The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters by Joe McNally Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters
Book Review: Could not put it down
Summary: 5 Stars
The first photography book I've read cover to cover in one sitting.
Beautifully written, A lifetimes worth of tips and advice shared in a lighthearted way. The more I reread it the more aha moments I have. Joe Mc Nally is a great phototographer who's walked the walk.
Book Review: Different photography book
Summary: 4 Stars
This is not a common photography book, is about being a photographer and how a photographer does things. A must for every photographerBook Review: Don't bother
Summary: 3 Stars
I have never been as disappointed with a book as I am with this one. I still gave it 3 stars because the book was not absolute crap, it was still an OK book. It is from the great Joe McNally, with many of his photos and tips and tricks from him and people who influenced him. That is a crappy way to write a book, basically it would make a great web page, but a crappy book.
I have been a fan for a long time, Joe McNally has been an icon in the photo world, but the shots he used to illustrate his points in the this book were not his best, not his second best, they were not even good most of the time. He seems to think so, which makes me question his judgment, but I think most of them suck and the stories that go with them are trite and often times do not give you any helpful/useful info so that you can recreate a similar shot. What kind of advice is that? I liked some of the stories, but even then they were too short on substance and detail, often times more about him or the situation than the photo.
This book is basically a poorly thought out combination between a coffee table book full of pictures (none of which would I put in a coffee table book btw) and a Scott Kelby-esque guide. The problem is that it is not Kelby-esque at all, it just uses his "friends chit chatting and lending advice" style (and not very well either).
I am no pro, I am no critic, I am for all intents and purposes no one that Joe McNally has to impress or care about. I am a regular guy who paid too much for a book. I lost a lot of respect for McNally, much of which I would likely have lost if I would have simply seen many of these photos in the first place, some were that forgettable.
I feel ripped off, but only because of my high expectations. I was lead to believe from Scott Kelby that this was a great book, he is biased. I am going to have to start taking his advice with a grain of salt, knowing that I have to say that this is the only time he has done me wrong.
A note to Joe, please do us all a favor and make another book, this time do it right, use your "A" material, write a book that is EITHER a showcase for your work OR a guide to help us little guys become better at lighting/photography in general.
Book Review: Dozens of Photography Tips & Techniques
Summary: 5 Stars
Novice to professionals will benefit from Joe McNally's experience as a photographer with Life, National Geographic, and Sports Illustrated. There are basic photographic tips for those that want to point and shoot with a little more flair. But more, there are very technical tips on how to use professional lighting systems to achieve very "unlit" natural results. This is by no means a dry step-by-step how-to book. It's written in a very conversational style: "oh, you want to know how I took that photo of Michelle (Pfeiffer), pull up a chair and let me tell you." It is an easy read, filled with humor and tales of a journeyman photographer. The first read took me just a couple days at a few pages a day. A few weeks has gone by and I realize that I want to commit many more of McNally's tips to memory, that will take me a couple more rereads. I'm looking forward to it. The book is 50% fantastic photos (of who's who in sports and pop culture) and 50% how to make these photos.Book Review: Education, entertainment and impressive imagery.
Summary: 5 Stars
Education, entertainment and impressive imagery. Joe educates us with lots of advice and by giving us explanations of how he created some of the images in the book. He entertains us with war stories from his career and he certainly impresses us with his imagery. One could easily imagine this book as a PowerPoint presentation. For each two-page spread we get a bullet item that relates some advice, an image to demonstrate this advice and the story behind the image. For some images we also get a fuller explanation of some aspect of photography (i.e. lighting) that pertains to the creation of the image.
This book is not a substitute for a book focusing solely on lighting or one on composition, exposure, the use of color or the like. It is also not a business practice manual. It's light on all of these but inhabits the tough middle area where it has some value in all of these and other areas. I did come away with the realization that the work to create the images in this book was usually more laborious than Joe let on as he made it look easy. I attribute this to Joe's talent and experience and that for him it would indeed be much easier to do this than if we tried this ourselves in the real world. I'm okay with that as this book doesn't pretend to be a thick textbook book on some aspect of photography or a detailed autobiography. In all, it was an entertaining, educational and inspiring read.