August 14th, 2011
I should have posted this about a month ago, but in my desperate method of dropping myself in here and hitting the streets to find a place to live, this blog post got moved to the waaay back burner. What I thought would only take a few days to find a place ended up taking a month. I'm a deal shopper and I learned quickly that there aren't a lot of deals to be found on places to live in Manhattan (they're out there, but you have to leave no stone unturned). Basically what you can get for a mortgage payment in New Mexico will get you a closet space here- in an old building with bad water pressure. So I searched and searched until finally two weeks ago I moved in to my new, really cool apartment with a nice view.
A change of venue like this means a change in my productivity as a commercial photographer. One doesn't just show up as the new kid on the block in the most competitive and high-standards photography market in the world and just start taking over photo gigs. It's a world of difference in how things work here, but I knew that coming in. I'm here to learn and reach a higher level as a photographer, and to work with other professionals to create visuals that I could not achieve in New Mexico. I still have my clients that I earned before the move, but now it's more of a commute schedule to work out.
On any given day there are more than 30,000 working photographers here doing photo shoots for various commercial and editorial projects as well as video. Some would see that as a glass half empty, but I see it as a good thing- it means that there are clients here and an economy for good photographers. Just need to jump into the mix and start somewhere. New York is a fashion photographer's playground anyway, so at the very least it's a great place to shoot for portfolio- just ad models, makeup, hair, styling.....wait what's that? Where does one get those people? Well, if you want professionals or at least people who know what they are doing, that indeed is a task in itself. If you want to see what a professional set looks like, see my previous post on the Express label shoot in Times Square that I attended.
Here's a few shots that I've taken along the way during my first few weeks in Manhattan. Some are touristy post card shots, but some took quite a bit of late night subway rides across town to some dodgy areas, and a few with a special photo rig I had to use because tripods aren't allowed on tops of certain buildings.
Here's to new beginnings, cheers.
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