Joe McNally Making Pictures And Memories

Joe shares his secret for using super-shallow apertures, but still managing to land that ultra-sharp focus

After receiving a number of queries lately about shooting wide open with flash, I thought I’d revisit a shoot I did for a great writer at LIFE books, Dan Levy. We worked together on a book project about a group of veterans who were in combat together in Vietnam.

It was not a famous battle, but it was a deadly one. It happened near a small body of water dubbed Finger Lake, and at the end only 12 of the 35 members of 1st Platoon escaped alive or without being badly wounded. As a unit, they give credit to Lieutenant Lawrence Wilson, whose cool direction under fire enabled them to survive. They get together yearly, to recall and reflect. I had a memorable day with them, hearing their stories, and photographing them.