Small Light Big Photos

A heads up before the article disappears into the archives about
"The Hot Shoe Diaries" by Joe McNally.

I spent over two months this summer with the Nikon System and this book came in handy in the later part of that time. Whether or not you are a Nikon system user there is a lot here for inspiration.

Your comments or experiences with this work are welcome here or as a comment directly to the review article.

Enjoy

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Originally Posted by drg

A heads up...about "The Hot Shoe Diaries" by Joe McNally. Your comments or experiences with this work are welcome here or as a comment directly to the review article...

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Thanks, CD. I'm familiar with Joe's work, and think it's great that he's so willing to share his techniques.

Now, not to sound smug, but more times than not the lighting in a strong portrait is actually quite simple. No big secret. What really makes McNally's work so striking is not the technical aspect, but the subjects themselves and the scenes he places them in.

I speak from experience when I say that is the more difficult part of creative portrait...

McNally makes note of the fact that some his most profitable work has been the simplest! I found intriguing a long standing rumor being confirmed about a photograph of a pile of coins that is not particularly 'good' that has been one his most published works. You just never know what will sell or become 'memorable'.

He certainly has photographed a wide range of interesting subjects and even with them being highly photogenic, there is still a tremendous amount of creative thinking 'on-the-fly' that he has brought to the images.

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Originally Posted by drg

He certainly has photographed a wide range of interesting subjects and even with them being highly photogenic, there is still a tremendous amount of creative thinking 'on-the-fly' that he has brought to the images.

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Of course. I hope you didn't misunderstand me. I'm not taking anything away from his abilities. Far from it. If anything, someone less skilled could take these exact same scenes and subjects, and easily come up with very ordinary images.

Actually, that's my point. It's not the technical aspect that makes his portraits clever, it's his way of seeing...

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Originally Posted by Asylum Steve

Of course. I hope you didn't misunderstand me. I'm not taking anything away from his abilities. Far from it. If anything, someone less skilled could take these exact same scenes and subjects, and easily come up with very ordinary images.

Actually, that's my point. It's not the technical aspect that makes his portraits clever, it's his way of seeing...

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Sorry if it was a backhanded response! I agree completely regarding with what you said, it is just that this is such and unusual approach to writing a 'lighting manual' which it isn't, but is, or something!!:D

I thought it was a good book as was the one before it. I own Nikon and only Nikon, and yet having McNally mention Nikon products on every single page made me feel like putting it down more than once (and at the same time switch to Canon). It was similar to DVD's that don't let you fast forward through the ads. Except the entire DVD is ads!

It is amazing how simple most of his setups are and yet how creative he gets. I particularly liked the night noir scene with the man smoking under the elevated train tracks and the girl looking down the alley with the axe murderer