Joe McNally Photography

Had a great time in Philly yesterday. Nice folks, packed house. They even put up with me while a camera exploded in the first hour. Seems it was the one from the sandstorm last week, and it just gave up the ghost right there on stage. Always an interesting moment when you have 600 people in the room with you and your exposures are 3 stops hot. Oops! But here’s the thing. It’s nothing new. It’s camera work on location. Stuff goes wrong. Folks were interested and patient with me while I worked it out and pulled things back on the rails. I also got some offers from audience members to borrow a Canon camera:-)

Did this in about 3 or 4 minutes with Isidor. Two flashes two tri-grips.

And we did a quick “commercial” looking shot with Kate, who is a dancer with the Philadelphia 76ers. (I’m a Knick fan, but we got past it. Honestly, there hasn’t been much to argue about in the last few years about either team.) Bright white background, Ezy Box Hot Shoe softbox up front, with some low fill. All TTL.

Move pretty quick on these Kelby days. Got a couple on more on tap, Denver and Sacramento. I talk fast all day, and try to get as much done and as much info out there as I can in the 5 hours we have together. Yesterday was a hoot, good bunch of folks in the audience, though Drew, Lynda and I were pretty zapped at the end of the day, which made for an interesting drive back up the Jersey Pike….more tk….

Just returned from the Middle East. Was very honored to be invited by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage to work with regionally based photographers. What it meant for us here at the studio is that Drew and I bounced to the Middle East twice in the last month, first to GPP in Dubai, and now, Abu Dhabi. Hectic, but fun. The class was terrific. Good group of folks, and talented shooters. It is an area of the world that is endlessly fascinating, and I have always been received graciously, and I learn a great deal. Doing stuff like this re-convinces me of one thing–travel is the graduate school of life.

Amin leaps in the lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel. Quick impromptu shot done off the cuff in the middle of the lobby of a 7 star hotel. Try this without insurance, permissions, a letter from the Governor, and a 5 month email paper trail at The Plaza in NY. Uh, that would be no.

Mariam bouncing light.

Shua frames a shot.

The off camera TTL flash gang in the desert.

Amin, a break dancer from Morocco, is inexhaustible.

Sahar shows Eva, a fashion model, how to pose.

Cool Kholloud. (aka, David Hobby plant)

Flipping in the desert

Sheikh Numnuts and Sheikh Drew of the Desert

Shot this pre-dawn on Monday, about 6am Abu Dhabi time, in the second largest mosque in the world. Back home, it was still Easter Sunday. What an amazing world. More tk….

In Abu Dhabi, as the guest of the AbuDhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage and their wonderful emissary, Bader Alnomani.  Teaching here to coincide with the Emirates Photo Competition under the auspices of the ADACH and the FIAP (International Federation of Art Photography). Having a terrific time, seeing portfolios, teaching about light, and in general enjoying Abu Dhabi, which is a city where, previous to now, I had only visited the airport. I see the above scene from my hotel window every morning. It is an immediate reminder that I am not home.

Lessee, my work flow on this one might be instructive.

Wander jet lagged through hotel room in pre-dawn dark. Look out window. The Sheik Zayed Mosque. Also known as the Great Mosque. Nice. Pretty.

Let eyes wander upward to…full moon. Stand there slack jawed, toothbrush hanging from lower lip. Put two and two together. (Not easy for me even on 8 hours sleep.)

Race around hotel room, grab Gitzo, D3X, 200-400 zoom. Look again at moon. Disappearing behind clouds. Curse.

Open patio door. Setup tripod, camera and lens. Hope no one notices I’m still in my u-trou.

Make rushed, bad exposure of moon. Calm down.

Dial in minus 2.7 EV. Make another exposure. Better. Swing camera to Mosque. Adjust EV to minus 2. Make shot. Looks okay. Clouds closing in.

Program camera to DX format to get bigger moon. Program 2 shot multiple exposure. Make shot of moon, swing camera to Mosque. Make second exposure. Doesn’t work. Why? I thunder thumbed and programmed the multiple exposure wrong. Curse.

Do multiple thingy button on D3X properly this time. Zoom. Get big moon. Place in upper left. Swing camera to Mosque. Zoom out. Make another shot. This time both exposures pop up in LCD. Say thank you to St. Jude.

Repeat. One more frame. Moon gone.

Sit. Launch card into Aperture. Cool. Push some sliders. Saturate, contrast, sharpen. Got a preset for blog. Go click. Pic on desktop. Put into blog.

Go to breakfast. Try to remember to put on my pants.

More tk….

Okay, I ‘ll give you a hint. He’s at GPP in Dubai. He uses speed lights. And this is the 3rd time in this millennium he has worn long pants. Give up? Mystery man revealed here.

(I also went to his class on social media and if there is anybody on the planet who knows more about the role it is currently playing in our industry, I certainly don’t know them.)

