Report: Industrial Climbing

I've always been fascinated by good craftsmanship. It doesn't really matter to me whether the work is a painting or a wooden chair or a musical instrument. Malicious tongues may claim that this is because I'm a lazy bastard who prefers watching other people do the actual work.This may partially be true, but in truth I simply enjoy the company of people who are passionate about their work. Recently I had the chance to follow my friend H.G. as he replaced a couple of huge advertising banners high above Munich. A demanding job for two to three guys, H.G. does it regularly on his own each month.


A job like this requires keeping track of multiple ropes, biners and knots, each one crucial for a) keeping the whole rig from turning into one huge ball that will keep you occupied for a week in order to unravel again and b) keeping you from getting killed. Like many jobs that involve heights, big machines or aggressive animals, it's tough to find the right balance between doing your job efficiently and always keeping in mind that fucking up can mean that you hurt yourself. Although the risks are all controllable, stupid mistakes or a moment's inattention can have pretty drastic consequences.



Weather was windy, crisp and clear, which meant great conditions for me but rather unattractive conditions for the one doing the actual work. Later, the sun was coming out and the snow on the roof started melting, dripping down on us as HG was struggling to undo dozens of frozen knots with numb and hurting hands.



It turned out to be a long day, and although I wasn't the one doing the actual work, I was dead tired when we finally wrapped up.

TECH STUFF

Most of the above shots were taken in manual mode with my SB-600 firing off camera via the D90's pop-up flash commander. I was lucky that the building had a huge row of windows just above the top of the banner, so I could shoot from these most of the time. Much easier than I had anticipated and also much less hassle for HG.

One very important piece of advice: Anytime when heights are involved you have to ensure that you and your gear can't take a dive! Always make sure that you have some sort of safety measure in place, even in places that might seem relatively safe. I spent most of the day leaning out of windows and even then I made sure to attach myself to some sort of anchor in case I slipped. Sure, it was annoying dragging a rope around all day. But when you're all hot for the perfect shot and you're leaning out of that window to get the right angle, bad things can happen pretty fast. An icicle may hit you on the head or someone who doesn't pay attention might knock into you. It's not worth it. Make sure you're safe all the time!

And always keep your gear secure as well! Besides the fact that it can cost you a lot of money if your precious camera with lens

and flash decides to hug the pavement, you can -plain and simple- kill someone with that stuff! I know all the additional straps and ropes are a nuisance but it's a small price to pay in order to keep the people around you safe!
I usually like to secure the flash to the camera while the camera's neck strap is rigged to my climbing harness. I don't carry the camera around my neck as I find it restricts movement too much. While rigging it to your harness does prevent the camera from falling on someone's head, it doesn't keep it from swinging into the wall below you and damaging the lens. Carrying the camera around your neck would be the safest way, but I prefer freedom of movement to the safety of my equipment. (Dropping your gear is, after all, still unlikely)

One more piece of advice: When shooting all day, make sure to stay fed and try to rest anytime you can. Pressing a button all day might not seem like the most strenuous of activities, but it does wear you out. Having a couple of candy bars in your camera bag pays dividends when you've been running around all day and never found the time to eat something. People worry endlessly about better image quality when buying new cameras, but a fed, warm and rested photographer is the key to good image quality. If you are hungry, wet and tired, you start to be indifferent about your subject. You opt to wait inside when your subject heads out onto the roof "just to check something". You start loading your camera gear into your car before the subject has left the scene. You are too lazy to jumar another ten feet just to try yet another angle. Treat your body well and your images will thank you!