Last week I was in NYC photographing Alan, a photogenic twenty-something NYU graduate student living in Brooklyn. Alan’s main objective for the shoot was to capture photos with an “urban feel.” With his background in urban planning and given our surroundings, this wasn’t difficult to accomplish.
To be totally honest, the logistics of the shoot came together at the very last-minute. We knew only two things; 1) we wanted a view of Manhattan in the background and 2) we had only one morning to get it done. To shoot from Brooklyn with Manhattan in the background, and to avoid harsh lighting and shadows, we had to be out there at sunrise. The tough thing about photographing at sunrise in the summer is that sunrise is at about 5:20 am! By the time we got to the Brooklyn Promenade (late start) we had only around 10 minutes before the sun would be up so we scrambled to get into position, setup the lighting, and start shooting.
After we finished at the Promenade we knew we could get a few more shots from the awesome morning glow. We ventured to Washington Street and Brooklyn Bridge Park to get some shots with the Manhattan Bridge and city in the background.
All-in-all this was a fantastic, and exhausting, shoot. Once we saw the final result it was clear that the early morning hours and sleep deprivation were well worth it!
