The Moment It Clicks

Joe McNally is variously described as “an internationally acclaimed commercial photographer and long-time photojournalist” and a “legendary magazine photographer.” He describes himself as “LIFE magazine's last staff photographer” (he held that position from 1994 until 1998 when the magazine ceased publication). Joe is among a select group of 10 photographers worldwide to work on the promotion of the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. You may know him from one of his exhibits; a collection of 246 giant Polaroid portraits taken in a three-week period immediately after September 11, 2001 (known as the "Faces of Ground Zero - Giant Polaroid Collection").

Joe was also one of two instructors/guides for the Nikon Photo Safari (pre-conference workshop) that I attended at Photoshop World 2008. He’s a wonderful, energetic instructor. Luckily, he’s also the author of a new book called The Moment It Clicks published by New Riders.

If you’ve ever looked at a photo and had a response somewhere between “what were they thinking?” to “How did they do that?, you’ll find this book fascinating. Often creative artists (photographers included) neither want to give away their techniques nor explain their work. In both respects McNally breaks the mold. Throughout The Moment It Clicks, McNally describes how he shot each image (with lighting, set-up, and equipment tips) and tells the story behind each photo. Among my favorites are changing a light bulb on the top of the Empire State Building (page 3), Joe’s first LIFE magazine cover (something about a green frog, page 19), Tony Bennetts (page 85), Munchkins (page 151), Nanny & Baby (page 199), Napalm Girl (Kim Phuc, page 213) and Her Pope (page 221).

Maybe your library has a copy you can check out?

Digital Photography--Light & Focus

Some of the often repeated axioms from Photoshop World were “If you want to improve your pictures, then take a step closer” and “shadows are a good thing.” The former may have originated with Robert Capa (“If your pictures aren’t good enough, then you aren’t close enough”) or may just be a common refrain from professional photographers. Time and time again, we heard “provide focus for your images” and the best way to do so is to “simplify, simplify, simplify.” In other words, ask yourself what or who is the “subject of this photograph?” Then ask, “What can I do to focus on the subject and simplify distractions?”

Light can help focus or can be the distraction. The eye naturally jumps to the lightest portion of an image. If that “high light” is the subject, you’ve won half the battle. If not, you have work to do.

One web site that received a lot of “press” during the conference was http://strobist.com/ (“strobe” in this context refers to an electronic flash used by photographers to light a scene). The Strobist site focuses on lighting techniques, many of which are aimed at Nikon and Canon users, but if you’re willing to wade through product specific information, you’ll find the site helpful even if you just point and click. Take a look at the drop down lists on the right side of the blog (yes, it’s a blogspot site). Start by clicking the Complete Lighting 101 Archive and select a topic. To give you an example of the non-technical posts that can help an amateur, read http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/04/on-assignment-thinking-outside-box.html (the “Thinking Outside the Box” post).