EOS Flashes: Speedliter's Handbook

I buy many photography related books, usually 20+ per year. I rarely do book reviews. Why? Because I only review books, that out of 5 stars, I would rate more than 5 stars. I don't review and pan items, unless I'm really “pissed off” because I've been deceived.

The last book I reviewed, and strongly recommend, was: “Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers” from Elyse Weissberg in How Often Should You Promote? and in Getting The Appointment.

So back to the “Speedliter's Handbook” from Syl Arena. The title should be “Speedliter's Handbook for Canon Users” This book is for the Canon people. This doesn't mean that the users of Nikon, Pentax, or Olympus won't learn anything. They will. But every example, the settings, the screens, and the layouts are Canon's. Nikon people will get frustrated. There are already a few books for the Nikon crowd like The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes

Last time I checked on Amazon: Speedliter's Handbook there were 94 reviews:

• 93 reviews: 5 stars
• 1 review: 4 stars

The book starts with a Chapter 0, and I'd like to quote from the Chapter 0

To create interesting light, you also need to create interesting shadows.

If everything in your photo is lit evenly, then nothing will stand out. That's what happens with on-camera flash — light is thrown at everything, so nothing stands out. Moving the Speedlite off-camera means that you can angle it so that it hits the subject and not the background.

1. This is not a book that you should read at once. You read, then you try…
2. What sets this book apart from all the others: The photos! The photos show the before, the after, the variations… the diagrams, the finished photos, how the photos look like without the effect, photos of how the photo was done, the steps in making the photos… This is what makes this book so good. Almost all the other books on light and/or flash, only show you the finished photo and the lighting diagram of the setup.
3. The “Speedliter's Handbook” is a thousand times better than the manuals from Canon. It's detailed. Syl Arena explains the what, the why and goes step by step, without missing any (as far I've read.)
4. The index is extremely detailed: 12 pages of just index.
5. I've learned so much from the book. I'm still in the experiment stage. It will take me a year to finish the book.

There are three downsides to this book:

1. It's for the Canon flashes up to the fall of 2009. It doesn't include the new Canon T3i and the Speedlite 270EX2 or the Speedlite 320EX. They were introduced after the book was done. We already need an update!
2. The writing style. Look who's talking! I'm no master, my writing is not that great! (But it's improving!) Scott Kelby is such a better writer, and I'm not talking about his attempt at humor. Hey, I have to pick on something.
3. Expensive book! Especially in Canada! The Canadian dollar is worth more than the US dollar. The US price is: $49.99, the Canadian price is: $59.99. The price should be cheaper in Canada than in the US.