I expect what I am about to say about this book goes very much against the grain, given the adulation it has received from many of Joe’s other fans. I’ll tell you why I think it is (in a “num-nuts” shell) a bit of a let down for me:

The information contained in it has been really badly organised.

Sure, Joe makes the statement right in the beginning of the book that it is NOT the manual for small flashes and should be read like a diary. Fair enough, but if we’re going to read it like a diary then we should at least have some sense of structure to the entries. This book’s only structure is that it is split into four sections: nuts & bolts (what Joe uses and why he uses it), one light, two or more lights, lots of lights.

Within each section you’re going to find a smattering of chapters, each of which deals with a lighting situation Joe has faced in his recent career. The problem with each chapter is that it reads slow and painfully. There is none of the sharply succinct cut and thrust that we had with his previous book. Instead we have to slurp down anecdote after anecdote, almost like we’re sitting in the bottom of a bottle getting sloshed around from side to side with no clear direction of what exactly we’re supposed to be learning. Nearly all the chapters have this approach and all the important information is hidden from plain sight.

There are very few lighting diagrams (unless you are able to decipher some of Joe’s hand drawn sketches) or summarised settings or off-set photos of how a shot was created. You just get page after page of the slosh. It starts with an image and then dozens and dozens of random verses relating to the photograph and how he approached lighting it. No bold type. No methodology. Just lots of type.

It dawned on me shortly after trying to swim my way through the first few chapters that there is a very good reason why this book is not as good as the last one: the editor is not Scott Kelby this time around and it shows.

If it’s not for beginners… then who’s it for?

I am no beginner, yet whenever I pick up this book I get frustrated with it because reading it is a chore. In the previous book each chapter had the story-telling bits (which are great), but it also had a “How to get this kind of shot” entry for people who like to cut to the chase and just get the salient points - like photographers who are already well versed in how to operate their equipment and just want to get a clue on what was used and how it was used. Now the stories are interwoven with the “how-to” and it just doesn’t work. We don’t want to have to read War & Peace just to learn what can easily be described with a good diagram, some tech notes and a short anecdote (like the other book).

The only kind of person I  imagine would like this book are the advanced amateur photographers who don’t actually need to make photos for a living and who can spend a lot of time reading between the lines. It’s not a book for people who make their living taking pictures. We don’t have time to read all that stuff only to find out that the magic is in a stretched bed sheet across a doorway.

Recommendation

There is no doubting that Joe McNally has all the makings of a great teacher, but if you are looking for an easily understandable insight into the way he executes lighting a photo you’re not going to find it in this book unless you like things like Chinese water torture, double history lessons on a Friday afternoon, or… soap operas. The Kelby touch is sorely missing here.

If you’re curious you should borrow a copy. Don’t spend good money on it.

I like Joe McNally. I really do.

He has a “can-do” attitude towards photography that I find rousing. His pictures may not appeal to everyone, but the stuff I see on his blog and in this book truly float my boat. In particular there’s a shot he took of Tony Bennett in studio that I could look at all day long - and I don’t even like the old guy’s music! The simplistic lighting and resulting image are outstanding, but more importantly, it’s Joe’s approach to the job that will be of most interest to the avid photographer.

This book is not just about how to light subjects, or what lens/settings to use. It’s not like any other book on photography I have ever read (and I’ve read lots of them!). It’s world’s away from John Hedgecoe or Lee Frost in that it teaches you about stuff you can normally only get through first hand experience. Imagine the kind of experience a freelancer who has worked for The Daily News, Nat Geo, Life, Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated can bring to your own work? I kind of got the feeling that it’s almost like a freelancer’s companion, as well as an accumulation of ideas, stories and advice for anyone who ever wanted a career in editorial photography. Joe imparts his wisdom in a friendly, unassuming, unpretentious way that you just don’t find very often. It’s not hard to see why Scott Kelby so badly wanted to publish a book with all these gems contained inside.

What can you expect from this book? Well, it is split up into four main chapters, each of which presents the reader with dozens of stories behind the images Joe has taken over the years. You’ll be reading not only about the “hows & whys”, but also you’ll get to hear a bit of Joe’s photography philosophy on nearly every page. He writes with humour, wit and most of all honesty. For me the real gems in the book are at the end in a section called “The Bar Is Open” where the true raconteur in McNally comes out from behind the pictures and tells us a little about his life in pictures. I loved it and I’ve already ordered his second book “The Hot Shoe Diaries” (which will hopefully be here soon).

As the heading on the back cover says, this is “The first book with one foot on the coffee table and one foot in the classroom”.

Get it right now from Amazon.com