HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE McNALLY!

Joe McNally: Empire State Building, New York

Joe McNally just finished his "Traveling Light: Location Lighting with Small Flash" workshop at the Santa Fe Workshops, which offers "state-of-the-art photographic education that supports participants of all levels". The roster of instructors at the Workshops reads like a "who's who" of photography, including Sam Abell, Rick Allred, Keith Carter, Jay Maisel, Jock Sturges, Joyce Tenneson, and  Stephen Wilkes.

Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed American photographer and long-time photojournalist. From 1994 until 1998, he was LIFE magazine's staff photographer, the first one in 23 years. He has completed assignments in over 50 counties for prestigious publications, including Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, Life, Time, Fortune, National Geographic, New York Magazine, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, GEO, Golf Digest, Discover, and Men’s Journal.

His most well known series is the "Faces of Ground Zero" Giant Polaroid Collection, a collection of 246 giant Polaroid portraits shot in the Moby c Studio near Ground Zero in a three-week period shortly after 9/11. A large group of these historic, compelling life-size (9x4) photos were exhibited in seven cities in 2002, seen by almost a million people. The sale of 55,000 copies of the exhibit book, printed by LIFE, raised over $2 million for the 9/11 relief effort. This collection is considered by many museum and art professionals to be the most significant artistic endeavor to evolve to date from the 9/11 tragedy.


McNally is known worldwide for his ability to produce technically and logistically complex assignments with expert use of color and light. He conducts numerous workshops around the world as part of his teaching activities, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Alfred Eisenstadt Award for outstanding magazine photography, as well as Pictures of the Year International, and World Press Photo Foundation Award (awarded first place in Portraits in 1997). Recently, Joe has completed major stories for National geographic, including "The Future of Flying" and "The Electrical Grid".

It is always a special treat for us to spend time with Joe. During his time with LIFE magazine, he became very close with the giants of "The Golden Age" of photojournalism, such as Alfred Eisenstaedt, Carl Mydans, and John Loengard - some of our heroes. He is certainly one of the hardest-working photographers in the business (follow his blog or Twitter, at any given moment he might be in New York, Santa Fe, Asia, The Pacific Northwest, at the Albuquerque airport at 4 AM, or just about anywhere.) Last we knew, Joe was on his way to dangle from a helicopter while hoovering over giant electric transmission towers.

Joe is the author of the best-selling boks, "Flying West to Go East: New York City Opera on Tour in Japan", "The Moment It Clicks"; and  "The Hotshoe Diaries". In October, Time books will pubish Joe's newest book, "Life Guide to Digital Photography: Everything You Need to Shoot Like the Pros". Joe will be in Santa Fe in early December for a special book signing and exhibit, watch this blog for details!

Meantime, Happy Birthday to Joe!

Joe McNally and Michelle Monroe discuss Bill Eppridge's exhibition

Photo by Carol Mackay

JOE McNALLY IN SANTA FE TO CONDUCT TWO WORKSHOPS

Joe McNally climbs to the top of the Empire State Buildingto get "the ultimate light bulb changing shot" for the National Geographic story "The Power of Light"

We are very pleased to welcome Joe McNally back to Santa Fe for two weeks. Joe is leading the Digital Landscape Workshop Series in Santa Fe March 7 - 10, and the Location Photography and Lighting workshop March 10 - 4 at the Santa Fe Workshop. Both are sold out!

Here are the details, book now for next year!

DLWS is heading to what seems like Joe's 2nd home for a great week of fun and killer photography. We have the SouthWest as our subject with vast landscapes and old spanish style architecture. As a special treat, we'll be shooting at the old, historic and infamous prison one morning and one evening. And you just never know what other special surprises we have in store. We're been planning this one for some time so we are really excited for to smack some chilies and see that romantic sunset. We're staying at the very romantic, pictursque Bishop's Lodge where we've secured a killer rate for our participants. We can easily see this becoming one of our favorite locales!


Much of what professional photographers are called on to do is done on location, including scouting a location, using existing and artificial light creatively, and dealing with physical space. The Digital Landscape Workshop, designed for experienced photographers who want to become more proficient in the use of light in the field, is about learning how to size up a location and find the best angles and light for the assignment. "We look at the use of natural and artificial light, including reflectors and large strobes as well as small flashes, to photograph both exterior and interior portraits, large and small spaces, street scenes, and people in all types of situations and locales. Emphasis is placed on how to “write” with light and how to use lighting techniques to shape the mood and color of a photograph. We explore color temperature, ways of working with natural light and strobe, and how to mix the two effectively."


Joe discusses lighting issues that arise in the field when using small, on-camera speedlights as well as the issues of huge productions involving larger studio strobes. He also covers gaining access to locations, methods for covering magazine assignments, and blending a variety of techniques and approaches. Working in the studio and on location, we photograph specific assignments with critiques the following morning. Also discussed is the simple fact that where you put the camera is much more important than where you put the light. It all goes together—a point of view at the lens, and command of the language of light to articulate that point of view. By the end of the week, participants have confidence in their ability to use light and lighting systems in a variety of conditions.

By sheer coincidence, Joe's photographs "A Great Day in Jazz" and a 2006 portrait of Tony Bennett are featured in the current Art of Sound exhibition.

Joe has two best-selling photography books out now, The Moment it Clicks and The Hot Shoe Diaries.

Joe McNally, an internationally acclaimed photographer and photojournalist, was LIFE magazine’s staff photographer from 1994 to 1998. His best-known series is “Faces of Ground Zero: Portraits of the Heroes of September 11th.”


Joe is a 25-year contributor to National Geographic. As part of the World Expo 2005, he created a photo diary of the New York City Opera’s historic first tour to Japan. Joe’s work has won numerous awards and appeared in a variety of publications, including The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Newsweek, ESPN The Magazine, Men’s Journal, LIFE, and Fast Company. His advertising and marketing clients include Nikon, Sony, Lands’ End, MetLife, Lifetime, AGA Marketing, Wildlife Conservation Society, American Ballet Theatre, and FedEx.