• Originals
    • Categories
      • Gear
        • Forum
          • Picture of the Day
            • Contests
              • More
                • FS Gear Guide
                • Fstoppers T-shirts
              • Home
              • Advertise
              • Meet the Writers
              • Submit Content
              • Contact

              This Is Crazy! Taking Photos On the Empire State Building’s Antenna

              One of the most famous of all of the national geographic photojournalists is probably Joe McNally. Joe has shot everyone and everything working for Life, Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and countless other highly rated publications. But perhaps his most manic photoshoot of all was a Nat Geo piece for their story The Power of Light. When you step back and think about it, the most obvious photograph for a story on light would be to take a wide angle shot of the guy who changes the light bulb on top of the Empire State Building…yeah most definitely! I never knew there was a video showcasing how this image was created so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. Oh and if you haven’t picked up Joe’s very detailed books about lighting, head over to his Amazon Store and pick up The Moment It Clicks or The Hot Shoe Diaries.

              December 17, 2010
              Patrick Hall
              Tweet
              Aerial
              Architecture
              Editorial
              Favorites
              Location
              Portraits
              « The Winner Of The 72 Hour Photoshop Contest…
              Crazy Cheap “FD” Lenses For Your Canon DSLR »
              • Aaron

                Joe McNally will forever be my hero. He was really the first in today’s “modern photography” age, pulling crazy stunts like this. Bravo, man, bravo.

              • http://flickr.com/tianxiaozhang Tian

                Great video.

              • http://www.rlmorrisweddings.com Lee

                Killer BTS. I’m surprised I’ve never seen this.

              • http://dennywellsphotography.blogspot.com Denny Wells

                Note the date at the end – 3/3/01. I wonder if they could arrange for the helicopter images in today’s tighter environment.

                Great idea, and great perseverance to get the shot, that’s for sure.

              • http://stefanchoquette.com Stefan

                Reminds me of this…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_n3Dln4Y74

              • http://www.nedimimre.com Nedim IMRE

                Awesome….. It looks like so quiet when you’re there despite of the wind and the height….

              • http://www.dafyddowen.com Daf

                Love his books

              • http://www.ghislainleduc.om Ghislain Leduc

                I wouldn’t be able to do this for sure… I am just too scared of heights.. but WOW… What a cool behind the scene. I had the picture cuz I both the book but never saw the behind the scene which is really cool :)

              • Brad

                I’ve changed light bulbs on radio towers….and being up where they were would scare the crap out of me! That takes some balls for sure! Do you know how hard it is to operate a screw driver at that height with the wind blowing you and the tower? I can’t imagine how fast my heart would race up there.

              • Mike

                Wow what a view……

                He has just become a great man in my eyes, Im going to NY i April, I will try to do that myself,,,,,,NOT

              • http://www.donniebelldesign.com/blog/ Donnie Bell Design

                Nope, nope, nope, nope. No way I could do this. He is a man among photographers for this.

              • Ben

                Stefan… that video you linked seriously just made me want to throw up. Like that is un-real un-nerving!

              • http://www.patrickhallweddings.com Patrick Hall Admin

                Ha yeah that tower climb video is horrible…I can’t stand to even watch it. They keep pulling it down on every site because apparently he is breaking the law by free climbing but it’s totally awesome

              • http://polyphoto.org Simon Lynch

                McNally has always been THE photographer for me.

                Boldness, creativity but foremost, never taking this whole thing seriously.

                Trully a great man and teacher (from the video i’ve been watching. Not that i can afford private session with the guy! haha)

              • http://www.zowiscamera.com Zeee

                thats ballsy. i dont know if i would be able to do that in life. sone one would have to have a gun to my head. the pics look great though

              • http://www.alexsalcedofotografia.com Alex Salcedo

                This guy is crazy. Like the Eugene’s Smith photos!

              • pinetree51

                Holy smoke! 

                I wouldn’t go up there for a million dollars. 

                The shot looking straight down almost made me pass out. 

              • Connect with Fstoppers
                Follow @Fstoppers
              • Fstoppers Originals
                • Popular Articles
                • What A Week Of Groceries Looks Like Around The World
                • "Unplugged Weddings": Preventing Guests From Destroying Your Photographs
                • Endearing Animal Portraits By 18 Year Old Photographer Jessica Trinh
                • Color Film Footage From 1920s London is the Coolest Thing You'll See Today
                • Is Facebook the New Breeding Ground for Copyright Infringement?
                • Learn Inexpensive Ways To Create Gallery-Style Works Of Art
                • Raw Comparison: Magic Lantern Canon 5D VS Black Magic Cinema Camera
                • Saudi Arabian Women Unveiled
                • Brad Pitt Photographs Angelina Jolie: Results Are Impressive
                • Samsung "Artfully" Photoshops Galaxy S4 in Place of iPhone in a Stock Image
                • Think Tank Photo Announces New Large Capacity Rolling Bag
                • Creating Creative Portraits By Dragging The Shutter And Adding Movement
                • 3 Minutes Of Setup And 2 Shutter Clicks : The Reality Of Celebrity Portraiture
                • No Joke: Magic Lantern Gets Raw Video Out Of The Canon 5D Mark III
              • Recent Comments
                • Aleksandar Jaredic said Very fun technique :) I played a bit like this: »
                • Guest said Very fun technique :) I played a bit like this: http://www.lexilium.net/wp-content/gallery/jasmine_aleksa »
                • Victor van Dijk said Benro did an amazing job copying the Manfrotto design and then changing (simplifying) it just a little bi »
                • Richard Grebby said hmm, doesnt look big enough for my needs. Can anyone recommend a bag that will hold 4 bowens strobes plus »
                • Kim Long Vo said Good question.I miss when Fstoppers had good posts that I could learn from. Posts like this make me wan »
                • Stephen Melling said Interesting... »
                • Dries Renglé said But.. I do think it's also a geographical thing.. Asian weddings are terrible :) slr's everywhere! I'm a »
                • Dries Renglé said I thought the last sentence was kinda funny :) 'anticipate the flash and include them in the composition' »
              • Support Fstoppers
                 current nikon rebates deals
              • FS Originals
              • Endearing Animal Portraits By 18 Year Old Photographer Jessica Trinh
              • How to Go Pro Without Going Crazy
              • Fstoppers Sits Down with Lara Jade
              • Fstoppers First Look: Sigma’s New 18-35 f/1.8
              • Fstoppers Reviews SLRLounge’s Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop DVD
              • Categories
              • Commercial
              • Video
              • Gear
              • Location
              • Strobe Light
              • Contests
              • Win a 30x40 Print
              • Alien Skin Retouch Contest
              • Win the Art Behind the Headshot
              • Black Rapid Contest
              • Win a Lowepro Bag
              • Random Posts
              • [Free Video] Preview The Art Behind The Headshot With Peter Hurley
              • Free Invoicing, Accounting, Receipts and More with Wave Online.
              • 7 Tech Tools All Photographers Should Use
              • [News] Nikon EN-EL15 Battery Recall
              • [Video] Awesome BTS Look Of Special Effects In Boardwalk Empire
              • Picture of the Day
              • Frankfurt Delay
              • LHD-1
              • Search and Rescue
              • Gallardo
              • Aurora X-Trail
              • Home
              • Advertise
              • Meet the Writers
              • Submit Content
              • Contact
              • Sitemap
              © Fstoppers
              Made by Novum