A Free-Hanging Photo Shoot

A Free-Hanging Photo Shoot

Photograph by Mikey Schaefer

For National Geographic photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin, a typical photo shoot involves a rope, a cliff, and a several-thousand-foot climb. In his images, Chin attempts to convey the beauty of the natural world from its highest peaks, which have included Yosemite’s Half Dome (from which he dangles in the photo above) and Everest. As Chin notes, photographing from a swinging rope can sometimes be a shot in the dark.

“Dangling like a spider more than 2,000 feet off the ground never gets old, especially when you're watching the rope seesaw back and forth over the edge of the cliff while you're ascending your fixed lines.

“In the photo, I'm headed back to the top of Half Dome after shooting Alex Honnold climbing on the sheer northwest face of the iconic granite monolith in Yosemite National Park. Shooting from a free-hanging rope, where you're not touching the wall, is especially difficult since you’re slowly spinning in space without any control which way you're facing. Most of the time, as Murphy's photo law would have it, you end up looking out in space with your body facing away from the subject.

“As you can see, I'm hauling out another 60 meters of rope on my harness since I had to rappel close to 400 feet down the rock face to shoot Alex. Ascending ropes with a ton of gear is a great way to get in shape! My favorite part about this image is that I had no idea I'd just shot my first cover image for National Geographic magazine.”