So long, NYC!

So I just arrived back in 'the mitten' after a VERY exhausting and exhilarating month in the big city. First of all, my apologies for not posting while I was there - it was indeed a very busy and crazy month, and I had very little alone time. I was staying with one of my best friends, Nick Rapaz, in an extremely tiny and cramped apartment in Brooklyn. He made a huge sacrifice to help me out and I'm forever in his debt.

While there I worked four days a week at Platon's studio in Soho, and on Wednesday I traded out with another intern and worked at Art Department just up the street. It was a blast. I learned SO much about the industry from both places, and everyone was so warm and open. I really feel that I made some great connections there on both a personal and professional level.

We made it out to Coney Island one weekend to shoot and I brought along my newest toy: a 21mm extension tube for my Hasselblad. Combined with my 80mm lens I was FINALLY able to get in close (read as: REAL close) for some portraits of my new friend Franziska.


Later in the trip I had the opportunity to go to the Lucie Awards, which were held at Lincoln Center. They're basically the 'Oscars of photography,' and there were a ton of big names in attendence. It was great to see some old familiar faces, and also a lot of fun to get all dressed up (black tie optional) and go out for a nice 'adult' evening!

The PDN PhotoPlus Expo was also a great experience. On the first morning, Thursday, I helped out my old friend Joe McNally with his seminar class before rushing off to an afternoon shoot with Platon. I won't bore you with all of the details, but I will say that 50 Cent is not only amazing good looking but also ridiculously insightful and well-spoken. I learned a lesson that day in preconceptions. The next day, Friday, I had a class in the afternoon about websites and self-marketing for emerging photographers, which was great. I also had the chance to meet up with some old friends from the Workshops, Mike Sakas, Mike Donnor, Sarah Law, Leah Tepper-Byrne, Sara Stathas, and of course Nick. We teamed up with Jamey Stillings and Andrew Eccles and went out for nice dinner before a contingent of us hit a very cool bar on the east side. It was so great to see everyone again. The next morning I arrived at the Expo early to help out at the Workshops booth on the exhibitor floor and then went to another class with past winners of PDN's '30.' It was a great weekend!

Now that I'm back 'home' for awhile with a lot of free time on my hands, I'm going to try and shoot more. I was lucky that my good friend Maria did not go into labor while I was away, and I got to take some shots of her and her belly. Those negatives are drying as we speak, so I'll post them soon if they turn out. I'm trying to arrange to shoot people coming out of the polling place on Election Tuesday, and I'm in the middle of researching my rights to shoot there and the things I'll have to watch out for so that I don't get shut down. Hoping to get a few shots of some 'first time voters.'

That's all for now, it's a long enough post as it is. More to come, as usual...