I’ve been aware of Joe McNally, an amazing photojournalist for National Geographic, Life, SI and many, many other publications for years and have been following his work and his blog for quiet some time. He also has recently published two GREAT books, The Moment It Clicks and The Hot Shoe Diaries. I’ve been wanting to improve my small, multi-strobe work and he and David Hobby are the only two I know of who are teaching it extensively [at least, that’s according to Joe’s wife, Anne! 😉 ].
Yesterday was the last day of eight days of this workshop that he’s been doing in the building where he used to have his studio in Dobbs Ferry, NY up on the Hudson River north of NYC. I was late in making the decision to sign up for it so I would only be able to go if someone else dropped out. I believe quite firmly that there are no coincidences in the world and if I was intended to go, it would happen. That’s a corollary to my belief that in many ways, my creativity is merely a channel for the Muses who surround me; I can’t “control” my photography, or what happens in front of my camera, I simply have to trust them [the Muses], the creative process, and my years of experience. The end of last week I heard from his very sweet studio manager, Lynn, that there was a new opening, so I was all set.The building was a wonderful space [at least for us visuals 😉 ] with all sorts of really interesting nooks and crannies [although I don’t believe I’d want to have ANY those same nooks and crannies in MY English muffins!]. He had five models come up from the city and he demonstrated a number of different lighting scenarios using the models in different parts of the building, mixing ambient light, modified strobes, reflectors, studio strobes and gelled lights. Talking his way through each situation, he really did a great job of explaining his creative process and how he technically “builds” each shot. I imagine in the days of Polaroids he burned through multiple packs of 669 with each set up [as I often did!]!
As he finished putting together each shot, he’d tell everyone what his camera settings were and then he’d hand over his strobe connection to everyone in the workshop so that they could begin to develop some really nice portfolio shots and take “photographic notes” on each set-up. There were fourteen of us attending so, individually, we didn’t have a lot of time to take these shots but I really couldn’t do it anyway. These were Joe’s shots, with the lighting that he saw [imagined] for each image in his mind’s eye and I really wanted to change things up, move lights around and make them my shots. Obviously, there simply wasn’t time for that and I was perfectly fine with that .
I was much quieter than I usually am in such situations for most of the day and really didn’t connect with any of the other attendees although I did get a lot of good technical information from his first assistant, Drew Gurian. I was feeling a bit out of sorts [emotionally, not physically] for most of the day, not really sure what I was doing there or how I fit in or what I was going to be taking home with me. On the hour and a half trip home, I was still feeling funky about the day and I simply wasn’t sure that the workshop had been good for me. I had the feeling that I hadn’t gotten enough of the “nuts & bolts”! Got home and didn’t talk much about the day with my wife [after any good day, Audrey usually has to endure at least an hour of my verbal diarrhea! she’s so wonderfully patient with me!]. Just went to bed at the usual late hour more and more bummed about the day.
This morning was a totally different experience! I should understand by now, with all these years of life experience, that it takes time for me to process certain events … dumbshit! Joe had given me an incredible gift!! He had given me permission to experiment again! To play again! I don’t know how many times I have to “learn” this lesson, but apparently, I have to keep repeating it! I didn’t need the “nuts & bolts”, I can get them just from experimenting and playing! From immersing myself in this “work” that I love so very much! My “lesson” for the day was that because of my love and passion for photography, I have to be playing with it each and every day! I have to be feeding that love in the same way we all have to “work” on and “feed” any relationship, any love. It does me absolutely no good to spend my days peering into my own navel!
Thank you so very much Joe, for that wonderful gift!
Nat
PS. Now if you’d just pass on several of those SB-900’s !! 😉 I’ll send you my shipping address by PM ….
Having visited The Cape Cod Lavender Farm last week while on vacation, we got home and realized that if we were going to harvest our lavender at all, we had to do it right away! My wife decided to harvest all of our lavender over the last few days. I haven’t counted, but we probably have 35 plants on two different berms on our property and in her Fairy Garden right outside her office door.
Hi, I'm Nat Clymer and this is the blog where I put my musings and ramblings of thirty plus years as a commercial photographer and observer of humankind.