Master Flash Photography: Unlock Your Creative Potential with Expert Tips on Capturing Stunning Photos with Electronic Flash

Robert: This book is a gem if you want to know how to use portable flash units or speedlights with your camera. Bryan Peterson is a fantastic photographer and instructor. I started with his book Understanding Exposure and I was so impressed I bought most of his other books which are excellent

United States on Sep 26, 2023

Alan: I always look at the prices for the used version of the books I need, and in all cases (so far!) the book looks better than the description indicated. Since this is a reference book, I didn't care if there were minor marks inside...but this book was 100% clean. Always consider the used products, but ensure you factor in the shipping costs and taxes at check out. Sometimes the 'new' version is the better deal. Good shopping !

Canada on Jul 04, 2023

Mr. Petersen: Really great book. Absolutely recommendable.

Germany on Aug 02, 2022

Txiki63: Llego antes de tiempo y tal como describe el proveedor, muy bien y bien empaquetado

Spain on May 05, 2022

Felix: Anscheinend musste ich über 50 Jahre fotographieren bis mich Bryan Peterson erfolgreich darauf aufmerksam machte, dass es beim Blitzen nur um die Blende geht!!

Germany on Dec 01, 2021

John Bent: A very good book for understanding flash photography. It should be noted that this book is not about how to use speed lights or cameras but understanding flash photography. The author largely assumes the reader understands how to use his/her camera and speed light. I realized I needed to brush up on how my speed light worked before I could get the full benefit from this book. The author references, in a largely generic fashion, the Nikon SB900 speed light, which is the one he uses, but this is quite incidental to the book and its purpose.
The book covers the basic concepts like aperture, shutter speed, ISO and their interrelationship in the context of flash photography. One thing I found particularly useful is better appreciating the different roles of aperture and shutter speed in flash photography: what they individually contribute to a properly exposed photograph using flash. The manual mode of the speed light was strongly emphasized by the author. I came to better appreciate the use of this mode in effectively exposing flash photographs both for pop up and off camera speed lights. I now use this mode to a greater degree and a lot more effectively than I formerly...

Canada on Dec 13, 2013

Erik J. Malvick: While apparently geared towards digital technology, it really feels like a book about film photography with digital as an afterthought.

Fortunately, that is a small flaw in an otherwise educating book on flash. First, the concepts here don't pertain a whole lot to the camera anyway and the concepts of exposure and flash settings are the same no matter what camera you use. The bigger problem comes with regard to manual flash and the behaviors observed on today's cameras. Today's flashes don't necessarily have all the manual behaviors this book talks about. In today's automated world, the manual modes on a flash still assume the user is dumb and don't give you nearly the flexibility that the author assumes you'll have here.

This really isn't a flaw with the book as it is a flaw with the companies building our flashes and cameras. Unfortunately, I feel that the author should account for that to some extent.

I do love that the book at least goes over the concepts very clearly. The focus is on using your flash in manual mode, and that is useful even if it is difficult to implement with your own flash. It took me three days of reading my flash's manual and internet...

United States on Jan 26, 2012

M. Shaiken: I read the latest Bryan Peterson book from cover to cover within moments of its arrival at my mailbox. I have now also read the reviews and I agree wholeheartedly with the favorable ones and must respectfully disagree with the negative reviews. First, Bryan Peterson is the most understandable, approachable photography author in circulation today. His new book on flash is no different - completely understandable, completely approachable for novice and enthusiast alike. I am a Nikon shooter; if you own a Nikon SB900, the book is a masterpiece. If you don't however, I disagree with the critics who suggest that the book has no application. The thesis of the book is straightforward: compose the shot in full manual mode in your camera, and add light back manually (not in TTL mode) to light the subject. How much light, Bryan suggests, is based on the distance of your flash to your subject. In an SB900, once you determine the distance (you can eyeball it most of the time), the SB900 allows you to input that distance (as well as your ISO and f-stop based on your creative juices when you composed the shot) and as a result, the SB900 will then adjust the flash output for you. The SB800 will...

United States on Sep 18, 2011

Julian Velasco: I have read many of Bryan Peterson's books, mostly because I like his style. Of course, they are all helpful as well, with Understanding Exposure probably being his best book. Well, this book is right up there in terms of helpfulness!

I'm an amateur photographer: I really love photography; but I have a day job, so photography is only a hobby. I've read dozens of books, and I like to think I understand quite a bit about photography. But somehow, flash was always a bit mystifying. I understood some of the basics: flash is basically instantaneous, so flash exposure is entirely controlled by aperture and not shutter speed; however, beyond a certain speed, the sensor is never fully exposed, so you need a special mode (High-Speed Sync) to be able to use flash. But I never really understood what was going on with my flash: it gives me distances, and zooms, and power levels ... how was I supposed to use that information? Sure, I could use the automatic TTL mode and not worry about it. But if you're a true amateur, you want to know whats going on in order to experiment creatively. And I never quite got it. This book explains it well and painlessly! In fact, it's so easy, I'm amazed...

United States on Sep 04, 2011