I feel like I have been studying Joe McNally’s work since I first picked up a camera, so this should be the easiest show post I have ever done. He is an absolute master of light, and I own his “The Language of Light” Volume One, I need to get Volume Two. I have watched classes through KelbyOne and CreativeLive, and twice I have sat at the end of his PhotoshopWorld Keynotes wishing it wasn’t over. Yeah, this should be easy. But no, this is a tough one.

Joe McNally is a legend, and most anyone you ask would agree that he’s one of the top photographers working today, perhaps ever. He is in that very elite group of photographers know as Nikon Ambassadors, along with the likes of Moose Peterson (who has been on the show twice – for Wildlife & Wild Places & Aviation Photography), Deborah Sandidge (who was on the show for the episode on Better Travel Photography), Todd Owyoung and others. Joe is also a Capture One Ambassador, a Gitzo Ambassador, and is affiliated with Printique (an Adorama company), Synology, Lastolite, Tether Tools, and Powerex. Writing about someone I respect as much as Joe creates a flood of thoughts, and putting them in the right order matters. Let me start here…

Joe McNally won the first Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Journalistic Impact for a LIFE coverage titled, “The Panorama of War”. He has been honored numerous times by Communication Arts, PDN, Graphis, American Photo, POY, and The World Press Photo Foundation. His career has led to international acclaim, more awards than I could list here, and assignments that have taken him to 70 countries. With all of that said, we have only just begun to scratch the surface of Joe’s career.

Joe has shot numerous cover stories, and highly complex features, for legendary publications such as LIFE, National Geographic, and Sports Illustrated, along with cover stories for TIME, Newsweek, Fortune, New York, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, and Men’s Journal. He has also managed to do something few people can… bridge the worlds of photojournalism and advertising.

His client list includes FedEx, Sony, Nikon, Land’s End, General Electric, MetLife, Adidas, American Ballet Theater, Epson, the Wildlife Conservation Society, ESPN, MAC Cosmetics, USAA, the New York Stock Exchange, and Lehman Brothers, and that’s a short version.

American Photo listed Joe as one of the 100 Most Important People in Photography, and described by the magazine as “perhaps the most versatile photojournalist working today”, and in 2010 he was voted as one of the 30 most influential photographers of the decade in an industry wide Photo District News survey.

As an educator, McNally is unequaled. He is an author, teacher, and highly sought after speaker. His newest book, “The Real Deal: Field Notes from the Life of a Working Photographer” – available through Rocky Nook or Amazon – was released on February 8, 2022. I pre-ordered it, and can’t wait to read through it. In fact the photo we discuss on this show triggers a whole chapter in the book. His other titles include “Sketching Light”, “The Hot Shoe Diaries”, The Moment It Clicks”, and “The Face of Ground Zero”. The latter is based on Joe’s “Faces of Ground Zero, Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001 Collection“, which consists of 246 Giant Polaroids – life-size photos (9′ x 4′) shot during a three-week period shortly after September 11, 2001, with additional images shot in 2002.

I mentioned above my experience watching Joe give a Keynote at PhotoshopWorld a few years ago. Joe McNally is hands down the best I have ever seen. I don’t know how to even begin to describe his speaking and teaching ability. All I can do is suggest that, given the opportunity, you don’t miss him on stage. Be sure to check out his classes too, like The Language of Light class mentioned above, or through places like KelbyOne and CreativeLive. I can only imagine how great his live workshops are, and, as of this episode’s release, the next one is coming in May of 2022 for the San Francisco & Wine Country Workshop.

When it comes to his fine art work, Joe is represented by the Monroe Gallery of Santa Fe, his prints are in numerous collections, most significantly the National Portrait Gallery of the United States.

Join Nikon Ambassador, master of light, and all around amazing creative, Joe McNally and me as we chat about his creative thought process, and take a deep dive into the most complex image I have ever had on the show, on this Behind the Shot.

Website: joemcnally.com

Rocky Nook: rockynook.com

Amazon: amazon.com

Books, Fine Art prints, DVDs: joemcnally.com

San Francisco & Wine Country Workshop: fancygirlstreetboy.com

Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001 Collection: facesofgroundzero.com

Don McCullin: donmccullin.com | @don.mccullin

Budapest Fashion with Joe McNally and the Nikon D850: YouTube.com