Tangents

photography tutorials, reviews & workshops

tangents photography blog
learn : discuss : share
  • Tangents
  • Tutorials
    • Flash Photography
    • Wedding Photography
    • Studio Photography
    • Posing People
    • Understanding Your Camera
    • Exposure metering
    • BFT
    • Best Photo Books
  • Reviews
    • Sony
    • Nikon
    • Canon
    • Fuji
    • Profoto
    • lighting gear
  • Workshops
    • Info: Workshops
    • In-person
      tutoring sessions
    • Online
      tutoring sessions
    • Workshops in
      New Jersey (NJ)
    • Workshops in
      New York (NYC)
    • Photo walks in NYC
    • Studio Workshop
    • Video tutorials
    • Workshop results
  • Books
    • On-Camera Flash (revised ed.)
    • Direction & Quality of Light
    • Off-Camera Flash Photography
    • Lighting & Design
    • On-Camera Flash (1st ed.)
  • Projects
    • Two Perspectives
    • B&W Infrared
    • Vintage lenses
    • Time-lapse photography
  • Info
    • About
    • Contact
    • My Photo Gear
    • Books by NvN
    • Join us on Facebook
    • Acclaim
    • Success Stories

book: On-Camera Flash Photography (2nd ed)

October 5, 2015 Neil vN 21 Comments

book: On-Camera Flash Photography (2nd ed)

The extensively revised and updated book, On-Camera Flash (Amazon), is now available on Amazon. Based on the best-selling 1st edition, this is more than just a cosmetic overhaul. Combining older material which have been polished and streamlined, with lots of new material and trawling the Tangents blog for the best material on how to use your on-camera flash to best advantage.

  • Details about the book:  On-Camera Flash (2nd edition)

You can either purchase a copy via Amazon USA or Amazon UK.
The book will also available as an Amazon Kindle version.


 

More info about the book

At 35,000 words (the maximum the publisher would allow me), this is a concise introduction to on-camera flash photography, with the accent on demystifying flash. I concentrated on bounce flash photography for the latter half of the book, since I strongly believe that is where the magic lies with using on-camera flash.

One way in which this book has been radically changed from the first edition, is that it is now more of a work-book. There are several examples where you have to have your camera (and flash) in your hands, to step through the instruction. All the better to make sense of flash photography, and become confident in the use of flash photography.

For those of you who had asked for the images in the video of the review: comparing on-camera flash light modifiers – they are in the book!

The cover image was specifically decided on, and shot for this cover. I wanted an image that is striking. It really had to stand out. And it had to be truly illustrative of the beautiful light you can easily create with just your on-camera flash.

 

About the cover image with Anelisa

You may remember this photograph above of Anelisa, from a studio photo session to create an initial portfolio of photos shot in my then-new studio. I had used the  Westcott Spiderlite TD6 (affiliate) with the large 3’x4’ softbox, for that striking portrait of my favorite model, Anelisa.

I loved that image so much, that I wanted to recreate it for the cover of this book – On-Camera Flash (2nd edition) (Amazon) – with just bounce flash. Of course it had to be just on-camera bounce flash (with the BFT), to count for the cover of a book about On-Camera Flash.

Here is the comparison photo with no flash, so you can see that the light on Anelisa is 100% just on-camera bounce flash. And a kind-of pull-back shot to show how we got that elevation to frame her exactly against the window frame in my studio.

And here it is again, the image chosen to be the cover of this revised edition of On-Camera Flash (Amazon).

 

Camera settings and photo gear used (or equivalents)

  • 1/160  @  f/3.5  @  640 ISO
  • on-camera bounce flash, 1/2 power in manual mode.
  • Nikon D4
  • Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II  /equivalent:  Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II
  • Nikon SB-910 Speedlight  /equivalent:  Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite
  • a BFT (black foamie thing)

I purposely used camera settings that are within the range of most photographers. No crazy-high ISO, and the aperture is reasonable too.

 

Related links

  • Bounce flash tutorial
  • How to bounce flash
  • Flash photography tutorial – balancing flash and ambient
  • On-Camera Flash Photography (2nd edition)  – Amazon USA
  • On-Camera Flash Photography (2nd edition)  – Amazon UK

 

Filed Under: Anelisa Durham, bounce flash photography, news Tagged With: best photography books, bounce flash photography, on-camera flash photography, using on-camera flash


 

Help support this website

If you find these articles of value, please help support this website by using these B&H and Amazon affiliate links to order your photo gear.

I also offer photography workshops and tutoring sessions, whether in person, or via online video tutoring sessions.

Please follow me on Instagram for more.

You can also join our thriving photo community in the Tangents group on Facebook, where we show our photos and discuss all things photography.

Thank you,

Neil vN

Books by Neil van Niekerk


 




21 Comments, Add Your Own

  1. 1Alfredo Medina says

    May 6, 2015 at 10:49 pm

    Neil congratulations for this new book. I’m sure this will exceed the previous edition, which I enjoyed from the first to the last page.
    Ah… and as I did with the previous four books, I already placed my order on Amazon, to be the first to enjoy this gem.

    Reply
  2. 2kristian says

    May 6, 2015 at 11:38 pm

    Nice, I preordered in amazon.fr On-camera Flash: Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography (Anglais) Broché – 10 novembre 2015
    EUR 33,08

    Reply
  3. 3Bernardo Bennett says

    May 7, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    No UK release date? :-)

    Reply
  4. 4Neil vN says

    May 7, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    Here is the Amazon UK link: On-Camera Flash (2nd edition)

    Same date – Nov 10, 2015

    Reply
  5. 5Neil vN says

    May 8, 2015 at 2:37 am

    This is amazing news. Just three days after being announced, the revised edition of On-Camera Flash Photography, is:

    a.) the #1 best selling book on Amazon in the Flash Photography category, and
    b.) the #2 best selling book on Amazon in the Wedding Photography category.

