Two GREAT Camera Flash Books

My reviews are coming, but these are too cool not to share right away.

The first book, Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites is the Canon Speedlite owners (i.e., 580EX II) dream come true – it’s EVERYTHING you wanted to know about the Canon flash system,accessories and more! This thing is as big as an algebra book with gobs of pictures so this is likely to find a long-term home on my Which Books Should I Read list.

The second book Off-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Photographers is the sequel to a book that’s already on my must read list – On-Camera Flash Techniques which I love. While I think I learned more from the first one, this is still a great book for those who are ready to take those flashes off the hot shoe and do more with them.

Flash Bus Tour Fans

I know a lot of readers right now are coming from Joe McNally’s blog to see my Flash Bus Tour review, so welcome! Stay a while and check out my Discount Coupon Code page and world famous Printing Series for lots of great reasons to hang around here more often!

If you are a Nikon shooter then Joe’s books like Hot Shoe Diaries and The Moment It Clicks are probably already on your shelf (at least they should be). However, Neil’s Off-Camera flash book (a Canon shooter who switched to Nikon) is going to be a good resource for you to reinforce what Joe and David are teaching you on the tour.

If you are a Canon shooter (like me), then you’ve been frustrated by all of the great info from Joe and David that never seems to apply to our Canon flashes. Well our day has come as I am not aware of any Nikon flash book that is as comprehensive as the Speedliter’s Handbook. I’m a long way from finishing it, but so far I’m so jazzed that I feel like I just found a buried treasure!

No matter what camp you are in Joe & David’s tour is worth the price of admission, but this is good stuff for afterwards when you forgot everything they said (and sadly there’s no comprehensive handouts like a Kelby Training event).

Reviews Coming Later…

I will be reviewing both of these books (that I love) so stay tuned. In the meantime scroll down the right side of this blog and check out all of the other popular articles I’ve written. More good stuff is definitely on the way!

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REVIEW: Joe McNally & David Hobby’s Flash Bus Take Seattle By Storm

Joe McNally (left) & David Hobby (right) kick off their tour in Seattle
Copyright © Ron Martinsen – All Rights Reserved

I was a lucky enough today to attend Joe McNally & David Hobby (of Strobist.com fame)’s Flash Bus Tour that kicked off in Seattle, Washington. It was a packed house of photography geeks eager to learn from these two flash masters.

It was a full house (more than I expected actually)
Copyright © Ron Martinsen – All Rights Reserved

David Hobby’s Morning Presentation

The morning started off with David Hobby of Strobist.com showing some of his techniques in a visual presentation. During this discussion David shows how he starts off taking shots to get the ambient light where he wants it, and then how he builds up from there to do his fill light, accent light and then lastly his key light. It was very fun to have David walk through his thought process and light configurations to show how he goes about getting his results.

Shot of the projector of one of David Hobby’s Setups

I thought it was great that David not only went into detail about what went right, but also the trial and error he goes through about what goes wrong as he tries to build the ideal light setup. David’s explanations were very thorough and showed the lighting configurations very well so it was easy to learn how he does his magic.

The only gripe I had about this presentation was that it lacked any handout notes so you are left with the decision to scribble notes or pay attention. I elected to just pay attention and listen as well as doing a few photos of the projectors so I could have visual notes to refer to later.

Joe McNally’s Afternoon Presentation

Joe McNally rocked the house right away with his killer presentation
Copyright © Ron Martinsen – All Rights Reserved

Joe McNally started his afternoon presentation exactly as you would hope after reading his awesome books The Moment It Clicks and Hot Shoe Diaries – with a hole shitload of gelled SB-900 flashes. He had the room lit up in blue and even featured jumps with electric guitars for a shot that makes you bend down and realize you aren’t worthy. Of course Joe made it all look so easy and did a great job of explaining how to get the amazing shots he does day in and out.

Black Swan attendee gets are 15 minutes of fame
Copyright © Ron Martinsen – All Rights Reserved

Just as Joe promised on his blog, attendees with the best costumes were featured as models during his shoot. Unlike David who just talked about his shots and showed a presentation of his setups, Joe let it all hang out and just setup up the lights (with a team of assistants) and actually made the photos he would discuss.

Another local attendee gets the limelight in her “70’s” outfit
Copyright © Ron Martinsen – All Rights Reserved

It was awesome to see Joe in action and see how he pulls off his magic. It was also interesting to note that he was fairly open to questions while he worked so you were able to see and hear his thought process (and see his miscues) in what it takes to get the shots that he does.

Conclusion

Everybody respects these guys for their body of work and what they’ve given back to the photography community in their blogs. However, it was a real honor to see these masters of the speedlite show how they build up to get the great shots that they get.

I’m a Canon shooter so I was worried how much I’d really get out of this presentation, but it was done in a way that your flash system really doesn’t matter. It was disappointing that there were special offers for pocket wizards for Nikon only and not Canon as well, but beyond that there wasn’t much ill will towards Canon shooters.

It was fast paced and informative, and a no brainer for the price. I highly recommend this tour if you are lucky enough to get a ticket before they sell out in a city near you.

Visit the Flash Bus Tour web site for more information.

Disclosure

I attended at my own expense (full price) and receive no compensation for your participating in the Flash Bus Tour. I only submit this article to you as a public service and as a token of appreciation to Joe and David for their great show today.