When Joe McNally moved to New York City in 1976, his first job was at the Daily News as a copyboy, the wretched dog of the newsroom. He was earning the lowest pay grade possible and living in a cheap hotel in Manhattan. Life was not glamorous. But with a fierce drive, an eye for a picture, and a willingness to take (almost) any assignment that came his way, Joe stepped out onto the always precarious tightrope of the freelance photographer and never looked back. Fast forward 40 years, and his work has included assignments and stories for National Geographic, Time, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, and more. He has travelled for assignments to nearly 70 countries and received dozens of awards for his photography. In The Real Deal, Joe tells us how it all started, and candidly shares stories, lessons, and insights he has collected along the way. This is not a dedicated how-to book about where to put the light, though there is certainly instructional information to be gleaned here. This is also not a navel-gazing look back at the good old days, because those never really existed anyway. Instead, The Real Deal is simply a collection of candid field notes some short, some quite long gathered over time that, together, become an intimate look behind the scenes at a photographer who has pretty much seen and done it all. Though the photography industry bears little resemblance to the industry just 10 years ago (much less 40 years ago), what it really takes to become a successful photographer the character traits, the fundamental lessons, the ability to adapt, and then adapt again remains the same. Joe writes about everything from the crucial ability to know how to use (and make!) window light to the importance of creating long-term relationships built on trust; from lessons learned after a day in the field to the need to follow your imagination wherever it takes you; from the random and lucky moments that propel one s career to the wonders and pitfalls of today s camera technology. For every mention of f-stops and shutter speeds, there is equal discussion about the importance of access, the occasional moment of hubris, and the idea of becoming iconic. Before Joe was a celebrated and award-winning photographer, before he was a well-respected educator and author of multiple bestselling books, he was just Joe, hustling every day, from one assignment to the next, piecing together a portfolio, a skill set, a reputation, a career. He imagined a life and then took pictures of it. Here are a few frames.

Ex-jockey Eddie Malloy has been out of racing for a few years, but his hunger for risk and adventure has cost him dearly. His heroics in the teeth of a savage storm on Everest win him the chance to gatecrash the world of British racing and settle some old, long-festering sores. Eddie's billionaire boss Vaughn Keelor has big plans, and Eddie is under pressure to deliver them. He can't face failure in racing yet again. But somebody is determined to force him out for good, somebody who is ready to kill him. Eddie's boss wants the racing authorities to protect Malloy, and ex-priest Frankie Houlihan is appointed to shadow him. The two men have much in common, and become great friends. But Frankie doubts his ability to protect Eddie, and when a mystery attacker stalks them both, Frankie faces life or death decisions. He has the support of a new woman, a powerful force in her own right, but can they save Eddie Malloy, his sanity and his life?

A crazy technology genius from Boston is hammering the English bookies by manipulating race results. This American Robin Hood secretly pays the innocent people who lose out through his scheme. His big mistake is to scam Eddie Malloy. Eddie's already in trouble. Trainer Matt Nash and racehorse owner, the beautiful young heiress, Rebecca Bow, have got involved with the Triads and need Eddie's help and protection. While Eddie is trying to track down the American, and keep his friends safe from the violent Chinese gangsters, a 12 year-old boy on a pony is searching the snowbound English Lake District for his father. The result of that search is to have a devastating effect on Eddie's life. From smoky London Casinos, and the country racetracks of England, to a New York's Wall Street, Eddie works to unravel multiple mysteries and to finally find love.

From Champion Jockey at 22 to down-and-out at 27, Eddie Malloy is bitter and desolate, reduced to living in an ancient caravan working for a tyrannical horse dealer. Estranged from his family and the sport he loves, Eddie cannot forget or forgive the racing authorities for believing false allegations of horse doping against him which robbed him of his riding licence. With another miserable Christmas looming, Eddie's discovery of murder victim Danny Gordon in the racing capital of Newmarket offers him a perilous path to the resurrection of his career. He must balance that ultimate reward against the risk of becoming a victim of Gordon's ruthless killers. Racing's own police are too afraid to take on these killers; for them Eddie Malloy is dispensable. They also know he can be tough and ruthless when fighting for what he believes in. Eddie's alone in the world now, if he dies trying to get his life back, who will care? Written by ex-top jockey and BBC commentator Richard Pitman and racing journalist Joe McNally, Warned Off is the first in the series of 6 mystery crime thrillers by the duo. Warned Off sees the debut of Eddie Malloy, who features in most of Richard and Joe's novels. The book has been rewritten for digital publication and moves along at an even faster pace now.

