The Joe McNally Presentation

I had an amazing weekend up in LA. Everytime I go up there, it's a big adventure. Hung out with a bunch of photographers, went to lectures, exhibits... I'll just post about the first night right now. More to come...

So I met with Austin and we hit up the Joe McNally lecture at the Pacific Design Center (an incredible looking building by the way) in Hollywood. Joe is a photo-journalist who has worked for the likes of Time Magazine and National Geographic. He showed us some of his awesome work that has spanned the last 35 years. Great anecdotes about all the celebrities he's photographed, many of whom have become friends. He has led a truly unique photographic life, but he did pay a price, having missed out a lot on his children's life.

A few things that stick out about what he shared:

-He doesn't work for National Geographic anymore because to him it is like "selling one's soul." They have so little respect for the needs of photographers.
-He started out in his career shooting mainly editorial, but now does more commercial work because of the low editorial fees, and the need to cover his overhead (his studio, family...)
-Joe McNally is a strobist. He much prefers to shoot on location with small, lightweight speedlight flashes as opposed to heavy, cumbersome power packs and soft boxes. He recently did a 5 day shoot in Hong Kong for FedEx which he lit with only 3 nikon sb800 flashes.
-He has retained the copyright for all his images in the last 35 years.
-He will take on any commercial work practically if it pays well. He shoots what he truly loves on his own time.

I was thoroughly impressed with Joe McNally's work and his willingness to answer all of the many questions posed to him that night. In closing, I will add what I found to be Joe's most sound advice and something he really adheres to: "Learn to speak with light."