    Even more amazing is that this book is available as a pre-order only right now, with a scheduled Nov 2015 release.

    (Of course the Amazon rankings are adjusted hourly, and will vary over time.)

    Thank you everyone! I am convinced you’re going to love this completely updated version of the book as much as the original.

    Reply
  6. 6daniel says

    May 8, 2015 at 9:50 am

    I pre-ordered the minute I saw your Facebook post! Can’t wait to get this. The cover shot is just lovely, Neil.

    Reply
  7. 7Bernardo Bennett says

    May 8, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    Ever considered publishing thru Safari Books?

    Reply
    • 7.1Neil vN says

      September 30, 2015 at 10:45 am

      The distribution is entirely up to my publisher.

      Reply
  8. 8Tony says

    May 8, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    Nice one Neil, look forward to this release, yes thought you’d been a little quiet on tangents.
    Will pre order when the price comes down from £999

    Reply
  9. 9John Boyd says

    May 21, 2015 at 9:39 am

    Neil–I’ve just bought a Yongnuo YN560 III flash for my Panasonic GH3. It is manual only. Which of your books would you recommend for a newbie to flash who is interested in general photography?

    Reply
  10. 10Neil vN says

    May 23, 2015 at 3:00 am

    John .. that depends on whether you’re considering off-camera flash as a specific topic, or on-camera bounce flash.

    Reply
    • 10.1John Boyd says

      May 24, 2015 at 10:13 am

      Well, it would seem best/easiest to start with on-camera flash, but then I’d hope to extend this to off-camera flash. In both cases though, I’d be limited to my new manual flash gun.

      Reply
      • 10.1.1Stephen S says

        October 5, 2015 at 6:01 am

        @John Boyd – If you are using a MANUAL flash might as well use it OFF camera as most pros/advanced strobists do. Those who use an ON camera flash mainly use it for TTL mode (wedding photogs) when they use it on camera for run and gun shots.
        Yes you can use an ON camera flash in manual mode as well. Just get BOTH books and you will learn the best of both worlds since OFF camera flash is where the power is anyways. You are very limited in what you can do with on-camera flash as far as the look since you are limited to what surfaces you can bounce it off of and many times you cant bounce it off of anything especially outside, unless you bounce it INTO a reflector and which then bounes into your subject

        Reply
  11. 11Alesa Dam says

    June 1, 2015 at 4:11 am

    Ordered it on amazon.de for only €24.72
    Cheaper than any of the other European Amazon sites (not a German citizen).

    Reply
  12. 12Wally Kilburg says

    September 30, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    Good stuff. Placed an order. I tried for an autographed version to add to my collection. I have books signed by Greg Heisler, Joe McNally, and hopefully you.

    Reply
  13. 13Alfredo Medina says

    October 1, 2015 at 11:27 am

    Amazon sent me an email today saying that the date of delivery of my copy of the book will be on October 7.

    Reply
  14. 14Gordon Terry says

    October 2, 2015 at 3:38 pm

    Congratulations on the book release Neil. I live in England but I’ve ordered my copy from America as I just can’t wait to read it and surprisingly it worked out cheaper anyway even with the shipping cost. I’ve been a big fan since watching the youtube video of your ‘Direction of Light’ presentation at B&H Photo and I actually believe that was the moment when all my knowledge and experience suddenly clicked in to place and everything became so much easier.
    So a big thank you from England and keep up the good work.
    Regards,
    Gordon Terry

    Reply
  15. 15Phil says

    October 12, 2015 at 6:51 am

    Neil

    Will you be releasing a Kindle version, I have your other books in paperback but kindle options would be nice

    Phil

    Reply
    • 15.1Neil vN says

      October 12, 2015 at 8:46 am

      The Kindle version is available in the USA, so I assume the UK will have it available soon as well.

      Reply
  16. 16Jack F says

    October 17, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    I’ve had my copy since Oct 6th 2015 but then I preordered it back in May. Not having read the 1st edition I can only say there are many fantastic diagrams and pointers. I’m sure it going to be very helpful to a lot of people.

    Neil, great book and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

    Reply
  17. 17Paul C Wynn says

    November 9, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    My copy of the updated On-Camera Flash, arrived today from Amazon UK. Thanks Neil, loving the updated content…more ideas to inspire. Will look out for a Kindle version, but nothing beats having the print in your hands. Cheers

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Stephen S Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

categories

Articles & Tutorials

  • • About myself & this site
    • Books by Neil vN
    • Best photography books
    • Black foamie thing
    • Photographers’ success stories
  • • Flash Photography Techniques
    • Natural looking flash
    • Flash + Ambient light
    • Dragging the shutter
    • Bouncing your flash
    • On-camera flash outdoors
    • Exposure metering
    • Flash exposure compensation
    • Bounce flash examples
    • Which is the best flashgun?
    • Flash brackets
    • Off-camera flash photography
    • Flash photography basics
    • Using video lights
    • Flash photography tips
  • • Photography workshops NJ / NYC
    • Models @ photography workshops
tutorials:
flash photography
Photography
Workshops

All rights reserved. Copyright © Neil van Niekerk 2025 · Customization by The Traveling Designer

Copyright © 2025 · NvN on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in