Reading The Nikon Creative Lighting System

Danie; Sydney, Australia; 2008 © Gabriel Ponzanelli

I've been reading a book titled "The Nikon Creative Lighting System" by Mike Hagen. I found it after searching for books that explained the use of Nikon's flashes in a better way than the original manuals. I own a SB-600 and a couple of SB-800's and have mostly learn how to use them by trial and error. The manuals are not very well written and, although they do have a lot of information (and I recommend you read them thoroughly), they are really confusing and seem to be a translation from a different language.

I'm glad I found this book. It's pretty straightforward and easy to read, although it does repeat itself quite a bit. For example, there's a complete chapter for each recent flash unit that Nikon produces and the explanations are thorough enough in each that there's a lot of duplication of content. I guess if you only own one model it won't matter and it actually makes sense. Anyway, I finally understood what all the beeping sounds my units make mean! The book fully explains the modes and operations of each speedlight, including the SB600, SB800, SB900, SU800, SB200, and even the R1C1. It goes into how these integrate with most of the Nikon cameras of the last few years and briefly touches on techniques of how to use the system.

My only complaints are that the example photographs are not really that interesting, and in some cases are just plain bad. I actually googled the author to see his photography and found his photo.net gallery. There are some pretty nice images in there, so I don't get why he didn't use better photos to illustrate the book. Also, the book focuses purely on equipment and technique, and only very briefly does it discuss the applications of multiple flashes. Still, if you own Nikon speedlights this book is definitely worth it.

The image above was shot last year using 2 speedlights. A SB-800 on camera for fill flash and a SB-600 through an umbrella on the right.