Joe McNally Quotes

Our pictures are our footprints. It’s the best way to tell people we were here.

Don’t pack up your camera until you’ve left the location.

Always remember to make room to shoot what you love. It's the only way to keep your heart beating as a photographer.

Unpredictability. Accidents. Not good when you’re engaging in, say, brain surgery, but when lighting...wonderful!

You’ve gotta taste the light, like my friend and fellow shooter Chip Maury says. And when you see light like this, trust me, it’s like a strawberry sundae with sprinkles.

The most important piece of equipment in your bag is your attitude

If you're not having fun, your pictures will reflect that.

A career in photography is a journey without a destination.

If you view your life as a piece of fabric or a tapestry, the photography is the stitching. It keeps everything together.

John Loengard, the picture editor at Life, always used to tell me, ”If you want something to look interesting, don’t light all of it.

To me, pictures are about memory.

When shooting a story about someone, their hands should always be on your list to shoot.

I can't tell you how many pictures I've missed just 'cause I've been so hell bent on getting the shot I think I want.

The camera’s not a camera, really. It’s an open door we need to walk through. It’s up to us to keep moving our feet.

Technology has eliminated the basement darkroom and the whole notion of photography as an intense labor of love for obsessives and replaced them with a sense of immediacy and instant gratification.