On Saturday, I did the first shoot for new portrait project I’m doing on New Yorkers with their bikes. My friend Melanie was kind enough to come out to McGolrick Park with “Bikey” and be my first subject. This was largely an experimental shoot, with me trying out various angles, focal lengths and lighting setups to try and find what best suits this kind of subject. I already learned a lot of lessons (i.e. made mistakes) that I’m looking forward to taking to the next shoot. One big one is you can’t really overpower the 2pm sun with a couple of speedlights, especially with a 1/200sec sync speed. Find some shade! Which we did for some other shots, but this was my favorite from the day.
Melanie was awesome, weathering the chilly winds and the curious looks from elderly Polish couples with good humor.
You can see some alternate setups here, including a couple of photos of Mel in front of an enormous green naked man.
I’m excited about this project, as it sits at the intersection of my two big passions – photography and biking in New York City. I’ve got a lot more planned, including the launching of an NYC biking-centric photoblog. Stay tuned.
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