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| The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters (Voices That Matter) | 
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| Author: Joe Mcnally
Publisher: New Riders Press
Category: Book
List Price: $54.99
Buy New: $32.57
You Save: $22.42 (41%)
New (48) Used (11) from $31.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  142 reviews
Sales Rank: 607
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 8.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 0321544080
Dewey Decimal Number: 775
EAN: 9780321544087
ASIN: 0321544080
Publication Date: February 2, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Moment It Clicks February 28, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is getting rave reviews. If you are into artificial lighting and lighting accessories, this is a must have book. However, for a person like me, who much prefers natural light, it is a very interesting read but not one that I would refer back to. No doubt about it, McNally is terrific at what he does. And because he is so outstanding, every photographer probably should read his book at least once.
Good collection of photographs March 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, but after reading reviews I guess I was expecting something that blew my socks off. It's not a bad book, but it's not one that I'd bother reading through a second time. As long as you purchase this with the understanding that you're buying a collection of photographs and not an educational book, you'll likely enjoy it. It's great for a coffee table or the bathroom as you can read a page or two and put it down (it's not an on-going story, each page stands alone).
 Totally over-hyped unless you're a fanatic Stobist-type March 19, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
McNally is a fantastic photographer, no doubt. His career has been an amazing one. But for average schmucks like you and me, this book will have little value. I echo the comments of others, in that how many of us are going to stand on the top of the antenna of the Empire State Building or shoot celebrities with all sorts of huge, expensive lighting equipment? 95% of the book explains how his shots were made by explaining the lighting. So basically this book is 95% about lighting. Very complicated, large lighting set-ups, mostly.
I just turned the last page today, and I'm putting it up for sale on eBay. Save your money - don't bother with this unless you're a fanatic off-camera lighting, stobist-type. Not that there's anything wrong with that ...
Don't bother August 29, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have never been as disappointed with a book as I am with this one. I still gave it 3 stars because the book was not absolute crap, it was still an OK book. It is from the great Joe McNally, with many of his photos and tips and tricks from him and people who influenced him. That is a crappy way to write a book, basically it would make a great web page, but a crappy book.
I have been a fan for a long time, Joe McNally has been an icon in the photo world, but the shots he used to illustrate his points in the this book were not his best, not his second best, they were not even good most of the time. He seems to think so, which makes me question his judgment, but I think most of them suck and the stories that go with them are trite and often times do not give you any helpful/useful info so that you can recreate a similar shot. What kind of advice is that? I liked some of the stories, but even then they were too short on substance and detail, often times more about him or the situation than the photo.
This book is basically a poorly thought out combination between a coffee table book full of pictures (none of which would I put in a coffee table book btw) and a Scott Kelby-esque guide. The problem is that it is not Kelby-esque at all, it just uses his "friends chit chatting and lending advice" style (and not very well either).
I am no pro, I am no critic, I am for all intents and purposes no one that Joe McNally has to impress or care about. I am a regular guy who paid too much for a book. I lost a lot of respect for McNally, much of which I would likely have lost if I would have simply seen many of these photos in the first place, some were that forgettable.
I feel ripped off, but only because of my high expectations. I was lead to believe from Scott Kelby that this was a great book, he is biased. I am going to have to start taking his advice with a grain of salt, knowing that I have to say that this is the only time he has done me wrong.
A note to Joe, please do us all a favor and make another book, this time do it right, use your "A" material, write a book that is EITHER a showcase for your work OR a guide to help us little guys become better at lighting/photography in general.
He does it in his blog, why wont he do it here? September 12, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
There's no question on the competence of Joe McNally. The pictures are impeccable in this book. But indeed he should have done more to teach.
Although some are drawn on tissue paper, in his blog you can see lighting diagrams (where to place the flashes/softboxes). He also show some behind-the-scene pictures on how even the backdrop was set-up along with a commentary on what was the assignment for and the theme he wants to achieve. He should have done the same in this book.
I think the problem was in the decision to make a coffee table and tutorial book in one. Should have selected just one objective, to satisfy fully that purpose?
I hope Joe will write another book with more tutoring. Doesnt have to be a tell-all, spoonfeeding stuff. Just something you can follow and experiment with--again, similar to what he writes in his bog.
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