Customer Reviews:
 Not for the beginner but... February 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been shooting for forty years and this is an inspiring book. Just one little tip was worth the price of the book to me. No, I'm not going to share that tip, buy the book as it is worth the price! I read this book cover-to-cover in one sitting. I just could not put it down. Joe shares tips and ideas on how he creates his images. Many of them were done on film but the same techniques can be applied to digital. His tips will help me reduce the time spent in Photoshop and spend more time creating images.
Buy it February 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Some photography books are collections of great photographs, and some books are about the process of making photographs. This book is the best of both: a bunch of great photographs, each with notes about the process and details of how it was made. The pearls of wisdom in this book cover both technical and social aspects of being a photographer, and it's all told with charm, wit, humor, tenderness, and passion. I've never met Joe McNally, but after reading this book, I'd give my right arm to have the honor. Buy this book; you won't regret it.
 For owners of expensive lighting only February 11, 2008
22 out of 43 found this review helpful
If you own a boatload of lighting equipment, this book is for you. It will show you how to use all kinds of strobes and softboxes and other major lighting assets. If not, there are about 4 or 5 pages that will fit your equipment profile. If you shoot existing light, save your money.
 It About the Light. February 11, 2008
74 out of 82 found this review helpful
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 getting a bunch of masks from the Smithsonian to shoot Michelle Pfeiffer, or five full length mirrors set up on the field for a picture of shortstop Ozzie Smith, or using 10 or 15 2400 watt lights to light fielder Eric Davis, you may hope that you can at least get inspiration because you are never going to have that kind of equipment, or if you are, then to quote McNally, "you don't need my advice". And don't take a peek at McNally's equipment until you come to that page in normal reading or you may decide the book is not for you.
If you are looking for instruction, it's here amongst the stories, even if it's delivered in a non-structured sort of way. I haven't invested in a dozen Speedotrons, but after reading this book, I did decide to upgrade my umbrella to a couple of softboxes. On the other hand if you are interested in looking at a portfolio of great pictures, McNally has them. And if you like to listen to photographers tell stories about photography, often at their own expense, you'll probably love this book.
Other then the lighting there is little of a technical nature here. There's nothing about exposure, or depth of field or Photoshop. I am certain that the people that talked the author into writing this book loved the stories and the way they were told and how they related back occasionally to transforming a vision into an image by using equipment. McNally's personality comes through. Whether this is the way for you to learn some lighting tricks will depend on what you feel about winnowing them out of the stories and pictures. On the other hand, Joe McNally is a great guy to have a drink with.
Best Book on Photography This Year February 10, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I got the book, I simply could not put it down until I finished it. This will most likely be the best book published on photography in year 2008. Let me share few of my thoughts on why.
Joe McNally is one of the most famous and most successful photojournalists of our time. He shoots all kinds of things, but he's best known for his people photography. Joe is also considered to be an outstanding teacher, and it shoes through the book.
Joe has an amazing talent of taking an individual or a group of people and capturing them in a way that you don't need any explanations. Each photo of his is an essay in itself. So if you like shooting people, for journalism, or simply for family history purposes, you will simply love just looking at the pictures presented here. In fact, the book would be worth it even if it cost 10 times of what it costs now ($32) just for the collection of images presented there. They are outstanding, and what's good, the quality of printing is very good too. And if you're not yet shooting people, this book will make you start shooting them, as there is not a subject that is more exciting.
Besides photos, Joe also presents stories behind them, including how he lit the objects and why. This kind of information is what made the book extra captivating for me. He's got a talent of telling stories in a way that you can't stop reading them. You open a page, see an image that blows your mind away, and on top of that, you get a story of how it was created, along with the guiding principle behind it, or "one-liner" that is easy to remember. He shares photography wisdom with in every section of the book, and many of his pearls will be quoted by teachers and writers on the topic of photography for years to come.
He also gets personal and shares stories of his struggles from the time he was a beginner to the present day. You'll hear details about how he once destroyed six cameras in one day, or about what image jump started his career, or about his tries to be a good parent to his children when he was away most of the time as they were growing. I am always impressed when people of his caliber talk about their mistakes and failures so openly. It also makes you take your own mistakes more easily.
In summary, through his book Joe McNally has inspired me, has made me better photographer through his own example, both in terms of technical aspects and creativity, and once again has made me want to go out and keep shooting. I was sad the book was over, but it's one of these books that I will read again and again. It is for sure as good as any book I have read on the topic of the art of photography, and you're losing out if you have not yet ordered your copy.
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