Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites

I was fortunate to participate in a 2 day workshop with Syl in the lead up to this book, and now I have the book in my grubby little hands, I can heartily recommend it for anyone who is trying to get something more from their speedlites than Canon seems to think they are capable of.

If you've just bought your first speedlite, then this book will walk you through everything you need to know to get it off the camera *and* keep the wonderful ETTL functionality that so many people misunderstand or seem to dismiss as gimmicky.

If, like me, you've got a couple of speedlites and had already got them off the camera, then there is *still* material in here that will help you up your game and expand what you are able to make these wonderful little lighting gadgets do. My biggest revelation in off camera ETTL speedliting? Buy a long ETTL cable :) Syl turned me onto what can be achieved if I get my master speedlite off the camera, on a cable so I can trigger my slave anywhere, including behind my model. So simple, yet I never thought of it.

There are tons of full color photos in the book that cover every topic covered in writing, making it perfect for us visual learners.

Did I mention, it's Canon specific? So little has been written for us ... all those "brand independent" books I've read and purchased in the past still assume only Nikon is able to handle off camera flash work, never really giving Canon their due. Finally, something I can simply follow along with the buttons on my own system and understand the same terminology.

Simply - *the* book to buy if you want to get better at what we do in the Canon world.

I've decided to write this review in terms of what I'm getting out of this book. To put it in context, I'm a Canon shooter (just stepped up to a 60D) and have, of course, Canon flashes. I've wanted to do more with flash, but the details (with explanations of why, not just how) of using the 580EXII (for example) are very hard to find. As a result, 90% of my images are landscapes and I've shied away from using flash. No more.

Until now, the only things I could find were a few online tutorials and a very good book by NK Guy. Although that book is excellent, this one is better (buy this one first, but if you can afford it, get both.)

Top Ten benefits (for me) of this book.

1. Great explanations of using light. By that I mean to create shadows and give definition. On the opening pages there's a picture of a white square against a black background. Next to it we can see that the square was simply a sheet of copy paper. We can see that because the author crumpled and then straightened it, giving it texture that the light could use to create those shadows and make it obvious. In two pictures and two paragraphs, the author said more about using light than hundreds of others tried to do elsewhere.

2. Great explanations on how to manipulate the buttons on the Canon flashes to make them do what you want. [Note: some of that is quite tricky, such as the need to hold a button down for 2 seconds in order to get into a specific configuration mode].

3. Great tips, such as telling you that if the flash modifiers are not 100% secured into the flash head, the controls won't work.

4. Excellent step by step instructions through the menus on both the flash units and the camera bodies.

5. Clear and understandable explanations about master and slaves, groups, channels, etc.

6. Clear and understandable explanations about ratios between flashes and how to set and control them from both the flash and the camera

7. Some very useful tips for using Canon-compatible flashes and even non-compatible ones

8. Good descriptions of studio lighting, and of combining (ganging) flashes

9. A very nice section on flash modifiers (scrims, gobos, snoots, etc). That reminds me, there are sidebars that explain all the jargon. Very useful, indeed.

10. Several chapters at the end that put it all together, including one that explains the cover shot.

This is a long awaited, MUST BUY book for Canon flash users.

By the way, the author maintains a blog that's well worth following, too. It's at speedlighting.com. Also, check out another great book of his, LIDLIPS. [[ASIN:0984225307 LIDLIPS Lessons I Didn't Learn In Photo School: 100 Modern Insights On Photography]]

Simply put, the best book/reference tool that I have seen to date on speedliting (regardless of brand). So much great information, presented in an easy to understand manner, and with terrific explanations as to the why behind Syl's methods and choices. Canon shooters in particular will absolutely love this volume. The author clearly spent a great deal of time and effort creating this book which is evident in the amount and quality of examples, both the photos and the fabulous "syllustrations". Great reference books only come from a combination of knowledge and passion for the subject, and it is clear after reading this book over the last two days that Syl has both in abundance. Worth every penny.[[ASIN:032171105X Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites]]

This probably is a good book for somebody - I just can't figure out whom.

It combines a lengthy, plodding introduction to the basic principles of digital photography (at a level appropriate for photo beginners) with an incomplete but very detailed treatment of lighting techniques with Canon flash equipment (usually a subject tackled by more advanced enthusiasts.)

I suppose if you've just bought a Canon DSLR, don't know much about photography, but want to plunge right into off-camera flash, working your way through the book might be a useful (although slow) process.

But if you do already know the basics of shutter speed, aperture, ISO sensitivity and so forth, much of the book's content will be wasted. And if you already know some lighting principles and just want to get caught up on the specifics of Canon's capable but somewhat convoluted flash system, you have to wade through a lot of unnecessary detail.

The author's biases further limit the book's usefulness. For example, at work I was handed a Canon flash system including an ST-E2 controller and told to learn how to use it. Since the book promises "button-by-button coverage" of all major components of Canon's system, I hoped it would give me a head start over the nearly-useless instructions that come with the product.

But it turns out that the author doesn't like the ST-E2. He devotes several pages at different parts of the book to telling you why you shouldn't buy one, but practically nothing about how to get any use out of one if you have it. The only real advice he has for an ST-E2 owner is the somewhat snide suggestion to "put it on eBay"... something I wish I could do with this book! (Unfortunately I bought the Kindle edition, so I'm stuck with it.)

Two more points:

-- As another reviewer has noted, the example photos are unbelievably lackluster. If they were mine, I'd be embarrassed to post them on Flickr, let alone put them in a book. They do illustrate the text points, barely, and I suppose there's something to be said for using pedestrian photos so as not to intimidate the beginner. But I think the photos in a professional publication should at least be interesting enough to motivate the reader, to make him/her think: "I want to learn to do that." With the lame pics in this tome, my reaction was more like, "Why bother?"

