The final word

Shoot someone jumping over a wall: easy, right? Well…

Joe McNally explains just how much work goes into capturing a single perfect action shot

Whenever you get a brief on a commercial shoot, you are often given direction in

very simple terms. The directive for this shot for the Nikon D850 ad campaign was ‘speed and power’. I came up with a few notions, one of which involved parkour athletes. I noted it was young, hip, urban and cool, all appealing qualities for any client trying to target a likely-to-buy demographic.

This was a big team effort. What looks like a relatively simple shot had lots of hurdles to jump to become real. New York City is a wonderful backdrop, but is a jungle of restrictions, permits, insurance requirements and the like. Layer onto that the fact that this wall that the wonderful Nikkie Zanevsky is clearing is in a NYC park, which has its own departmental regulations and requirements. Delving into this paperwork and actually getting clearances to shoot is like trying to climb the Cliffs of Insanity.

But this is where Lynn DelMastro in my studio reigns triumphant. T’s were crossed and i’s were dotted, and I found myself behind the camera, testing the lighting and trying to make this shot happen.

It was not easy. The action is crossing right in front of camera, and I had to use Speedlights at full power in the bright daylight, hence I got one frame per move. I am relying on the D850 to make a split-second AF decision here, and I need to time the action and expression. I am firing multiple SB-5000 Speedlights into a Lastolite 6.5x6.5ft (2x2m) Skylite panel. In some instances, there are more SB-5000 units out on the walkway, zoomed tight, and firing at the back of Nikkie’s hair. We worked on various moves with some wonderful parkour athletes, but this frame turned the corner for the purposes of the ad. It was a long day in the field!

The athletes saved the day, as always, with their power and speed. The D850, coupled with a Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, was also a good partner, sharp as a tack; muggins here just had to hit the shutter at the right time. Lots of work goes into creating that moment, or rather, that 1/500th of a second, over that wall in Brooklyn.