Years ago, when the notion of onboard slave eyes in hot shoe flash was a new thing, I shot a street scene somewhat similar to this, with the Speedlights all triggering with line-of-sight technology. Fun pic, hard to do, but we managed. Obviously, line-of-sight works perfectly well, except of course when your lights are perhaps behind a wall, or inside a building. One of the reasons I have welcomed radio TTL technology is that it makes a picture like the above, a much more amplified version of the older pic, much more doable. I stop short of saying easy. Let’s just keep it at doable 🙂
So the below was older style tech, and I think, if memory serves, we used about sixteen flashes or so. Street corner in NYC.
The new street scene up above in the header was 32 Speedlights, 18 of which were controlled by radio, which is the max for the new radio TTL SB-5000 system. The others (a mix of SB-5000 and SB-910 units) triggered off of the radio units, using the traditional, onboard slave eye. It was much easier to work this out, though the pre-shot game plan below doesn’t completely indicate, well, simplicity.
You’ve got six groups with the SB-5000, and we used all of them, dividing the buildings and floors each into a separate group. Camera lived across the street and I shot this with a D850 fitted with a Nikkor 24-70mm lens. The picture above with the lunatic scrawl on it was from an early scouting picture and the scene depicted here is in the lovely burg of Tarrytown, NY, just by the Hudson River. The pressure was on, a bit, as we had to get this scene lit and be ready by sunset. No givebacks, no do-overs. The authorities in Tarrytown were super helpful, but we were kind of a big deal out there on Main St. We had police helping direct traffic, permissions from the shop owners, models hired, crew racing around like crazy. We couldn’t come back and try it again, in other words.
Here’s a couple BTS snaps of lights being stashed, the overall scene.
Hidden lights.
It was great fun, and one of the best parts about it was that most of the model crew had posed for the studio before, so we knew each other, and had a blast.
Lynn, our magical producer/studio manager, wrote about it on her FB page.
A truly EPIC shoot! Okay, okay, no easy feat! (all totaled it was about 6-weeks of production). The biggest hurdles were getting the picturesque Village of Tarrytown on board, as well as the fantastic business owners: Main Street Sweets, Set Back Inn, and Anjelica’s Deli. Next up was putting together the amazing cast of 21 people (and of course Otis the dog :-): (left to right) Ava & Raelynn Lindsay Brooke, Jeanne O’Brien, Christine Prendergast, Madeleine Keating, Laeticia Harrison-Roberts, Ryan Aiken, Andrew Tomasino, Polly Wood-Holland, Christina Benitan, Nik Pjeternikaj, Elijah Gravely, Marsha Larose, KariNa Chimbo, Kent Miller, Phil Nedwick, Jeff-Cheryl Cali, and Dan Manning, & Otis. As always, knew I could count on our A-Team crew: Michael Cali, Andrew Tomasino, Mike Grippi, Lynda Peckham, Anne Cahill, Deborah Engelsman, Nicolae Rita, Brittany Childs, Samantha Brown Peterson, James McAlvanah, Anabella Pope, and Jon Klein. Additional thanks to Sweet Grass Grill, for serving up delicious food all day to cast and crew! Needless to say, we have a lot of love for Nikon USA #nikonlove!
A shoot like this would test the mettle of any producer, but Lynn is, well Lynn. She has conjured elephants in the desert, upside down planes in the sky, a truck turned into a photo studio sitting on some of the most secure property of the NYC government, and now, this. Truly amazing.
The additional fun thing for me was the ice cream store in the shot was the same one I brought my kids to when they were small. The circle continues….
More tk….
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Simply amazing – thank you for the inspiration!
My memories of Tarrytown…. taking the train to NYC for the first time…. and tearing it up. LOL Great shot Joe!!!
Fantastic image Joe, it really overheats my brain when trying to use three or even four speedlights, I don’t know how you manage to do it with 32, to find a specific use for each one of them, that’s remarkable.
Hey Joe, Great shot as always! Love all the behind the scenes info. It takes a lot to orchestrate a big shoot like that. So many variables! A model can move out of their light, a flash can fail to fire, an available light can quit on you, the sun sets behind a building. All the prep and all the timing, amazing! I love how you perfectly balance all the lights. What do you do if one of your available lights is too hot, like a streetlamp, store LED sign, etc.? Neutral Density gels? Any way, I really love seeing this! Thanks for always being so generous with your knowledge and experience! Cheers!
Wonderful image as usual Joe. While Lynn remembers the Ice Cream store, I remember the Setback Inn ………
Unbelievable… I don’t how you make it but you always put another one on top of the other. Not to talk about how to manage that many lights. I just love these images!
Creativity + great production + great talents + great photographers = one of a kind photo. Only Joe Can Do! Thanks for sharing.
What a stunning picture – the lights are one thing, but the posing is something else! 2nd floor on the left. Kid in the doorway on the right. Guy with phone in right doorway.
Attention to detail is all.
Ok Joe… After the amazing heli shots above NYC, I thought you already pushed the limits very far. But NOW! WOW! This is what I call “pushing the limits”! Amazing team work and great result. Thank you for showing us the way, as always. I salute you!
I look forward to you walking us through this shot when your over here later in November, in London, at the workshops.
Glorious! Pushing Nikon speedlight tech to the limits is really a Joe McNally kind of thing, great job!
Thank you Edwin…it was hectic out there, but fun….
Will do, see you next week!
That’s the thing, for sure, Tim….bigger the job, seemingly, the more attention needs to be paid to the smallest of stuff.
Thank you Dave! Really appreciate the kind words….
very beautiful
Hi Joe, thanks for sharing this great shot. Curious as to specs on shutter speed, aperture and ISO.
Whats is great about Joe McNally is that the light in his photos seem very natural and beautiful and does’t seems like coming from speedlights even though he uses a lot of them. Simply marvellous.
Thank you for posting this written account of this epic shot. As a photographer who uses wireless strobes often, I really geek out about the “how” and “where” of mounting speedlights in difficult places for maximum effect. I find that having a gaffer and experienced movie guy on my crew makes this type of lighting so much easier. They also “see” where things need to be and get my vision. Kudos to you in giving props to your crew and the businesses involved…takes a village!
Hi back…thanks for taking a look….pretty straightforward on tech stuff…. 1/250 @f8, ISO 200…..all the best…
Genius work! Joe, I was wondering what your position is on the Profoto A1. I know you are invested in the Profoto ecosystem, so the A1 seems like a logical choice. But then you have the relationship with Nikon…
Seems like a well designed unit. I have not had my hands on it yet, so can’t speak to anything. Still happy with the SB-5000 units and in a way, still exploring with them and figuring out how to push them even harder…..
It really amazes me how you put in so much for a seemingly effortless nightshot! Really creative ways of lighting – thanks for sharing 🙂
Much ado about nothing, I’ve seen better lit street shots, minus ‘models’ done by amateurs weekly.
Really nice and amazing work.
Have to ASK —- Does 32 Tudor Lane ring a bell?
Yes, we lived there, and my mom, in particular lived there for many years.
Back in 1979 you followed me on the Green Knolls mail route, snapping away for hours. I have one shot in my files, but don’t know how to transmit it to you. I think you translated some of that days work into an exhibit at Grand Central Station involving “Take your KId to Work”
Wow, that was a long time ago….yikes. I still don’t recall the pictures, to be honest, but there’s been a lot of clicks since then! All the Best, Joe
You can always send a photo to our co*****@jo********.com address….
thank you.The post is useful