The Moment It Clicks: Photography Secrets from One of the World's Top Shooters

This is absolutely one of the best books on photography I have ever read and read and read. The pictures are better than most books on the coffee table. The photography lessons are worth the price alone. But the stories associated with the pictures and 1 line lessons are the true treasures. If you want to try to understand lighting and know that there are no absolute rules then this is the book for you. Originally I thought that this book was a bit expensive, but the quality of the printed photography is only exceeded by the story on the opposite page. Base on 1 line lessons you want to go onto the next pair of pages to read about the story behind that photo. The written style is simple and easy to follow with on page definitions for those photography tech terms needed for understanding the lighting. Simply outstanding. Thanks to Mr.(s) McNally and Scott Kelby for understanding the value of its contents.Amazon shipped mine in a standard carton, but blister wrapped the book inside with cardboard. Thank you; it was raining in Los Angeles the week it was delivered. Yes, one corner was curled. But reading this book as much as I have these past two days quickly curled the other corner.The peachpit.com bonus pdf addendum for registering the book online was not available at the time I wrote this.

When I saw this book, I remembered seeing a TV piece of Joe McNally’s work, Faces of Ground Zero-Giant Polaroid Collection. Being an avid photographer it was only natural for me to purchase this paperback book. I have just completed reading this book and I must say the photography secrets that I have gotten are second to none. The writing approach that Joe uses is one of the things that makes me love this book. He will start off with a description of a photo and the history behind it, he then presents a picture that serves as the topic and finally the techniques that went into taking the shot. This includes the challenges you are likely to face when taking this or related shots. The approach resonates with the ‘For Dummies’ approach of teaching although Joe takes it a notch higher with his in-depth analysis of specific photography techniques. There are no topics that are left hanging. Everything that was meant to be covered in the book is dealt with. This is an informative book that will challenge and inspire at the same time. My advice is to have a notebook and a pen handy as you read through. Like I pointed out earlier, this is an inspiring piece and you will get the idea bulbs every so often. After you are done reading you will definitely want to try out some of the tricks. You will appreciate the dynamism that is in each image. Every image should have a story and this book will teach you on how to take pictures that tell self-explanatory stories. Joe’s workshops are worth an arm and a leg and are always packed. Am glad though because for only $35.83 I was able to acquire the expertise of an acclaimed photographer with prestigious honor to back it up! I have to point out that this is not a beginners’ guide to photography. Joe points out specific techniques he used when shooting some of his pictures. It is the story that will let you in on the techniques that he used. I would have loved it if he went easy on the stories and more on the various photography techniques. A single shot can’t explain all the techniques but again the book offers real insights on specific topics and the book is worth it since Joe is a brilliant photojournalist and it counts for a good read.

This is a wonderful book for photographers--well written and totally entertaining. Joe McNally apparently carried around a studio suite of lighting equipment and cameras, and put all that stuff to good use in various locations outside of studios. The proof is in the pictures, and McNally shows each image and tells how it was made. It's fascinating stuff. But for most of us, it's way beyond budget. Perhaps studio photographers can benefit from McNally's tips on gels, reflectors and multiple strobes. But for those who shoot on the street, at events or while hiking the landscape, these equipment-laden methods do not apply. That's not to say there's nothing for the less endowed photographer to learn here. It's just one might expect to find here less extravagant solutions to common problems.

This is a great book for people interested in the art of photography. If you're about creating truly impactful photos, if you can feel the energy of a pro shooter talking about his profession, his daily experience, his life and it gets your blood boiling and thinking of a career change - then read this book. It will turn the pages very fast.On the other hand, if you're looking for a 101 on how to take photos with your new DSLR, or figure out how the latest strobist kit works, you will be disappointed. The author does describe the lighting techniques he used in each of his photos, but without reasonable background in the equipment and general lighting technique it won't be detailed enough to replicate it.The book is structured into a few chapters, each of which is basically a two page nugget structured around a statement, a great example photo that shows why this matters, a discussion in more detail, and a few notes on how the picture was taken. All of this ties together some great insights the authors shares with those that have the patience and drive to dive deep into the art and science of taking emotionally engaging images that tell a story.Keep in mind that the author made his career in shooting for magazines. Images that are story leads in a magazine need to capture the reader and make him dive into the story, and then they need to wrap around the whole story. Those are great, lasting images. That's also why many of the images in the book involve controlled lighting technique. But you won't find many other photo genres in this book, such as landscape. That's totally ok, because this book is about the energy a magazine shooter experiences and what gets him excited, or gets you excited if you can relate to it in some past or future form.

all his books are great. Easy reading and gets the point across in few words

Libro molto bello che discute le modalità di ripresa delle foto ivi contenute. Non si tratta di fotografia street nel senso più stretto del termine ma comunque trasferisce al lettore abbondanti informazioni e spunti su come migliorarsi. Consigliato.

Hi,This book has a wealth of knowledge and tricks on how to use light to make your images stand out and pop in almost any situation. The only downside is that the book is fairly technical and also the photos in it have been taken mainly with a normal SLR not a digital one, so the photographer had to do a lot of manual work to compensate for lighting in different situations.Aside from that it's an invaluable resource for any beginner, advanced or probably even pro photographer on how to light different situations.

Oscar Wilde diceva che ci sono libri che vanno letti più di una volta nella vita, altri libri che vanno letti una sola volta nella vita e infine libri che non vanno mai letti.Ecco, questo libro fa certamente parte della prima categoria, quella dei libri che devono essere letti più volte nella vita. Non si tratta di un testo accademico o tecnico, quanto piuttosto di un discorso, molto colloquiale, quasi familiare che si instaura tra scrittore e lettore. Questo testo trasuda "american style" nel senso di "modo di fare e di parlare"; quel modo di parlare spiegando e di insegnare parlando che è tanto peculiare degli americani. Tutto si rende interessante, intrigante, spettacolare e "possibile" per chi ha voglia di fare. é un libro in cui si evince la filosofia del "self made man" legato al mondo della fotografia.Lo scrittore poi non è certo uno qualunque: si tratta del grande Joe McNally, fotografo di fama mondiale che ha collaborato con le più rinomate riviste americane del settore, tra cui National Geographic (e credo basti solo questo).Questo libro insomma è un piacevole racconto di fotografie, in cui l'autore suggerisce tecniche e offre consigli sulla fotografia con flash (e senza).Unica "pecca", se così possiamo dire, potrebbe essere la lingua utilizzata (il libro è in inglese-americano): l'aspetto più difficile forse è proprio il lessico familiare utilizzato, con "slang" e modi di dire tipici americani che per noi possono risultare più complessi da comprendere, persino incomprensibili a volte. Ma è uno sforzo che si può fare senza problemi se si è spinti da passione per la fotografia. D'altronde, se questo libro venisse tradotto, perderebbe molto di quello che contiene. Credetemi.

David Hobbyのブログで勧められていたので購入。ちょっと高い気もしましたが、これが講習だったら数倍の授業料を支払うことになったでしょう。確かにいくつか勉強になりました。英語が普通に読める方であればオススメです。