The Moment It Clicks was born during a digital photography workshop up in Vermont. We were up there shooting fall color, and it was the opening night of the workshop (I was there as a guest instructor, along with my best buddy Dave Moser), and after the other instructors had given their presentations (including legendary wildlife photographer Moose Peterson, and landscape photography hot shot Laurie Excell), Joe McNally took the stage to finish off the night with his presentation.

So, Dave and I are sitting in the back, and McNally kicks into high gear. Joe is one of the most captivating public speakers you’ll ever meet, and the whole class is ooohing and ahhhhing each time a new image comes up, and he’s got us laughing out loud one moment, and in tears the next. But Joe’s not just showing off his work, he’s a brilliant teacher and he’s tossing out these incredible little nuggets—the tricks of the trade, the real “meat and potatoes” stuff—and we’re all hanging on every word (and scribbling notes as fast as we can write).

Every time Joe starts a sentence with, “An editor at Time once told me...” or “My editor at National Geographic once said...” we all grab our pens because we know another nugget is coming our way. At one point, Joe is talking about lighting people on location, and he gets to that point where he says, “An editor once told me...” (I won’t spoil it for you here), and then he shared something so simple—it was just one sentence, but my buddy Dave and I both looked at each other and got these huge grins, because at that moment it clicked. At that moment, a concept I’d read entire books on just suddenly, and almost magically, all made so much sense. It all came together at once. It was “the moment it clicked.”

When the class was over, Dave and I were just blown away. It was all we could talk about. At one point, I looked at Dave and said, “Ya know, if all I took away from this workshop were Joe’s amazing one-liner nuggets, it would be absolutely worth the $795 I paid for this workshop, because I learned more about photography in that one hour than I have in the past three years.” Dave couldn’t have agreed more.

The next morning, Dave and I were both still reeling from what we had learned, and I said to Dave, “I would pay anything for a book of just Joe’s little nuggets—just those one-liners.” That’s when it hit me, I had to talk Joe into doing that book. Dave was all over it and we started brainstorming exactly what that book would look like.

What I really wanted to do was take what Joe does live and transfer it to paper, because it all works so brilliantly together. For example, in Joe’s class, he throws out a nugget and then—BAM!—a photo appears onscreen that so perfectly illustrates what he’s talking about that it bowls you over. Then he illustrates how he got the shot (and teaches the class how to get a shot like this of their own). It’s a clever three-pronged approach, and I don’t know if he does it that way consciously or not, but it really packs a punch. I wanted that same effect in book: a three-pronged approach, a triangle of learning that would be unlike any other photography or teaching book out there.

After our dusk shoot that night, I sat down with Joe and convinced him that this was the book he had to write. I told him how his quotes and images had totally connected with Dave and me, and how he needed to share his gift for teaching, and his amazing images, with more than just the incredibly fortunate 20 people at this workshop. He needed to take it to the next level, and basically, here’s what I said: “Picture a two-page spread, and on the left page is one of your quotes. One of those ‘An editor once told me...’ stories that breaks it down to the bare bones. Then, on the facing page is the image you use in class to bring that story home, to ‘seal the deal’ in their minds, and then we’ll tell the back story. The story of how it all came about, what happened at the shoot, and how the reader can get the same type of shot. Just like you do in class.”

By the time I was done with my pitch, we had a deal, and the book you’re holding now is what was born that day during that wonderful Vermont workshop.

As we started development of the book, we learned something about Joe. He has the wonderful gift of talking to the reader just like he’s talking to a friend, but apparently Joe’s friends are all high-end professional photographers. For example, at one point Joe and I are talking, and I asked him about how he got a certain lighting technique on a subject, and he said “Oh, I just sparked her with a pepper” (looking at me like I would answer, “Oh, of course”). I realized then that we’d be adding a fourth element to our three-pronged teaching method: footnotes that explain what all these colorful “on the set” slang terms mean. In fact, Joe took it one step further by adding a special glossary section in the back of the book, so you can call up your photography buddies and drop some “McNally Speak” on ‘em, like “I pushed in wide and popped a strobe with a tight grid and a red gel under a 12×12′ silk.” They won’t have any idea what you mean. But very soon, you will.

We also added a special section to the back of the book that I think you’re going to love, because it breaks from our four-pronged approach, and gives some real insights into the man behind the camera, as Joe shares some fascinating, hilarious, frustrating, and often touching stories of a life spent behind the lens. When I was reading this collection of stories, I could just picture Joe at the bar, after a long day shooting, sharing “war stories” with his fellow photographers, and that’s why we call this section “The Barroom.” It’s a perfect way to wind down the book, and I think you’ll really get a kick out of what he has to share.

So, that’s a little history on how the book came to be, and hopefully this gives you a little glimpse into the journey that lies ahead. One that teaches you concepts you never thought you’d grasp, that challenges you to try things you never thought you would. One that takes you places you’ve always wanted to shoot and uncovers a side of professional photography that is as funny as it is fascinating.

Joe McNally, your guide and teacher, is not only the very best at what he does, but Joe is truly one of the most genuine, big-hearted, and downright lovable guys in the business. His passion for sharing what he’s learned comes across in everything he does, and I’m so proud to introduce this one-of-kind photographer, instructor, and author to you, as his amazing images and thoughtful words take you to “the moment it clicks.”