Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. Joe McNally’s new book “The Moment It Clicks” is a must purchase for any photographer, on any level, amateur or professional. As of this writing the book is placed firmly in the top 10 list of all books on Amazon. This book transcends most photographic books in that it offers far more than just stunning images and technical advice, it is quite simply Joe’s life. He introduces us to himself, in pictures, in text, in knowledge and in his character. And not only his character coming from within his heart, but, his “character” that spills out in the form of humor. The Moment It Clicks is the kind of read you can pick up, flip open to any page and begin leaning, enjoying, and laughing. With Joe’s permission I have photographed a few of my favorite images from various chapters to accompany my thoughts about a book that I consider an essential tool that is a must for all of us.

Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. Joe McNally’s new book “The Moment It Clicks” is a must purchase for any photographer, on any level, amateur or professional. As of this writing the book is placed firmly in the top 10 list of all books on Amazon. This book transcends most photographic books in that it offers far more than just stunning images and technical advice, it is quite simply Joe’s life. He introduces us to himself, in pictures, in text, in knowledge and in his character. And not only his character coming from within his heart, but, his “character” that spills out in the form of humor. The Moment It Clicks is the kind of read you can pick up, flip open to any page and begin leaning, enjoying, and laughing. With Joe’s permission I have photographed a few of my favorite images from various chapters to accompany my thoughts about a book that I consider an essential tool that is a must for all of us.

Image #1      The Cover … Right off the bat you know this is no ordinary book, probably because it’s written by no ordinary Joe. Some subtitles within each chapter have a “tell it like it is” tone of voice, for example: Shoot What You Love, People Will Think You’re Crazy, Yanko Supremo, Smile and Nod, Pray For Bad Weather, It’s a Rocky Road to Freelanceville, and It’s All About Your Attitude. I enjoy this candid, conversational style of writing and find it friendly to the point of feeling as if I was Joe’s assistant on the job.

Image #2      Just Joe … As an American photographer and long time photojournalist, Joe’s list of newspaper involvements, magazine employments, clients and photographic achievements would consume several months worth of Workshop at the Ranch articles. The man has done it all with style, grace, professionalism and a sense of humor. During the mid 1990s Joe worked as Life Magazines only staff photographer, but, his career highlights are long and prestigious and include countless assignments with Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, Time, and Newsweek. His most well known series of images might be Faces of Ground Zero – Portraits of the Heroes of September 11th. These life size Polaroid portraits made there way as an exhibit to seven cities along with Life’s book of Joe’s 9/11 portraits that has raised over $2 million for the 9/11 relief effort.

Image #3      Breaking Barriers … Throughout the writings in this book, one can’t ignore Joe’s encouragement to photographers to not place limits on their work or themselves. Joe physically prepared himself to Fly with the Blue Angels and in other jet aircraft in an effort to provide the best coverage possible for National Geographic’s “The Future of Flying” article that included the cover and 32 page story, but, more down to earth are his accounts of everyday photographic situations that we all encounter while trying to make pictures …. and Joe has solutions. He offers page after page of descriptive real life antic dotes in an effort to teach us how we might also triumph in similar situations. Joe’s lessons are made clear with text and picture, … make every situation your finest hour.

Image #4      A Variety Package Like No Other … From news/photojournalism to sports coverage to portraits and large scale location lighting assignments Joe covers the spectrum with his photographic work over the last 30 years in this book. A wide variety of pictures, places and people that consume 256 pages of photographic information and history.

Image #5      “Joe’s Lighting Tips” … The book has technical information for those who want to know …”how’d he do that?” Perhaps best known for his creative lighting style Joe offers numerous insights and details to accomplishing beautiful and influential lighting arrangements throughout the book. From off camera flash to big strobes with Octabanks, Joe knows lighting and is willing to share his knowledge with us.

Image #6      This Book I Can Read … Reading in general is difficult for me, … always has been. I’m a visual kind of person and I think most photographers are, otherwise we would be writers. This book is an easy read which is not to say it is simple. It is articulate in its approach, concise in its structure and personal in its delivery, as if Joe and you were having lunch together and started talking about photography. This page contained the most text of any one page I found in the book. I usually fell short in school when it came to reading comprehension, but this book is perfect for me. I can pick it up and read a page or two and easily understand what Joe is talking about.

Image #7      “How To Get This Type of Shot” … Joe offers several stories of photo assignments where unforeseen complications would arise and then like Houdini, he escapes with the best picture of the day. Many, many pictures in this book have a small box of text adjacent entitled “How To Get This Type of Shot” (highlighted in yellow.) These tiny boxes are packed with valuable information regarding how the picture was accomplished. It’s my favorite feature of the books format.

Image #8       You Can Take it With You … This is a book I will most likely take with me on the job. As a freelancer for 28 years my creative thinking process sometimes needs a kick start. I foresee The Moment It Clicks playing a valuable role in my business. Its countless writings and pictures of such creativity will certainly be an inspiration to me and just the kick we all could use to help us get out of our comfort zone and try something new.

Image #9      That Hollywood Glamour … This portrait of Michelle Pfeiffer that Joe made while photographing her on location in the Smithsonian is one of my favorites. As with almost every picture in the book, Joe offers the how and why that was his thought process before the moment he clicked the first frame.

I’m probably not truly qualified to write a critique about a book. I am just a photographer who is continually looking to improve my skills and learn as much as I can. While Joe easily handles the category of teacher he also provides the reader with much more that just information. His conversational style of writing allows us to get to know him and once you know him it is easy to understand why he is simply the best … as a photographer, as a teacher, as a person, and as a friend. I feel I am speaking for all of us who pick this book up and enjoy it, … Thanks Joe.

See you all next time on Workshop at the Ranch.

Adios, Dave