First Photo Shoot Reflections

“All things work together for good…”

I was searching through my archives the other day seeking the perfect summery scenes to feature on my IG feed when I stumbled upon a particular folder. Inside it held images from about one year and two months ago when I scheduled my 2nd photoshoot ever.

As I scanned from image to image, I lingered, taking it all in and was instantly transported back to that bright and sunny Saturday afternoon in April 2018 when I was heading to DUMBO with one of my closest friends— she had enlisted in my help to take photos of her in celebration of her 29th birthday, something that she had never done before.

Was I excited? Absolutely! It was an opportunity to start building my portfolio and experiment with portraiture. But at the same time I was nervous as heck. My initial thoughts were How was I going to pull this off? How do I plan this? I was brand new to this whole photoshoot thing and I had absolutely no idea of how to prepare for one (I know that you’re probably thinking “Why didn’t she just Google it?!” Good question! I have no idea why I didn’t do that either, lol). But my biggest concern was whether I would be able to deliver. I didn’t want to disappoint my friend—it was her BIRTHDAY, after all. Luckily, she is a visionary like myself and knew exactly what she wanted, so it took quite a bit of pressure off of me.

The weather was PERFECT; it was a crisp, spring afternoon where the sun was high and the sky was a clear blue. To top things off, I landed the perfect parking spot, 2 blocks away from the Manhattan Bridge at the corner of Washington (anyone who has been to this area knows how nearly impossible parking can be). We set out, moving from one spot to another—from the random fruit stand at the side of the highway to the water’s edge underneath the Manhattan Bridge, to the heights of the roofless buildings and back down to the side street with Mr. Softee and the random, hidden courtyard—gear in tow, but laughing and joking with every step. You would think that people would’ve stopped and stared at us—especially when we held a giant sheet around her so that she could change her outfit—but not even; this is New York City, after all. We even spotted 2 bridal photoshoots along the way!

3 outfit changes, 5 hours, and over 600 images later, I can honestly say that it went pretty well. To this day, I can still look back at a good few of those images and not cringe inside. Everything worked out.

“All things work together for good…”