My Favorite Jay Maisel Quotes

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I sat in a darkened ballroom last night and listened and watched as Jay Maisel took us on a tour of light, gesture, and color during his session at Photoshop World. Jay has been creating unforgettable images for decades. He is a member of the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, was the American Society of Media Photographers' Photographer of the Year, and has been honored with the International Center of Photography's Infinity Award. (Photos by Jay Maisel)

During the session, Jay showed us visual examples of how he captures light, color, and gesture to create powerful images. As we were looking at the pictures, he would add tidbits of wisdom, and I've included some of my favorite thoughts here.

On preparing for a shoot... "Try to go out empty and let your images fill you up."

When composing a picture... "Be aware of every square millimeter of your frame."

"If you can capture the element of surprise, you're way ahead of the game."

"I don't see light as something that falls, but as a positive force."

"As people, we love pattern. But interrupted pattern is more interesting."

"Never put lettering in your photos unless you want it read."

On air quality as it impacts composition... "I'm a New Yorker. I don't believe in air unless I can see it."

When finding the right angle for a shot... "Move your ass."

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a workshop by Jay Maisel or study his work, I highly recommend it. He shared a terrific closing anecdote with me after his talk last night. I thought I'd close with it here.

"A friend of mine brought a cardboard box to one of my presentations. I asked him, why the box? He said there will be two groups of people in the audience today. Half will leave before the presentation is over because they will have to go outside and take pictures. The other half will want to leave their cameras in this box."

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4 Comments

The anecdote made me laugh. Thanks for your blog & podcasts. I'm a fan.

Great article.

Jay is an inspirational photographer and philosopher to me. After watching A Day with Jay Maisel and Scott Kelby shot in New York, and listening to his quotes he really inspired me. Mr. Maisel also brought my 70 to 300mm glass back to life (one of Jay's favorite lenses), I use it almost every day now.

Randy

I'VE KNOWN JAYFOR 40 YEARS.WHEN WE FIRST MET I WAS A PRODUCTION

SUPERVISOR AT CBS NEWS.I WAS ASSIGNED TO ESCORT JAY THROUGH THE

FACILITY.WE HIT IT OFF THE MINUTE JAY ASKED,"WHAT DO YOU CALL A FISH

WITH NO EYE?" FSH.THAT HOOKED US.WE JOLD JOKES FOR A

WEEK,RECALLED

OLD MOVIE COMEDIES,VAUDEVILLE ROUTINES,STAND UP SILLINESS AND A 0N

AND 0N.OUR CONNECTION HAS LASTED SO LONG NOT BECAUSE OF

PHOTOGRAPHY. JAY SHOOTS IN COLOR AND USES MEDIUM TO LONG

LENSES.I PREFER B/W AND WIDE ANGLES 21 MM TO 28MM.WHAT CONNECTS US IS HUMANITY.JAY'S

A BETTER HUMAN BEING THAN HE IS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND THAT'S SAYING A LOT, BECAUSE HE

CAN SHOOT.FYI,I WAS THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AT HIS WEDDING.THE THREE HUNDRED

SIXTY FIFTH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER. WITH SHAMELESS SICILIAN PASSION ,MEL DI GIACOMO

Great article!, thanks for sharing this. Jay is a great teacher, I was fortunate to do his workshops and wrote a blog post about it. Not sure if it's ok to share here so I apologize in advance. Just wanted to contribute to sharing Jay's wisdom
http://juanjosereyes.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/ten-things-i-learned-from-jay-maisel/

Thanks

Juan