P#25: Human Flight Photography (Aviation and Dance) Show Notes -- An Interview with Joe McNally

Legendary photographer Joe McNally reveals the secrets of human flight photography

By Audri on November 11, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Human flight photography is a combination of photographing aviation and dance. Joe McNally sat down for a 7 Photography Questions interview with host Dr. Audri Lanford and revealed a few of his trade secrets. Fortunately, there is no one better to combine these two very challenging subjects.

Show Notes for 7 Photography Questions Interview With Joe McNally

Topic: Human Flight Photography
Host: Dr. Audri G. Lanford
Guest: Joe McNally
Main Website: JoeMcNally.com
Locations: Ridgefield, CT and Boone, NC

This episode of the "7 Photography Questions" Podcast is sponsored by SmugMug and SecretsofMasterPhotographers.com.

7 Biggest Questions for Joe McNally

1. Can you tell us about your first flight while you were doing a story for Sports Illustrated? What are a couple of your favorite stories from your National Geographic coverage of the 100th anniversary of flight? How about photographing the Blue Angels?

2. Can you give some suggestions about position, angle, glare, light and how to handle the position of the sun in taking photographs of planes? How do you approach motion?

3. How do you approach getting photographs under weightless conditions?

4. Can you take us through your mindset and approach to capturing dancers in photographs? What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started photographing dancers?

5. What advice can you give our listeners who want to take photographs of their kids dancing and performing?

6. Can you share a few of your favorite photography secrets that apply to photographing human flight?

7. Would you suggest one or two exercises our listeners can do to improve their photographs of flight?

Photographer Bio

Joe McNally is an internationally-renowned photographer and photojournalist who has captured amazing images in locations as diverse as outside from the top of the Empire State Building... to the cockpit of a jet aircraft... to an operating room. From 1994 through 1998, he was the staff photographer at Life Magazine, the first one in 23 years.

His impressive client list includes: Nikon, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, General Electric, Sony, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated.

Joe's work has been widely acclaimed, receiving awards such as the prestigious Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Outstanding Magazine Photography and numerous awards from Communication Arts.

He's photographed several major projects, including the Faces of Ground Zero -- Portraits of the Heroes of September 11th; The Future of Flying: Images Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Flight; and the Bolshoi Ballet.

Joe teaches a variety of workshops around the world, including the Eddie Adams Workshop, National Geographic's Masters of Contemporary Photography, and the Maine Photographic Workshops. His most recent book is titled "The Moment it Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters."