See How These Everyday Superheroes Were Photographed on the Ledge of a Skyscraper

Photography Tips

If your boss asked you to go stand on the ledge of a skyscraper, would you do it? Somehow, a few brave employees over at SmugMug happily agreed to this request, under one condition… they get to be photographed by Benjamin Von Wong as real-life superheroes. Welcome to SmugMug’s most daring photo shoot yet, where nothing is impossible:

“Every time we work with Von Wong, his ideas get crazier. This time, he put our employees on the ledge of a skyscraper.” — SmugMug

As Von Wong says, we’ve seen a lot of pictures of people dangling off of roofs, but we don’t really see it from outside looking in. That’s what he was going for and to get this unique perspective, the crew suspended a camera over the ledge of a skyscraper so the view was a chest-tightening 40-story drop over San Francisco’s busy streets.

Behind the Scenes

Here are a few of the amazing final images that came out of this crazy photo shoot:

“When do you actually get to see the everyday person get to be a superhero? It’s a reminder that all of us, you and I, have it within ourselves to be whoever we want to be.” — Von Wong

The Vertigo-Inducing Setup and Equipment

• A heavy-duty triple riser steel boom stand was set up on the rooftop so a camera could be rigged to it to capture the scene from above and away from the building
• A Nikon D800E with a 14-24mm lens captured the shots
• The camera was wirelessly controlled from a laptop using a CamRanger

Read the full story from Von Wong’s point of view to see how he was able to photograph superheroes on the edge of a skyscraper.

Von Wong has a knack for making people feel at ease and making them feel empowered. Remember his Epic Gym Shoot? Not quite as scary as hanging from a ledge 1,000 feet up, but still, there’s something about how he gets people to push the limits, overcome their fears and look really freaking cool while doing it.

“Seeing them challenge themselves and finding courage where they thought there was none was absolutely inspiring. It is not the lack of fear that makes a superhero a hero, but what they do in the face of fear that makes all the difference.” — Ben Von Wong

All images © Benjamin Von Wong and used with permission.