I invite all photographers to watch the video below from YouTube.com if you really need creative inspiration. World renowned photographer Joe McNally was assigned to do a photo essay for National Geographic back in 2001. The subject was “The power of light”. He needed a way to really depict what light means to man in today’s society and he came up with the absolutely crazy idea of shooting the changing of the light bulb at the top of the Empire State Building (1,454 feet high) using a fish eye lens.
The video goes through him first explaining to the building’s maintenance crew what he wanted to do with the shot and you can see their reluctance to let this crazy photographer guy do something that sounded like certain death. Then the video shows his first three failed attempts because of bad weather and how Joe improvised the shot, using a monopod held above his head to get a better angle with less risk. Then you get to see things from Joe’s perspective and it is a VERY long way down. He’s literally above the light while the maintenance guy is below him reaching up with the replacement light bulb.
I first saw this in Joe’s book The Moment It Clicks but to see it live on video is just downright mind blowing. We sometimes complain that it’s too hot or too cold or the green head flies are eating us alive or the mist keeps fogging up the lens or we bitch about slipping and breaking a leg, etc. After watching this video you may not feel so bad about your shooting circumstances. LOL
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