If you have no interest in flash photography then this isn’t the journal for you; so go ahead and scroll down to the features.

OK, so if you’re still reading this then you might be interested in Joe McNally’s new book The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes [link]

What’s it about?
It’s a brain-dump of how Joe McNally does small-flash photography. It is heavily biased toward the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) so if you don’t shoot Nikon, you’ll have some translating to do to get this stuff to work with your kit. That said, this isn’t a “How To” manual, it’s more about showing you what is possible with small flash and inspiring you to go out and try it.
The book starts with a look at the various pieces of lighting kit – umbrellas, softboxes, snoots, grids, panels, gobos, reflectors, clamps and stands and explains what these do and why you should care. The rest of the book is divided into sections covering working with one flash, two flashes and a whole bunch of flashes. Each section contains multiple “shots” and each of these is presented as a full-page photo followed by text describing how the shot was produced.

How does it compare to The Moment It Clicks? [link]
If you enjoyed ‘clicks, you’ll like this one – it has the same anecdotal style. But this time, it’s all about flash.

How does it compare to David Hobby’s Strobist.com? [link]
There is obviously a great deal of overlap between the two. If you’ve read the Strobist Lighting 101 and 102 archives then there’s isn’t much in this book that will come as a surprise. The two main differences are: McNally is Nikon-centric, Strobist is neutral; and McNally is about the crazy, high-profile, money-no-object shoots and Strobist is about getting stuff done on a budget.

Should I buy it?
That depends ... if money is tight and/or you don’t shoot Nikon, no – stick with Strobist and maybe check out McNally’s blog [link] On the other hand, if you enjoyed ‘Clicks then go for it – if you haven’t already.