The Moment It Clicks: Photography Secrets From One of the World's Top Shooters

upstairs and asked her about it. She said, “It’s for luck, Daddy.”

    It’s much bedraggled now—it’s lost its eyes and mouth, and it could use a run through the washing machine. But it’s stayed in my camera bag through wind and rain, bad locations, Godforsaken places, dicey jobs, big jobs, small jobs, bad jobs, you name it.

    Caitlin just turned 22.

     

Know Who You’re Talking To
    “All the while I was sitting at the clink, waiting for news, these guys were home having wine and a nap, waiting for a call from their guy at the jail.”

    Know who you’re talking to. Photo director and editor Rich Clarkson is fond of saying that, and you know, he’s right.
     
    I was in Rome, young and single, on assignment for two weeks, waiting to see if the Pope was gonna die.

    I would go to the hospital every day, and cover the press briefing. Then I would go to the Questura, where they were holding Ali Agca, to see if he would be moved and I could get a shot.
     
    Boy, did this international news newbie learn some lessons! Every day, I would be by myself at the Questura. I would wait, and wait, and wait, and then nothing would happen and I would leave. The guards were amused, shaking their heads.

    Then the perp got moved. And the place was packed when I got there! Italian photographers everywhere. Italian photographers with informers on the police force, that is. All the while I was sitting at the clink, waiting for news, these guys were home having wine and a nap, waiting for a call from their guy at the jail. They were plugged in and I was definitely not.
     
    They moved Ali Agca and I got a picture. Along with a couple hundred other guys.

    So between a stint in Northern Ireland and now Rome, I had been, as they say, on the road for while, you know what I mean? Every day I had to make a number of calls to the States, and I used the phones at the press area of the Vatican. They always gave me the same operator because she spoke English well. She would get on the phone with her lovely Italian accent, “MacNalli, always MacNalli,” she would say. Her voice sounded real nice.

    So I mustered the best manly tones I could and asked, “Perhaps we could have dinner?” I could hear her giggling. “Oh, no MacNalli, I have no money!”

    No problem, I said, I’ll spring for dinner! Ever the gentleman.

    More giggling. “Oh MacNalli, you do not understand. We here at the Vatican switchboard, we are sisters!”

    I hit on a nun. A new low.

     

Maybe One Day They’ll Think You’re Cool

    Self-Portrait on Empire State Building

    It’s tough being a photog dad. You miss a lot of first steps, ball games, recitals, birthdays. When your kids are young, they don’t care or understand that you’re trying to make a living. They just know that you’re gone.

    You try to make up for it in little ways. They become travelers along with you, sometimes. They hopefully get a sense that this is a larger world. They (occasionally) think it’s cool when you show them a cover or a picture of somebody famous.
     
    And maybe, just maybe, years from now, they’ll look up at the blinking light atop the Empire State Building and know that their names are inscribed there.

    “Caitlin and Claire…your daddy loves you.”

    “When your kids are young, they don’t care or understand that you’re trying to make a living. They just know that you’re gone.”

Glossary
    McNally Speak: Other Industry Terms

    arc ‘im Good old-fashioned location fun. Sounds like a mob hit, but just involves an older model Speedotron 2,400-watt-second pack, a metallic reflector pan, and a clueless fnugy. Crank the Speedo all the way up to 2,400. I think on the pack by the dial, it simply said “Whammo!” Ask the clueless newbie to put the reflector pan on the head. This would trigger the tubes right when he was basically kissing the light. Pow! Watch him fly! Chuckles all around.

    bag it Whenever you put a light up, it is advisable to weight it down with a sandbag. It makes the light more secure, safer to walk under, and more inclined to stay upright in a mild breeze. When you don’t have the luxury of a sandbag (you know you are involved in a strange industry when you refer to a bag of sand as a “luxury”), you can always use your camera bag or the strobe power pack as a very expensive sandbag.

    bag the s#!% out of it When you are in the field, even a bit of wind can mean disaster for your lighting, depending on the size of the umbrella or