Product Description

When it comes to photography, it’s all about the light.

After spending more than thirty years behind the lens—working for National Geographic, Time, Life, andSports Illustrated—Joe McNally knows about light. He knows how to talk about it, shape it, color it, control it, and direct it. Most importantly, he knows how to create it...using small hot shoe flashes.

In The Hot Shoe Diaries, Joe brings you behind the scenes to candidly share his lighting solutions for a ton of great images. Using Nikon Speedlights, Joe lets you in on his uncensored thought process—often funny, sometimes serious, always fascinating—to demonstrate how he makes his pictures with these small flashes. Whether he’s photographing a gymnast on the Great Wall, an alligator in a swamp, or a fire truck careening through Times Square, Joe uses these flashes to create great light that makes his pictures sing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2584 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From the Back Cover
When Joe's not on assignment for the biggest-name magazines and Fortune 500 clients, he's in the classroom teaching location lighting, environmental portraiture, and how to get the shot at workshops around the world. These on-location workshops are usually reserved for a handful of photographers each year, but now you can learn the same techniques that Joe shares in his seminars and lectures in a book that brings Joe's sessions to life. In this book, Joe delivers the definitive guide to flash. He starts with the basics and how to get started and then moves on to techniques for using really simple approaches (one light, two light). The book contains a discussion of what's in the camera bag lighting wise, gadgets, field survival, light shaping tools, approaches, and more. All along the way he imparts his photography wisdom and gets the reader to move on past their fears, showing them examples of disasters and how to recover. Each section contains straight talk and a run-down of what can happen on location.

About the Author
JOE McNALLY is an internationally acclaimed American photographer and longtime photojournalist. His most notable series is “Faces of Ground Zero—Portraits of the Heroes of September 11th,” a collection of giant Polaroid portraits. He also photographed “The Future of Flying,” the first all-digital story for National Geographic. His award-winning work has appeared in numerous magazines and, in 2008, Joe wrote the critically acclaimed and bestselling book The Moment It Clicks.

Customer Reviews

Awesome book from the master of light
I received this book this morning and am devouring the pages. At last there is a well-written book to explain the importance and complexities of light, as well as how to control it without having your own studio.

Joe's informal writing style is refreshing and I bow to his decades of experience written on these pages. He is a Nikon shooter, so don't expect to see detailed information on how to use other manufacturer's products, but I should imagine that all his technical tips should translate pretty easily to non-Nikonians. Having said that, he does stress that this isn't a replacement for your manuals; it's more of a guide on how to use any flash, he just uses Nikon as an example. This surprisingly long book (300 pages approx.) is also filled with some breathtaking photographs that are within everyone's reach.

For those of you wanting to be a people/portrait photographer and simply can't afford to shell out for studio gear (or even if you can, for that matter!), buy this book, especially at this incredible price. You honestly will not be disappointed. I, for one, would gladly have paid full price for it and still been extremely pleased.

A 'Must Have' Photography 'Bible'
With so many books on photography out there that by their summary promise 'the earth' it can be difficult to know what to buy. Not so when it comes to this new book by Joe McNally. It is quite simply an incredible book on photography - focusing on the use of flash photography (speedlights). In the first chapters Joe takes you through the kit he uses and why and then page after page shows some incredible photographs and exactly how he created them using; every thought, every mistake, settings ... the lot!!!! it's all covered making this THE book to own.

Honestly, if you only had one book on flash photography, in fact photography in general, then this is the one to own; it really is that good. As a professional photographer, this book has taught me so much and given me so many ideas for shoots ... my only wish now is that there were more hours in the day :o)

Great for Nikon users... as a Canon user... not much use.
I can't deny the guy is talented and knows his stuff.

However the book is really specific and narrow in its scope, and reads almost like a Nikon advertisement. It covers Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) flash photography. As a strobist enthusiast, I was hoping for a better insight than this book gave me.

There are a few gems in the text, but as a Canon user who uses manual flash, there is not enough to warrant me buying it really, and the stuff that was useful was hidden away in Nikon talk. Boy does he talk, lots and lots of waffle. It's does read like someone talking to their mate in the pub in places. ;)

If I am honest I tried to re-sell it within a week of purchase, but oddly all my friends were trying to sell their copies too.

If you arent a Nikon user, don't buy this, if you are, you will probably find it a superb reference.