Jim McNally

My greatest passion is to be able to create an image that the camera sees and that I see in the same way and at the same time. Photography is an extension of my views as I look at the world. It is a pathway to retain and document visual images. The viewfinder creates the frame and I try to fill it with interesting, pleasing or thoughtful images.

I started taking pictures when I was the subject of my dad’s Argus Camera in New Hampshire. I became part of the documentation of his world and realized the importance of the image in capturing one’s most intimate and essential views.

My father was a pilot in the United States Air Force and as a consequence, our family moved every few years on average. His last assignment was at Grissom Air Force Base in Bunker Hill, Indiana, which is where I went to High School. Growing up around airplanes instilled a passion in flight which has followed me throughout my life. I enjoy going to airshows and airports to observe and photograph aviation subjects.

As an undergrad and graduate student at UCLA from 1974 to 1981 I got hooked on taking photographs and the traditional darkroom photograph development process. I was fortunate to be employed as a staff photographer for the UCLA yearbook, The UCLA Daily Bruin and, eventually, for the UCLA photography department. At the conclusion of four years as a UCLA photographer and completion of a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health, I came to a cross roads in my career choice: Photographer or Scientist? I decided to put my academic training to use and chose a career in science over photography. I worked for (what is today) the California EPA from 1981 until 1988 and then as a private sector consultant until 2018.

With more time to ‘focus’ on my photography again, I created this webpage with the hope that you too will see something of interest or even of value. The Portfolio on this site contains images from our backyard as well as all over the world. Some of the locations featured include: Australia, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Indiana, Chicago, Los Angeles, Anza Borrego Desert, Julian and Bridgeport, California.

Jim McNally lives with his wife Karen in Julian, California located in the mountains of San Diego County.

Capturing the Image

The images shown on my website were collected over the past forty plus years, going back to the 1970’s.  They include reproductions of transparencies, color negatives and original digital images.  The transparency and color negative photographs were mostly taken with assorted Nikon and Canon equipment while the digital images were collected using Canon, Sony, Olympus and Nikon cameras and lenses.

The bulk of the digital Canon photography was with an EOS 5D Mark III and more recently with the R5. The Sony photographs were taken with an RX100 VI; this is a great small camera with Zeiss optics.  The Olympus TG-4 is another small camera with good optics that can get wet and dirty without breaking down.  A digital Nikon D300 and Olympus CW8080 were also used for some of my earlier digital photographs. Manfrotto (sturdy and stable) and MeFoto (lighter and more portable) aluminum tripods were used frequently as well, especially for landscapes and shots requiring longer exposure times. Polarizing and neutral density filters are often used for outdoor and landscape shots.

When selecting my equipment, I try to focus on the quality of the images to be produced and also on my ability to match what ultimately will be seen on the screen or in a frame with what I see through the viewfinder.   As most photographers eventually learn, the trick is knowing what the camera sees compared with what you are actually seeing – and manipulating the camera and lenses appropriately to match those up.   Today, what can’t be corrected in the field can then be tweaked on the computer.  I try to minimize the amount of computer corrections employed – mostly cropping and adjusting the light and color balances so that the finished image most closely resembles what I recall seeing at the moment the shutter was activated.