The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes (Voices That Matter)

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 , and Sports 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. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 11 This Is Not the Manual......Page 14 PART I: Nuts ’n’ Bolts......Page 20 What I Use...and Why and When I Use It......Page 22 A Little Bit of Dis and a Little Bit of Dat......Page 49 Da Grip......Page 58 PART II: One Light!......Page 64 A Place to Put the Light......Page 65 Up to Your Ass in Alligators......Page 67 Good Bad Light......Page 70 A Light in the Doorway......Page 73 The Swamp, Revisited......Page 75 Tune in to Station “i-TTL”......Page 80 Up on the Roof......Page 86 How to Light a Fence......Page 89 Cheap Arena Lighting......Page 94 Make the Sunrise......Page 97 Light as a Feather......Page 99 Father Pre-Flash......Page 103 The “Killer Flick of Light”......Page 106 How to Light an Elf......Page 112 Make the Available Light Unavailable......Page 116 Put Stuff in Front of Your Lights......Page 119 Dad!......Page 122 80 Plus 20 Equals Good Light......Page 125 Lacey Light......Page 129 Strobe Strategy......Page 132 Smoke and Windows......Page 135 Hakeem the Dream......Page 138 FP Means Good DOF......Page 144 Flash in Real Life......Page 146 Light ‘Em Dano!......Page 154 It Don’t Gotta Be Human to Light It......Page 158 The Lady with the Light in the Lake......Page 163 One Light in the Parking Lot......Page 168 One Light in the Window......Page 172 One Light in the Garden......Page 175 PART III: Two or More......Page 178 Show the Tattoo! Or, The Remarkable Rehabilitation of the Notorious Bubbles......Page 179 Gellin’......Page 185 Quick Rigs for 30-Second Portraiture......Page 187 Do You Have a Bedsheet?......Page 191 Window Light Is a Beautiful Thing......Page 194 Smooth Light......Page 200 When in Venice......Page 204 Dancer in the Ruins......Page 207 It’s Right There on Paper......Page 212 Shadow Man......Page 217 Faces in the Forest......Page 221 Dynamic Dancing......Page 226 Gettin’ Fancy......Page 230 This One Goes to Eleven......Page 234 Some Light Conversation......Page 238 Groups!......Page 241 Lighting Kit for the Creepy-Guy-in-the-Alley Shot......Page 248 Let There Be Light!......Page 253 PART IV: Lotsa Lights......Page 258 How to Give Birth to a Speedlight......Page 259 A Great Wall of Light......Page 262 Northern Light......Page 265 The Tree of Woe......Page 272 How to Build a Backyard Studio......Page 278 Don’t Light It, Light Around It......Page 285 Goin’ Glam and Throwin’ Sparks......Page 288 And Now for Something Completely Different......Page 293 Beach Light......Page 295 Plane, But Not Simple......Page 300 Rollin’ with Pride of Midtown......Page 304 Appendix: What’s This Button Do?......Page 309 E......Page 317 L......Page 318 R......Page 319 Z......Page 320

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, and Sports 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.

This Is Not the Manual Nuts ’n’ Bolts What I Use...and Why and When I Use It A Little Bit of Dis and a Little Bit of Dat Da Grip One Light! A Place to Put the Light Up to Your Ass in Alligators Good Bad Light A Light in the Doorway The Swamp, Revisited Tune in to Station “i-TT L” Up on the Roof How to Light a Fence Cheap Arena Lighting Make the Sunrise Light as a Feather Father Pre-Flash The “Killer Flick of Light” How to Light an Elf Make the Available Light Unavailable Put Stuff in Front of Your Lights Dad! 80 Plus 20 Equals Good Light Lacey Light Strobe Strategy Smoke and Windows Hakeem the Dream FP Means Good DOF Flash in Real Life Light ‘Em Dano! It Don’t Gotta Be Human to Light It The Lady with the Light in the Lake One Light in the Parking Lot One Light in the Window One Light in the Garden Two or More Show the Tattoo! Or, The Remarkable Rehabilitation of the Notorious Bubbles Gellin’ SUPERANNO In The Hot Shoe Diaries, Joe McNally 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. Original. The author brings you behind the scenes to candidly share his lighting solutions for a ton of great images. Using Nikon Speedlights, Joe McNally 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. - Publisher "The book contains a discussion of what's in the camera bag lighting wise, gadgets, field survival, light shaping tools, approaches, and more"--Resource description page The author describes the techniques he uses with small flashes to achieve correct lighting for dynamic photographs.