It’s Not About the F-Stop

Jay Maisel has been hailed as one of the most brilliant and gifted photographers of all time. But he is also much more than that-he is a mentor, teacher, and trailblazer to many photographers, and a hero to those who feel Jay's teaching has changed the way they see and create their own photography. He is a living legend whose work is studied around the world, and whose teaching style and presentation garner standing ovations and critical acclaim every time he takes the stage.

In his first educational book, Light, Gesture, and Color, Jay put his amazing insights and learning moments from a lifetime behind the lens into a book that communicated the three most important aspects of street photography: light, gesture, and color. Here, in It's Not About the F-Stop, Jay builds on that success to take you beyond the buttons and dials on your camera to continue to teach you how to "see" like a photographer, and how to capture the world around you in a way that delights, intrigues, and challenges the viewer. Each page unveils something new and inspires you to rethink everything you know about the bigger picture of photography. This isn't a book about f-stops or ISOs. It's about seeing. And nobody communicates this, visually or through the written word, like Jay Maisel.

Photographer Jay Maisel’s career spans 61 years. His name has become synonymous with vibrant color photography that uses light and gesture to create countless unforgettable images for advertising, editorial, and corporate communications. His pictures appear in books and private, corporate, and museum collections. Some of his commercial accomplishments include five Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers, the first two covers of New York magazine, and the cover of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. Included among his many awards for excellence are the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, American Society of Media Photographers’ Photographer of the Year Award, and the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award.

Since he stopped taking on commercial work in the late 1990s, Jay has continued to focus on his personal work. A graduate of Cooper Union and Yale University, he continues his education by teaching younger photographers at workshops, seminars, and lectures around the world, and has developed a reputation as a giving and inspiring teacher.