A folding chair, a campfire and a book… really not a bad combination. Camping this past weekend in Maryland, I discovered a quiet morning in the woods. With my feet propped up, I pulled out a new book from my bag.

Rich Underwood, a photographer and director in San Diego, recently sent me a copy of his latest book, Roll! Shooting TV News.

Having read a lot of textbooks in college about our industry, none of them ever seemed up-to-date. The equipment they described wasn’t state of the art, and the techniques always seemed theoretical and somewhat boring.

Roll! is far from being a textbook. Roll! describes the stories behind the stories.

In having conversations with some of the world’s best TV photographers, Underwood gives us an insight into what it takes to be great. Intermixed with captivating stories from the field, these top professionals give valuable tips on lighting, composition, storytelling, editing, freelancing and ethics.

In one book, Underwood tells the remarkable stories of professionals you know, like John DeTarsio, Ray Farkas, Lisa Berglund and Mike Elwell, along with Kevin Sites of Yahoo! News and David Hands of TVcameramen.com. He covers all aspects of the industry–from network shooters to one-man-bands in local stations and from NPPA purists to new media pioneers.

I created b-roll.net as a resource for shooters around the world to share their experiences. With Roll! Underwood has translated that feeling of exchange into a book. He sneaks smart tips, tricks and theories in with fun stories from the road. It’s a b-roll NIGHT on steroids.

Lenslinger has sung the praises of Roll!.

Read an excerpt of the book on Rich Underwood’s website.

Purchase this book from Amazon.com.