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Moment It Clicks, The: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters
- By Joe McNally
- Published Jan 23, 2008 by Peachpit Press. Part of the Voices That Matter series.
- Copyright 2008
- Dimensions: 9 X 9
- Pages: 272
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-321-54408-0
- ISBN-13: 978-0-321-54408-7
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Product Author Bios
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.
Awards
The Moment It Clicks was named to Amazon's Best of 2008 Arts & Photography Books.
Audio
Interview with Joe McNally
Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel, publisher of Peachpit, speaks with National Geographic photographer Joe McNally about his new best-selling book, The Moment It Clicks--the first book with one foot on the coffee table, and one foot in the classroom. Joe describes his book as a compilation of years of storytelling, and shares his stories, as well as advice.
Some portions of this audio recording do include static. Please excuse the technical difficulties!
Video
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.”
Related Article
To Get the Shot, Ya Gotta Break the Rules
Web Resources
Share photos on our Moment it Clicks flickr group.
Blogs
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230 of 247 people found the following review helpful
It About the Light., By
This review is from: The Moment It Clicks: Photography Secrets from One of the World's Top Shooters (Paperback)
Picture this. You meet one of the world's great photographers in a bar. He has a stack of pictures with him from his portfolio. As you go through the pictures, he talks about them, about the people in the photographs, and how he made each of them. About a third of the way through you realize that when he talks about the technical details he talks mostly about the lighting, and you are sorry you didn't pick up on that right from the beginning, but now you listen avidly to try to learn his lighting techniques.Then, about two-thirds of the way through, he stops talking about the lighting, and starts meandering about the photo editors he knew, and how he may have sacrificed some of his family life to be a photographer, and how he came up through the ranks, and that's interesting too. When Joe McNally talks about lighting a picture of James Brown, or Sophia Loren, or Larry Tisch, the techniques he uses seem to be ones you could use. But when he talks about... Read more
430 of 501 people found the following review helpful
Beware - and have realistic goals for buying this book, By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Moment It Clicks: Photography Secrets from One of the World's Top Shooters (Paperback)
I am writing this review from the perspective of someone who is known as the "Eternal Optimist". I got the book for the purpose of gaining a serious insight into "how he did it" - kind of like Scott Kelby's How-to books - which by the way, are all very good.When Joe McNally's photos are seen, one can only wonder, "how did he do that?", so naturally, we are all inclined to want to get our hands on his book, so we can reproduce his shots, and ultimately learn by doing. Sadly, this book just doesn't come close to providing that end! Half the entire book is simply a full page of his glorious shots. The other half of the book is "supposed to be showing you how he did it". Each photo is supposed to represent a single element that he wants to stress as the critical component necessary for that particular shot. But seriously, those glorious shots consist of a constellation of critical factors that can NOT be explained on the basis of one "hint" only... Read more
104 of 118 people found the following review helpful
If you love photography, this book is a must have, By Cruising "Cruising" (Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Moment It Clicks: Photography Secrets from One of the World's Top Shooters (Paperback)
This book is written in such a way that photographers of every experience, style and age will gain huge value.This is now my favorite book to date on photography. My one line summary: It will teach you "how to have a single photo tell a real story", with emotion and from different perspectives. In my opinion it is a must for amateurs through pros. Pros: The books is written simply with no unexplained jargon. If the author mentions an industry word (e.g. Ripping Film), he goes on to explain what it means. You learn some of the industry street terms and get a feel for the authors experience shooting. Every turn of the page has a compelling photo which is the subject of the lesson. Some lessons are technical such as how-to on lighting, while others are lessons on approach, demeanor or attitude. The book is emotionally engaging. You want to put the book down and immediate try some of the approaches. The... Read more |
Online Sample Chapter
There's Always Something to Bounce Light Off Of
Contents
Self-portrait taken by Joe McNally on the Empire State Building. (from p. 236 of the book)
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