Archive for the 'book' Category

Even though Joe has just entered the photography books arena only a few months ago with “The Moment It Clicks” his new book is soon on the bookshelves.
The Hot Shoe Diaries - Creative applications of small flashes might not fill a niche market, since other authors have already published books about using remotely triggered speedlights in commercial or other photography, however I’m sure Joe McNally’s not yet released book is going to be an outstanding work with Joe’s unique voice, humor and not-that-technical terms (like adjusting flashes by WAG - Wild Ass Guess).

An other book that might be worth a look at is Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography by Kirk Tuck. Kirk discusses the topic from the history of lighting for photography through the right gear for location based shooting and closing with some real case studies.

One thing that Kirk has definitely overcome Joe is that Minimalist lighting has a beautiful woman on the cover while Joe’s book displays a half-naked man.

I wouldn’t dare to say I know Joe McNally or even his photographic works. Surely, after reading about his new book on several sites and watching the video introduction to his book (shown also at the end of this article) I started noticing his name at various places like in Nikon brochures.
It happened when he started writing his blog in a tone that just captured me and doesn’t let me go since then. I decided to buy his book: The Moment It Clicks. I was checking my inbox regularly with anticipation and finally it arrived a few days ago. Yes, delivery to Hungary takes a couple of days.

And the book just sucked me in like a whirlpool. It started with Scott Kelby’s foreword and continued with Joe’s astonishing pictures and conversational writing. Reading the book and seeing those photographs just close out all the noises of the commuting train and I’m lucky that I have to get off the train only at the terminal, otherwise I would definitely miss my stop.
He is writing as if he is talking to a friend - in a colorful, sometimes funny, another times touching way with lot of humor and emotions.
When you are reading his stories on making the pictures you feel just like being there, seeing what he sees, worrying about what he is concerned about. Then he comes up with an new idea or some trade secret that he’s been practicing for ages and you reach for your dropped jaws and by the time you look back the situation has been resolved and the hero frame is already on the film or the memory card and will be published as a double truck or even double gratefold in National Geographic or as a frontpage of Life.

His photos are telling, powerful and beautiful. Cannot say more, I’m not the one who you should expect to judge Joe McNally’s photography.
Looking at the technical side, Joe has fallen in love with light many years ago and now he knows more about it than most us will ever know. The light of his strobes when he is using some look so natural, soft and subtle on his photos, that you hardly notice that there was a flash light when making that picture.

There was one thing that raised my eyebrow when reading - guess what - the acknowledgement at the beginning of the book. Apart from mentioning his family, professors, fellow photographers and other influencers of his photography, Joe says big thanks to his editors. He writes ‘Without good editors, as photographers we are lost.‘ Something that I’ve never thought of about photography. I suppose good editors must be like coaches. The golf club is in Tiger Woods’ hands, but even he has a coach.

For me The Moment It Clicks was and is worth every Hungarian forints deducted from my bank account by Amazon. It’s an amazing book. Joe’s passion for photography radiates from every page. If I hadn’t been earlier, now I definitely got infected by it.
If you buy the book, which I - needless to say - recommend, don’t forget to register it at Peachpit for an extra chapter.

And finally the intro video to the book:

I have just finished reading the second piece of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide series: People and Portraits written by Robert Caputo.

I wrote about the first book of the series a few months ago. The most surprising thing with that post was that I received a comment on my blog from Peter K. Burian, co-author of the book, who is Hungarian, just like myself.

This book is about a very difficult area of photography: photographing people. Difficult from technical point of view and also from writing point of view.
The technical part is that you have to be very much aware of what you are doing and why - with your camera and other pieces of equipment and the people you are photographing. You have to know what you would like to express and also how you can do that using some dull technology that knows nothing about emotions.
Writing about something that is very practical and can be developed only by practicing is a challenge that Robert Caputo coped with brilliantly.

He discusses topics like how to use the environment and available light, how to express movement on a still image, how to plan a photo essay, and - most importantly I believe - how to connect and work with your model when making pictures about him/her.

As a Christmas present I got the Hungarian edition of National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to Making Great Pictures written by Rober Caputo and Peter K. Burian.

As a beginner of photography I find the book extremely useful. It writes about the basic technical things, such as aperture and shutter speed settings, measuring light and illumination, and also about how to compose a picture.
The most surprising thing I found in the book is the continuous awareness and patience that is required from a photographer. Awareness like always knowing what you are doing and why, what the result will be of what you do (cause and effect), what you are experiencing and how to take a picture of that. And patience of going back to the same place to see things in different illumination scenarios or waiting (peace of mind) in front of a remarkable sight, like a building or landscape, until something really interesting appears in the viewfinder making the picture special and meaningful.
Even though some professional photographers are making huge amount of pictures, they do not make great pictures accidentaly. They always have a message to tell, and a mission to accomplish.