If you’re working with Speedlight flashes, you’ve probably read Strobist religiously.  And you’ve probably sat there scratching your head a few times trying to wrap your head around what David Hobby so easily comprehends.  Which isn’t to trash-talk Hobby; the man is a small-flash expert, and 97% of the time does a great job getting the info across.  But the other 3% of the time, things get murky.

Enter Joe McNally and his “Hotshoe Diaries.”  McNally is a well known name in the photo circles – the man has done some really cool shots and is well known for his own obsession with Speedlights (at one point he used 47 of them on a single shoot).  If you want to work with Speedlights, if you want to kick your work to the next level, or if you just want to be wowed – buy the book, read it, then read it again with a notebook at hand.

McNally starts with the basics, and he’s not afraid to repeat himself as many times as he feels is necessary to really get the point across.  The format of the book is unique; he shows you a final shot, then spends anywhere from one to several pages talking about how he did it – the setting, the reason for the shot, the thought process, and the technicals.  It is never boring, and more often than not it leaves you thinking “geeze, would I have thought of that?”

Which isn’t as depressing as it sounds, since he shows you the tools you need.  Half the book is given to scenes lit by a single strobe!  The overall point is, we can do this – any of us (maybe not for big clients like McNally, but certainly for ourselves).

Even as a religious Strobist reader, I finished “The Hotshoe Diaries” with new understanding and new ideas.  Things that had been murky before – simple things – are clear in my mind now.  And techniques I hadn’t considered before I’m now itching to try.  But most importantly, at least to me, I never felt like I was about to step in over my head – there’s no complicated magic, just simple, straightforward techniques.

A final note – McNally makes use of the the Nikon CLS system (which makes sense, as he shoots Nikon).  There’s a lot of mention of this system, but it doesn’t detract from the overall content.  And it would be easy enough to convert the ideas to the Canon wireless flash system, or to the PocketWizard/Radio Popper systems.  Or even to manual flash settings (although if you’re a manual flash Strobist, you may start to think that having wireless communications between your flashes might be worth the investment!).

For even more cool stuff, including a complete and highly impressive gear list, check out McNally’s blog.