Surprising to me that a high end hot-shoe flash is around $500.00 while a low-end studio flash w/ modeling light is around the same price. That being said, portability comes into play. The Canon 580EX-II is much easier to travel with than a small studio-strobe.
I was a little shocked that the entire first 3 1/4's of the book focused on gear, and not so much technique. The author does have excellent knowledge of the history of lighting in photography, which he covers - but I was a little taken aback by the amount of time he dedicates to getting you up to speed versus teaching you actual lighting techniques.
Page 88 (out of 124 total) is where we begin the so-called "meat & potatoes" of the book. The case studies of previous shoots he's performed. What I enjoyed was the elaborate diagrams he provides detailing the individual setups he used to make each photo. You can really get an idea of what the light is doing in each shot thanks to these illustrations.
The descriptions of the unique problems he faced for the shoots was an eye opener - helping to keep the reader aware that unexpected things will come up. This is something I see talked about with photographers quite often - prepare for curve balls, and have enough gear to overcome the problems.
The case studies are diverse - from corporate portraiture, to food, indoor/outdoor, children & sports - the author covers a bit of ground.
A few things to note. Some of the case studies do involve a multitude of lights. While the equipment used is small-light units, the more available to you the more interesting you can make each shot. I'd assume most readers like myself are using 1 or 2 lights. In some instances the author talks of using 5 separate lights to create a portrait.
The authors work very professional. That is to say that he is a good photographer. However, as I continue my journey into to world of photography, I'm starting to find that I'm more interested in building dramatic lighting scenes rather than simple "well-lit". While this might not be appropriate for a common head-shot, it's a welcome discovery about myself.
Perhaps the books I should be focusing on should be less about lighting, and more about the fundamentals of photography. Even though I've "winged it" for the past 3 years - I don't feel that I know how to describe the types of photos I like, or why I like them.
The images I've made that appeal to me are few and far between. While I am still exceedingly green in this field, I feel like a good background in the basics might help me produce better work. Or at least, appreciate others' work more.
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