Book for flash beginner - Nikon SB600

[dan_yorkshire]

I am new to flash photography and have recently bought a SB600 for my D60.

Because the D60 cannot be used as a master for the SB600 using Nikons CLS,
I have also purchased an i-TTL cord for it to use off camera.

This is hopefully only a temporary measure as I am due to upgrade to a D90
in the Autumn, then the CLS will work.

I am looking for a book to give me a solid understanding of lighting, and
have narrowed it down to two..

1) The hot shoe dairies
2) Nikons Creative Lighting System (CLS)

I am hoping a few people on these forums will have these books and can let
me know what they recommend. I have a feeling the CLS book will be more on
the technical workings of the system rather than lighting techniques but I
maybe wrong. Unfortunately my local book stores don't stock these books so
I cant have a flick through them before a purchase on amazon.

Cheers for any help,

Dan

 

[dan_yorkshire]

Anyone with any recommendations please?

 

[specialman]

Hotshoe Diaries is good but it's a bit casually written for my liking and more for someone who's already got a grasp of basic lighting. Saying that, I've lent mine to a mate who's just getting into lighting and he loves it. Joe McNally is a very infectious writer who, despite his americanisms, is very easy to get on with. He's a Nikon man so that should suit you. It's based around lighting situations he's encountered as a working pro over the years but it does lack lighting diagrams and you have to read every inch to make sure you get the lighting info. He's no big on facts and figures, more about just being there and at times, winging it.

Light: Science & Magic is a very good read to perfect your technical lighting skills. It's more for applying lighting to specific situations but it's thorough. t deals with things like how to light metal, wood, people - things like that. It's a really scientific approach to lighting but probably the most thorough book out there.

The CLS book you've mentioned might be a good read if it's Nikon-only infor your'e after. I've never read it but it's got good reviews.

Check out the Strobist: 101 section for really basic info - this is probably the best resource around for anything to do with lighting. It deals mainly with off-camera flash, which will suit your future CLS system. David Hobby, the guy behind it, has probably done more for flash photography than anyone in recent years and that's paid off by massive support for the site, especially on Flickr where there are several Strobist groups where you can see shots, many with accompanying light set-up shots.

EDIT: This website might also help - linky

 

[Fuuudge]

Kelby Training - Photographing with One Light

Might be worth checking out.

 

[PickleB]

Light: Science & Magic is a very good read ...

... here's a link and its ISBN: 0240808193.

 

[HoppyUK]

Good review of HSD from SpecialMan. Worth getting for inspiration alone

I'm not sure there is too much to learn about basic lighting. Here is what you really need to know, then put it into practice and take it from there

The bigger the light, the softer it is - shadows are softer-edged and lighter. The closer it is, the bigger the light relative to the subject. So it's softer, but falls off more rapidly because of the ISL...

...The Inverse Square Law. ISL means that if you double the distance from the light to the subject, the brightness is reduced to one quarter. That's two stops down, the difference between white and mid grey. Remember this, and use it to your advantage. If you try and fight it, you will lose.

Angle of incidence equals angle of reflectance. That is, light bounces off an object at the same angle that it strikes it, like a snooker ball off the cushion.

Less is more. You can do a heck of a lot with one flash gun and a brolly, plus a reflector. Reflectors are like having extra lights.

 

[dan_yorkshire]

Hotshoe Diaries is good but it's a bit casually written for my liking and more for someone who's already got a grasp of basic lighting. Saying that, I've lent mine to a mate who's just getting into lighting and he loves it. Joe McNally is a very infectious writer who, despite his americanisms, is very easy to get on with. He's a Nikon man so that should suit you. It's based around lighting situations he's encountered as a working pro over the years but it does lack lighting diagrams and you have to read every inch to make sure you get the lighting info. He's no big on facts and figures, more about just being there and at times, winging it.

Light: Science & Magic is a very good read to perfect your technical lighting skills. It's more for applying lighting to specific situations but it's thorough. t deals with things like how to light metal, wood, people - things like that. It's a really scientific approach to lighting but probably the most thorough book out there.

The CLS book you've mentioned might be a good read if it's Nikon-only infor your'e after. I've never read it but it's got good reviews.

Check out the Strobist: 101 section for really basic info - this is probably the best resource around for anything to do with lighting. It deals mainly with off-camera flash, which will suit your future CLS system. David Hobby, the guy behind it, has probably done more for flash photography than anyone in recent years and that's paid off by massive support for the site, especially on Flickr where there are several Strobist groups where you can see shots, many with accompanying light set-up shots.

EDIT: This website might also help - linky

Cheers for your reply, a good review of the HSD so will probably purchase that. Think the strobist website is the place to start though.

Thanks again

Kelby Training - Photographing with One Light

Might be worth checking out.

Another one to add to my birthday wishlist, cheers

... here's a link and its ISBN: 0240808193.

Cheers

Good review of HSD from SpecialMan. Worth getting for inspiration alone

I'm not sure there is too much to learn about basic lighting. Here is what you really need to know, then put it into practice and take it from there

The bigger the light, the softer it is - shadows are softer-edged and lighter. The closer it is, the bigger the light relative to the subject. So it's softer, but falls off more rapidly because of the ISL...

...The Inverse Square Law. ISL means that if you double the distance from the light to the subject, the brightness is reduced to one quarter. That's two stops down, the difference between white and mid grey. Remember this, and use it to your advantage. If you try and fight it, you will lose.

Angle of incidence equals angle of reflectance. That is, light bounces off an object at the same angle that it strikes it, like a snooker ball off the cushion.

Less is more. You can do a heck of a lot with one flash gun and a brolly, plus a reflector. Reflectors are like having extra lights.

Thanks for a great reply Hoppy.

I think I am encountering the same problems I had when I bought my first DSLR, trying to learn lots of different things at once and not actually becoming any good at a specific topic.

Need to break this lighting into smaller parts and understand each bit completely before putting it all together.

This time next year I am aiming to get a home studio kit, so I've got a year to understand OCF and lighting in genreal so I can immediately get the best out of it.

Cheers