameras. Enjoy seeing Platon's very simple strobe technique, like nothing I never even imagined when obsessing on Rembrandt lighting. His secret: photograph up close and demand a real, if sometimes uncomfortable, relationship with subjects.

I've got a bunch of Vivitar strobes that talk to each other...maybe I'll maximum-diffuse and play with them on a certain still life.

Dead Link Removed

https://fstoppers.com/bts/step-platons-studio-behind-scenes-look-27064

JWMster · Feb 26, 2018

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll follow up with that one as well.

David T T · Feb 27, 2018

YouTube.

When I started using lights, I literally watched every fashion/portrait lighting tutorial on there. In some cases many times, such as the Robert Harrington/B&H "One light, multiple looks" seminar.

Best Book on Photography with Flash?

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