Joe McNally Photography Workshop
This past weekend I attended one day of the ImageQuest Professional Photographers Convention in Richmond. I kept waiting for someone to ask me to leave since I don’t consider myself a professional photographer.
The only reason I wanted to attend was in order to see Joe McNally’s session. I’ve seen a number of videos he’s done and followed his blog for awhile. I missed out on the Strobist Meetup late last year where he just showed up (which led to me joining the Vancouver Strobist group and attending their next meetup).
For those that don’t know the name, he’s been in the business for 30 years and has shot some very well known photos for National Geographic, Life and many other publications. It would be hard to believe you haven’t seen at least some of his work somewhere because he is so prolific. He also bears a striking resemblance to Robert Redford…I wonder if he’s ever photographed him.
Even with having seen much of his work online and in print, it was still great to hear him tell some of the stories behind the images and some of the challenges he’s worked through being a pro for such a long time. He’s a very interesting guy and I found him very entertaining in his presentation…you know the kind of presentation where you haven’t looked at your watch and you don’t want to end? Unfortunately it was only 3 1/2 hours long – we did go a little over duing the workshop phase – nobody but the organizers seemed to mind.
He’s got a new book
Interestingly enough, he uses Apple’s Aperture for photo management and does very little post processing.
Having come from the film world, he’s probably used to trying to get the composition and exposure right in the camera, especially in high-pressure situations.