Worshipping Mr. Joe McNally

As many may know, Joe McNally is the commandant of small flash. Those of you that do not know him, buy his books. Not long ago, Matt Beaty, Vault Photography, surprised me with McNally's book "The Hot Shoe Diaries" as a birthday gift. I've read it, word by word, and loved every second of it. Not only is McNally an amazing shooter who also shoots with Nikon, he is a fantastic writer. I've learned quite a bit from this man blessed with the skills to know what a strobe will do before the nano particles reach the subject. He has the eye of an amazing photographer and the brain power to calculate when, why and where light is going to hit his subject.


Last week I attended Joe McNally's demonstration of location lighting in Phoenix, sponsored by NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). Because I have read his book focused on small lights (Speedlights and the sort), I found this workshop to be overall average. I was much more excited about meeting the master of light manipulation, having his book signed, and being in his presence than the workshop itself; though I did come away with some handy tips that will save me much time in the future. Here are some of those tips; add them to your arsenal as I am doing the same:


*the next segment is very photo-nerd heavy. If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I can explain what you need to know.


Tip 1:
Flash sync speed
Nikons sync with off-brand strobe equipment at 1/200. If you are using Nikon brand flashes, you can sync at 1/250. I believe Canon says it's sync is 1/200. No wonder why I keep getting partial exposure on random frames. This may sound pretty simple, but it sure helps. I like to be on the fastest shutter while using strobes; reduces possibility of camera shake (yes, I drink too much caffeine).


Tip 2:
High-speed sync
If you are using this sync option (located in camera on Nikons, and in the off-camera flash systems in Canon), understand that each full stop over 1/250 will cut your exposure in half. If you use strobes often, you understand the shutter does not affect the exposure of your frame, but only if you are syncing at 1/250 or below. By using high-speed sync, each full-stop shutter increase will effectively decrease your exposure by a stop.
If you all do not know what high-speed sync is, please take an adventure and try it out. This is a camera setting to allow your camera to


Tip 3:
Use gels (the colored, plastic things)
Gels can take your image from wow to WOW! Especially when used with dark-skinned subjects. You can use gels in many ways: rim light, main light, or background light - to name a few. By using gels on your rim light, it gives you a circumference of color around your subject and really focuses your eye on the subject. By using gels on your background, you can make your subject pop out by defining a mood to the image and making your subject jump out to you by being the lightest (white light) part of the image. McNally said the human eye is naturally inclined to look at the lightest part of an image first. I am a firm believer in showing your viewer a journey through your image. Bring his/her eye into the subject, let them wander a little, then bring them right back to what you intended them to see first; the subject.


Tip 4:
Do not underestimate the power of your small flash
McNally's last demonstration included the use of one SB-900. He placed it in the back of the conference room, about 150 feet from the stage. He then gave his models (one male, one female) their personas: a hot indy car racer and his supermodel wife. She wrapped his arm around him and they waved to the audience; who McNally asked to raise their hands like they were the screaming fans of the two celebrities. With one small flash at the other end of the room, McNally lit his two adored subjects with a light that could replicate the sun. Do not underestimate the power of your flash equipment. These little buggers can output more light than you will ever need.


Here is a shot of McNally's tethered screen which demonstrates the power of that flash. The hands in the screen are part of his image. Many thanks to McNally for the demonstration and awesome images to view.

Big thanks to Joe McNally for the long, full day of learning, NAPP for sponsoring and the many more amazing vendors that showed up for the awesome demonstration of small lights.


At the end of the seminar, NAPP talked me into buying a year subscription to the association. Though I haven't had much time to venture around the website, I feel it will be a helpful tool for learning Photoshop techniques and they also provide great discounts for an assortment of photo supplies, hotel rooms, car rentals, etc.


I've have an assisting gig coming up this weekend in Tucson, so I will post about it when I get back. Don't know much of what the shoot entails, but sounds like it should be a great learning experience. Until next time.


See you then,


B