Product Description

THE FIRST BOOK WITH ONE FOOT ON THE COFFEE TABLE, AND ONE FOOT IN THE
CLASSROOM
Joe McNally, one of the world’s top pro digital photographers, whose celebrated work has graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, Time, and National Geographic (to name a few), breaks new ground by doing something no photography book has ever done—blending the rich, stunning images and elegant layout of a coffee-table book with the invaluable training, no-nonsense insights, and photography secrets usually found only in those rare, best-of-breed educational books.

When Joe’s not on assignment for the biggest-name magazines and Fortune 500 clients, he’s in the classroom teaching location lighting, environmental portraiture, and how to “get the shot” at workshops around the world. These on-location workshops are usually reserved for a handful of photographers each year, but now you can learn the same techniques that Joe shares in his seminars and lectures in a book that brings Joe’s sessions to life.

What makes the book so unique is the “triangle of learning” where (1) Joe distills the concept down to one brief sentence. It usually starts with something like, “An editor at National Geographic once told me…” and then he shares one of those hard-earned tricks of the trade that you only get from spending a lifetime behind the lens. Then, (2) on the facing page is one of Joe’s brilliant images that perfectly illustrates the technique (you’ll recognize many of his photos from magazine covers). And (3) you get the inside story of how that shot was taken, including which equipment he used (lens, f/stop, lighting, accessories, etc.), along with the challenges that type of project brings, and how to set up a shot like that of your own.

This book also gives you something more. It inspires. It challenges. It informs. But perhaps most importantly, it will help you understand photography and the art of making great photos at a level you never thought possible. This book is packed with those “Ah ha!” moments—those clever insights that make it all come together for you. It brings you that wonderful moment when it suddenly all makes sense—that “moment it clicks.”

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #738 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed photographer, whose career has spanned 30 years and included assignments in over 50 countries. Although the majority of his career has been spent shooting for magazines such as Time, Sports Illustrated, and National Geographic, in the mid-1990s Joe served as Life magazine’s staff photographer, the first one in 23 years. He also has shot commercial assignments for Target, Nikon, and Sony, to name a few. Joe is a recipient of the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award and has been honored by Pictures of the Year International, World Press Photo, The Art Directors Club, American Photo, Communication Arts, and Graphis. He conducts numerous workshops around the world as part of his teaching activities. One of Joe’s most notable projects, Faces of Ground Zero — Giant Polaroid Collection, has become known as one of the most significant artistic responses to the tragedy at the World Trade Center.

Customer Reviews

"If you want something to look interesting, don't light all of it."
The cover copy of The Moment It Clicks by Joe McNally says that the book has "one foot on the coffee table," and this is fair enough. Joe is a top shooter of the National Geographic, Life Magazine, and editorial assignment ilk. I throughly enjoyed looking through the photos in this book, and reading the stories behind them. I thought Joe's general advice was invariably accurate ("If you want something to look interesting, don't light all of it.").

Those are the pros (yes, pun intended). The con for this book is that unless you have mega access to celebrities, lavish budgets for sets, and assistants to schlepp all kinds of lighting accessories around with you, this book won't help you much with pragmatic issues.

I also wish Joe would swim a little more with digital. You know, the answer isn't to always do it in the camera, or to always do it in Photoshop. It's to figure out which is best and easiest in a specific situation. Joe could save himself some grief at the shooting end if he better appreciated what Photoshop can do.

This is a superb book, and I recommend it for every photographer's shelf, despite the quibbles found in my review.

Really different!!! A+
This lovely book floods you with the culture of photography. You feel the passion and learn the technique without realizing you are being taught. A great inspiration and a favorite in my library. Thanks Mr. McNally.

Conversational book about photography
Short review here,since the others have given it a good summary. This is half 'how I did it' photography book, and half 'conversation with a great photographer with some hidden nuggets'. Great for photographers and those who are just interested in seeing some really excellent photos.