A trio of apparent suicides of racing people in the beautiful Lambourn valley in south west England baffles Eddie Malloy. Eddie refuses to accept the police assumption that each death, accompanied by a suicide note, suggests no crime has been committed. One of the dead saved Eddie's life when Eddie was just 19. Fourteen years' later, Eddie knows he cannot rest until he discovers the truth behind the death of his friend. Eddie enlists the help of a woman "with a brain the size of the moon," Maven Judge, a solitary maverick living on a remote Welsh clifftop above Hell's Mouth bay. Eddie believes he is up against a criminal genius. But he is betting that his determination, and the intellect of Maven Judge, can unravel the strangest mystery he has faced.

The third book in the Eddie Malloy series, following Warned Off and Hunted, Blood Ties is another fast-moving mystery set in the world of UK horse racing. The plot is fresh and intriguing and will challenge mystery fans who enjoy piecing together the clues. Troubled jockey Eddie Malloy invests everything he has to become a partner in a small thoroughbred stud. One morning a blackmailer calls threatening to make public that Malloy's stud has an infertile stallion and is cheating breeders. Malloy discovers that his partner in the stud, Martin Corish, has disappeared, leaving behind a pregnant young groom and a vengeful wife. Corish was Eddie's childhood hero, but Eddie only really gets to know Martin Corish when the chips are down and he faces threats and violence. Eddie's search for the blackmailer leads him through an ever-widening web of deceit, envy, murder and the discovery that his parents, long estranged from him, might be involved. Does he let the criminals go, or must he surrender a family secret that will kill his father?

Eddie Malloy has beaten the odds by winning back his riding licence, and is trying to get his career on track once more. Just when things look like they are turning around for him, he finds himself in the gunsights of a cunning killer who is maiming and murdering racing personalities with a zeal and purpose which terrifies the racing world and mystifies the police. Eddie is convinced the killer has a pre-planned hit list for these ritual slayings, and when he discovers he is high on that list, Eddie realizes that nobody can figure out the murderer's motive. Unless Eddie himself can unravel the deadly clues in time, he knows he will die. It's time for Eddie Malloy to become the hunter not the hunted. If you enjoy trying to solve mysteries, you will find this a very cleverly plotted book which will challenge your logic as it spurs you along at a fast pace. Written by ex-top jockey and BBC commentator Richard Pitman and racing journalist Joe McNally, Hunted is the second of the Eddie Malloy series. Eddie features in five of Richard and Joe's novels. First published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1994, this 2012 edition has been rewritten and moves along at an even faster clip.

Eddie Malloy has beaten the odds by winning back his riding licence, and is trying to get his career on track once more. Just when things look like they are turning around for him, he finds himself in the gunsights of a cunning killer who is maiming and murdering racing personalities with a zeal and purpose which terrifies the racing world and mystifies the police. Eddie is convinced the killer has a pre-planned hit list for these ritual slayings, and when he discovers he is high on that list, Eddie realizes that nobody can figure out the murderer's motive. Unless Eddie himself can unravel the deadly clues in time, he knows he will die. It's time for Eddie Malloy to become the hunter not the hunted. If you enjoy trying to solve mysteries, you will find this a very cleverly plotted book which will challenge your logic as it spurs you along at a fast pace. Written by ex-top jockey and BBC commentator Richard Pitman and racing journalist Joe McNally, Hunted is the second of the Eddie Malloy series. Eddie features in five of Richard and Joe's novels. First published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1994, this 2012 edition has been rewritten and moves along at an even faster clip.