Speaking of knowledgeable people in exotic places, my buds Eddie Soloway and Renie Haiduk are heading for Africa. Both are wonderful shooters and teachers. Eddie’s book, A Thousand Moons, is simply one of the most beautiful books I have ever held in my hands. Definitely check out his website, and Renie’s. Hit this link for info on the Africa trip……

Still in Dubai…..

Rolling along here. In classes last few days, not the desert. Had a seminar day yesterday, so wanted to show the gang the notion of doing a commercial looking, bright, open white background kind of shot that lots of clients love, ’cause it is in fact, bright, white, and they can load it up with logos and type. Also wanted to show you could do a shot like this with TTL small flash.

Cross lit the background, which means taking the right side lights and throwing them to the left and vice versa. Alessia, who is just terrific in front of the camera, is leaping up and basically into the light coming from a 3×3 Lastolite one stop diffuser panel, supported by a c-stand. And there’s a floor skip coming off a 3×6 silver panel laying on the floor, with one SB unit bounced straight down into it. Group A, B, C, all playing together well. We started real small in the seminar, showing options for one light, hot shoed to the camera, and then built scenarios up to this, with a bunch of SB units working together, not only to cover the set, but to give a pretty good recycle time at 1/250th @ 5.6.

And, in the “this just in category,” Syl Arena of the Pixsylated blog madness is the headliner over at sportsshooter.com. Seems somebody figured out Canon flashes:-)

Heading back stateside this weekend……more tk….

Gulf Photo Plus launches in Dubai in a couple of weeks, and I’m stoked to go back to the Middle East. This will be the 4th year for me, and the event just keeps getting better and better. Hats off to Mohamed Somji, Hala Salhi and the whole GPP crew for putting together what has become the premier photo conference and learning center in the Middle East.

Got a bunch of reasons to be stoked, principal among them the faculty who heads yearly to that strange and friendly conglomeration of concrete and glass that is Dubai. The talent and teaching that is offered at GPP simply makes me want to go to all the classes. The workshops run the gamut of skills, from photo-j, to lighting, post production, portraiture, you name it. If you got a jones about getting better at just about any aspect of picture making, this place beckons.

Also happy to participate in a group exhibit over there. My contribution is a bit of my admittedly odd dance photography. Just had the privilege of working with the magnificent dancers of the California Ballet Company, based in San Diego. Up top is Halim Seo, aboard the nuclear submarine Topeka, and below is Jenny Curry, atop the counter at the Night and Day Cafe, on Coronado Island. In the middle, and underwater, is the daring, redoubtable Samantha Knobloch, who plunged gracefully. Dancers are simply wonderful, hard working, creative people to engage with a camera. They literally leap at a creative notion, and somehow, physically transform a vaguely worded idea into something beautiful that belongs much more to them than to the person behind the camera. More blogs tk on this project.

There’s a bunch of events and shows and sponsors over there, to be sure, but the heart and soul of GPP remains the classes. David Hobby (aka St. David of Baltimore) goes every year. This year his classes cover portrait and lighting, but also still life and social media as a tool. Zack Arias brings the one light to Dubai, and Bobbi Lane does her “portraits unplugged” class, among others. (I’m hauling gear like crazy and she gets terrific pictures carrying around nothing more than a damn fill board. It’s not fair. I gotta take that class.) David Nightingale brings his HDR magic, and Matt Kloskowski bails outta Tampa for a few days to teach layers, about which he is the definitive word. (Though I have given him some pointers over the years:-)

Chris Hurtt does a great range of beginner type classes, and Joey L. weighs in on the pressures and processes of heavy duty commercial shooting.  Steve Simon takes his phojo gang out on the streets, and Vincent Laforet explains the transitions and mysteries of shifting from stills to video like no one else can. Melissa Rodwell shows the ways of the fashion world, and Robin Nichols takes folks from behind the lens to in front of the computer.

Did I mention this is a candy store in the desert? The individual classes held during the week are topped off by Photo Friday, which is like a buffet of photo topics, presented in two or so hour blocks, that anybody can drop in on. It’s a bit of a madhouse, but fun. GPP, in it’s short history, has created a definitive, energetic photo community that gathers from far afield every year.

A good example: Did a class last year on location lighting. Good bunch of folks. We got back late, and unfortunately, the bus door opened right at a point in the sidewalk where there was a hunk of metal from an old sign stand poking through the cement. Fadi, one of our stalwart, enthusiastic shooters, struggled out the door with his backpack, and he came right down on the unforgiving protrusion. Boom, broke his foot. He spent the time waiting for the ambulance laying on the sidewalk and worrying about his lighting, his take, and how he would get to class the next day. We tried to assure him his first worry was his foot, which was rapidly becoming the size of the Goodyear blimp.

Next morning, we gather for class, and in comes Fadi, in pain and on wheels, but ready to talk Channel One, Group A. As a teacher, you just have to stand in service of that kind of passion. More tk….