-- If you do decide to buy the book (and I know a lot of other reviewers really like it) buy the print version. The Kindle edition is hard to follow, because often the text will say (for example) "In the photo at right..." while the photo being referenced actually is on a different page, forcing you to flip back and forth. When multiple photos appear on a page, often it's not clear which photo is referenced by the caption. So do yourself a favor and spring for the dead-tree edition. Besides, after you've extracted what value it contains for you, you CAN put it on eBay...

I can't stop talking about this book to my photogro-friends.

Some facts about me so you know where I'm coming from:

- I am new to the world of getting my flash off my camera.
- I've been serious about photography for almost 2 years.
- I hate reading.
- If I have to read, I'm a skimmer and a jumper.
- I am rebellious

Now that you know that about me, I can tell you that I have read this book literally from cover to cover. I started at the beginning and I finished at the end. I know that the author suggests on page 1 that the best way to experience the book is not necessarily the cover to cover option (enter, rebellion). The again, I am a beginner to Speedliting and he does say to start at Chapter 0 and work your way through.

There are many things I loved about this book:

1. Easy to read - the author uses clear, straightforward language. It drew me in from page 1 and kept me until the very end (a miracle for someone who hates reading). The authors passion for his craft comes across in his writing - it's contagious. I WANT to be an awesome Speedliter because of this man. I think this book has made me want to be a better photographer, also.

2. FANTASTIC illustrations/examples/photos...not too many, not lacking, well done, and a variety of different models so you don't get bored. I loved that he used his sons as well.

3. Well structured. There's a logical flow to the chapters...you really can read it from cover to cover.

4. I really liked that he would reference things he hasn't spoken about yet in the book without dumbing it down - but then gave the chapter where you could read more about it. Maybe that seems like a lame point to make, but for the way that my brain works, this was helpful.

5. I love that the author is a Canon guy. I hear the argument all the time that it shouldn't matter what gear you use, the concepts are the same. Really? I'm sorry - I must be stupid then. The guy includes pictures of Canon gear, talks about proprietary Canon technology and talks about the pro's and con's of certain Canon things....um, how is that not helpful? I love Joe McNally but I couldn't read his book like I could read this one.

6. This may be more publishing related...but, the book is hearty. Nice quality pages.

7. I loved the tips, jargon and geek speak boxes.

8. I love that the author tells me what gear/acessories HE uses, but also gives other options as well.

Now, my question to you is why are you still reading comments? You should really buy this book....seriously. Just click that little "add to cart" button.

Having read McNally's book on small flash units usage, I was disappointed that it really dwelled on Nikon products exclusively. This, however is a much more usable book explaining the concepts using Canon hardware. McNally's take is much more arty and stimulating but if you aren't invested in Nikon, many of the points are hard to understand. The same could probably be said about the Canon book, and the photos are non-inspiring, but the book is a great reference for those working with Canon products. I recommend the book

All in all a fine book for explaining in detail the various functions of the canon speedlites. A lot of the info is standard lighting set-up stuff but the main meat of the book centers around the use of High Speed Sync, (that "H" button). Of importance here is that by using the "H" button the effective power of the flash drops considerably. As such to achieve a shot like the on on the cover the recommendation is to use multiple units (up to 12 used at times by the author). This had not been clear to me at point of purchase. Though I own 2 units I'm not inclined to keep buying them. Again, on balance a good, well written book by an enthusiastic author

You've read the good - this book is well written and covers a lot of material. However, I'm seeing a trend on the last couple of photography and photoshop books that I have bought. It looks like they are a bit rushed to the printer without a careful review by an editor. Figure 3.3 on page 39 shows that cyan ink + magenta ink gives yellow ink. That should be a blue ink. On page 100 it says, "So, in figure 8.24, I've manually dialed the shutter speed down by two stops to add a bit of saturation to the sky." There is no sky in figure 8.24. It is his son against a wall and the caption says the exposure is dialed down 3 stops. Another picture of 3 sizes of light stands has them in reverse order from what the caption says they are - a bit confusing if you go looking to buy one. Its these little things that should have been caught before going to press. My only other complaint is that it is printed with a fairly course screen so the pictures aren't as smooth as they can be.

So if you want to see beautiful crisp photos then buy something else. If you want to learn lighting with small flash, no matter which brand you use, buy this.

I previously blogged about the Speedliter's Checklist that accompanies Syl Arena's new book, Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites. Today the book arrived, and I'm even more impressed. No, I haven't read the whole thing yet. In fact, I've only flipped through most of the pages, looking at the photos and diagrams, and read a few short chapters. But I can already tell you this is one of the most valuable books on photography on my shelf. Don't think for a moment this is only for Canon shooters. I use Nikon gear including Nikon strobes. Very little of this book is specific to Canon Speedlites, and even those sections can easily be mapped into the Nikon equivalent. And don't think this is only for large or small strobe users. Even if you only shoot in available light, there's terrific material here.

I've written two books myself, so I have some idea of what it takes. Syl's book is a monumental effort. It is packed (!) with photos and diagrams that get his points across. And they're not those huge page-wasting images. This thing is dense! I've already discovered sections on equipment, accessories and techniques that made me say, "I wish I'd known that before now!" You will too.

I'm a big fan of Syl when he is a guest on photography podcasts. The book contains a lot of and breadth of topics. Cons: the example photos are not inspiring, and only some get the point clearly across. Almost every example photo is how to take a beautifully lit daylight scene and turn it into nighttime. IMHO, they all look too dark. Lets incorporate more environment. Speaking of which, there was only people photography. Nothing about lighting whole scenes. The digital version is also difficult to follow. I viewed in on my iPad and 2 different computers, the images and captions were all over the place making it hard to follow.