The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters (Voices That Matter)

This book if filled with brilliant images, and some great auto-biographical narration. However, while some of his explanations may work for beginners, I feel that most may become frustrated without some more in-depth information. As a senior, working on a BFA in photography, I found this book to be incredibly helpful and insightful, but it does require some foreknowledge. I am looking forward to discussing some of these things with my professors, so that I can better achieve some of the techniques that he discusses. A couple of years ago, though, I think that I may have been disappointed, and unable to get much from the book. Certainly, any experience level could appreciate and learn some amount from this book. I think it's important to keep in mind that, really, no photograph should be replicated just for replication's sake. Is it realistic to apply this knowledge to my photographs? Yes! Would I try to copy exact ideas, etc? No. I just don't see the point of reinventing an identical wheel. If that's your intent when thinking of buying this book, I don't think you'll find it satisfactory. Just my honest opinion....
-E

Lots of anecdotal information mixed in with a quick blurb on how the picture was shot, that is what makes this a fun & informative book to read, more for the intermediate or begining photographer that intends to move their "hobby" to the next level or find out how those cool pictures are done, cool moral booster too because you find out that not evey shot a Pro takes is planned that way nor turns out all the time...definatly one of the better books to buy.

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.

This is an interesting book, filled with beatiful photos and first hand explanations of how they were taken. It is well written and interesting reading for any photographer. However the photographer used a small truck load of lighting equipment for almost every shot, so it is not of much instructional use to a photographer who does not posses, or is willing to rent, an almost unlimited amount of flash lighting equipment for every photographic session.

This book has a very simple layout, a picture on the right side and a description of the shot on the left. While it doesn't provide a high level of detail, it does demonstrate the wide range of challenges the author faced getting the pictures completed. Sometimes the challenges are technical, sometimes it is working with models and sometimes he is just lucky. It is not a step by step lighting book, but it is an excellent resource for seeing how an expert dealt with all types of problems to get an excellent image.