SAFFRON - SESHU'S DOCUMENTARY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY & PORTRAITS BLOG

A Day With Joe McNally, The Legend

06.28.09

One Day Lighting Workshop In Dobbs Ferry, New York

Last week, I had the honor of meeting David duChemin, the author of a fantastic book called Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision. Yesterday, I attended a workshop by Joe McNally, a frequent contributor to National Geographic and also the author of two books that I constantly refer to – The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes and The Moment It Clicks.

The tie in is this - Joe wrote the foreword to David's book and both are magnanimous photographers. They have a fully resolved sense of their photographic vision and are able to express it in such vivid detail. So, the last two weekends have given me one heckuva a legal high.

Joe (and just about everybody calls him that) began the day introducing his friendly staff then had us introduce ourselves. We saw a very quick retrospective of his work and then dove right into several studio lighting setups. There were five studio bays, full stocked with every studio lighting equipment imaginable. We worked with studio strobes and Nikon speedlights. Joe explained how Nkon's wireless lighting system, CLS, works and then went through and showed us several scenarios using that set up. I made a mental note to upgrade to the newer Nikon SB-900 flash units. They seem easier to use and a lot more versatile than their older counterparts the Nikon SB800's.

Canon users were gently guided by the very able Syl Arena who was visiting from Paso Robles (more about him below). Given that I do not use Canon equipment, I do not know what he discussed. We did go over the contraption Syl made famous - The LongArm - for off-camera lighting. I am placing my order for two of these through Amazon in about five minutes. I just need to find a dedicated assistant to hold my light stick. If you are in Connecticut, reading this and interested, contact me. I am serious about taking my lighting to the next level and showing.

Joe McNally explains his vision for the image he just made of the model//©Seshu Photography

After Joe set up the shot, we each took turns shooting the same model using the same settings that Joe had already dialed in. You may or may not find value in doing that. After lunch, we split up into groups and spent almost an hour and a half photographing one model who was assigned to the group. See below images of Aaron, our model for that portion of the shoot. He was extremely patient and clearly knew what he was doing. Experience in just about any field counts.

I think the workshop is a terrific gateway into studio lighting. I had hoped that Joe would take us out and show us some of his on-location type lighting techniques. The shortage of time and uncooperative weather (it was pouring outside for part of the day) may have caused Joe to think otherwise. I hear he is teaching a 5-day workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.

If you are interested in other lighting workshops, I would highly recommend the ones Syl Arena has started hosting called the Paso Robles Workshops. Folks like Joe, David Hobby, Drew Gardner, David Honl and David X. Tejada are expected to teach there. Think of Paso Robles as the lighting mecca. Shoot, I gotta make it out there sometime. Going back to California would be awesome.