As noted in previous posts I’ve been doing my share of work at the gallery in downtown New York City. A great opportunity that offers it’s share of rewards and challenges. One of the challenges is when the themes and backgrounds all start to look and like and it starts to get mundane and repetitive. When you find something you love. Whether it be a person, place or thing. You tend to wear it out. Something I hope to avoid if at all possible. Aside from the gallery I’ve had similar finishes to sessions. Heading in the direction of Chinatown and using the same streets and alleys. Yesterday I tried a few new angles at the gallery and instead of heading East towards Chinatown I explored the surrounding streets of Tribeca just to the West. 
Tag: Natural Light
At the Gallery.
I’ve been a member of SOHO Photo Gallery for about three or four years now. Displaying new work month after month alongside the many talented photographers that belong to a COOP who’s membership spans worldwide. Though I hate meetings and may not have learned a whole lot from the folks that were doing this before I was born. I have taken full advantage of the opportunity. Early this year I decided to take advantage of the amazing space and light gallery has to offer. The buildings white walls, old architecture and little nooks and crannies give me lots of inspiration. Not to mention the surrounding streets of Tribeca and Chinatown. I’ve been conducting shoots while the gallery is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Thus far it’s worked out extremely well. I’ve been entertaining the idea of booking night sessions in the future. But for now it’s working out pretty well.
Tuesday afternoon I met up with actress/model Janet before heading uptown to a pre meeting with next Tuesday shoot. Janet is twenty six but her look skus much younger allowing her to take on younger parts that call for more maturity. Though she was very business minded and serious. I was able to get some really good smiles and even a few silly images. As for my meeting later that night. I can’t say enough. The sample images she had sent earlier did no justice to her beauty or personality. Looking forward to our shoot.
The woman’s got a dirty mouth but she’s alright.
Sometimes sessions don’t go as planned. Such is the case for my short meet up with Mariel. Mariel and I have worked together before with much success but our communication was definitely off this time. While my style is very natural and de-emphasizes posing for the most part. Mariels is very much the opposite. On this day we definitely pushed one anothers buttons. Despite some of the mouthy and testy moments (all playful mind you) I managed to catch a couple of unguarded shots which turned out to be my favorites.
Building blocks
I’m sitting here enjoying my second cup of coffee and admiring the shelf I put up last night. It’s a nice shelf I picked up at Ikea a few weeks ago. Thick black particle board with silver brackets. As of now the shelf is empty with the exception of the proudly placed level I left as a reminder of what you can accomplish if you plan ahead and put your mind to it. Putting up a shelf may not seem like much but it represents something important to me.
A few years ago when I moved into this apartment I asked a coworker if he could put up some shelves for me. He was a nice guy and a self proclaimed carpenter/handyman. I had two shelves that needed to be put up in the bedroom and a shelf to be installed in the closet. He asked for $10 an hour which seemed like nothing. Eight hours later he hadn’t finished the job and the work he had done was shoddy to say the least.
I learned a lot that day. What I learned most was “If you want something done right. Do it yourself.”. I always loved tools and carpentry. I’m a total sucker for those shows on HGTV and TLC but my fears of fucking up the job and putting a hole in the wall and messing up the measurement were overpowering. I’m a klutz by nature and don’t always go into things with a game plan. Over the past few years I’ve learned a lot about fear. Anyone can tell you I’m my own worst critic and my fear of failure had gotten in the way of a lot of my goals.
I’m on a path now. No more fear of anything. Everyone fails from time to time. Learning and growing from it is what’s important. In recent years I learned to DJ. I’ve become a much better cook and I’ve taken my studio lighting from dull and predictable to what some people have called “beautiful and elegant”. I like the work I’m doing now but I know there’s plenty of room for growth and there’s still so much to be learned. I’m using the gallery downtown to shoot during the early days of the week. The natural lighting is beautiful but it also presents it’s challenges. The walls are whiter than Barry Manilow and can all together wash out a subject and the success I’ve had in the early morning and around 2:00 pm only make the failures of 4:30 to 5:00 more frustrating. But it is far from insurmountable. I just have to figure it out and adjust. That’s what makes life great. Overcoming the challenges and making adjustments. Learning to deal with change and sometimes roll with the punches. In the future I’ll be putting up more shelves and getting to know and understand the tools that will hopefully bring me success. And when I fail I’ll try not to take it so hard and just learn from it.
Experimenting with natural light in a new environment.
Whenever I’m working at or visiting the gallery I can’t help but think what an amazing space it would be to conduct some photo shoots. It would sure take some of the pressure off working in the small space I currently use. The gallery offers the perfect location in downtown Manhattan and is surrounded by cobble stone streets and edgy nearby alleyways. The gallery itself is spacious with sky high ceilings and provides beautiful natural light. During the mid afternoon the galleries sky light offers one of the most beautiful, angelic glow I’ve ever seen. I thought about the idea of packing my lights and backgrounds to bring to the studio but realized it was completely unnecessary. I wanted to start scheduling some sessions for the beginning of the week but thought it would make sense to do a test run with my favorite new model Diana.
Diana and I met up at 2:00 and after giving her a tour of the gallery got down to business. Shooting at a gallery where every wall is covered with Photography can be a challenge but it turned out to be easier than I first thought. There was plenty of available space by the front and back windows and up in the loft. It felt good to have the space to breath. I felt less clumsy and more confident. Diana looked beautiful and elegant. She’s so natural and comfortable in front of the camera. I don’t even like to use the word “Work” when referring to the times we’ve gotten together. Her expressions in these images may seem a bit melancholy but we were both laughing and joking in between. I’ve worked with a lot of people like that. They can be fun and laughing one second but once that camera comes out they’re all business.
Needless to say the session was a success and I’m really excited to return. It’s always good to find a new spot that inspires you and allows you to try something new. This gives a lot of people an alternative to coming over to Hoboken from the city. It also gives me the opportunity to get out of the studio while allowing me room to breath. 
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