Photos in Time Sqaure

[HotHolly]

So, we usually photograph around MidTexas...however our travels are taking us all over the place. Next week I am doing some shots for a bride in Time Square. I have all my permits and junk worked out, but I havent shot cityscapes - ever. Well, not since I turned pro and figured out how a camera works.

PLEASE give me some tips.

I am planning on being there at 4am on a Sunday morning to avoid traffic. Should I risk traffic and push the time back to sunrise? I thought I could shoot both. Yes, Im nuts. Yes, it may snow.

The bride has a satin gown with a full tool skirt with a chapel train...or at least I think it is.

Shoot suggestions at me like nuts!

West Texas is flat, and where I live, there are no buildings in the shots. The main thing Im worried about is the image looking flat and the lighting being bland...and getting mugged.

Tips greatly appreciated. (that was too many puns for one thread, sorry )

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Plenty of Neon and fancy lights in TS nowdays since Disney Moved in!

Do you have access to a TS lens? Maybe use it to adjust for the buildings and have the bride tilting?

Your best bet would be WET streets throwing reflections all over the place-the brides nightmare is WET streets messing up her dress!

I would shoot when the permit allows! IF she is crazy enough to stand in the middle of the street and you are too the time to do it in TS is that 4:20 am time slot. Now here is a weird idea-how deeeeeeep are her pockets?

Maybe book 10 or so Yellow Cabs and get them to form a pattern that is empty in the center and she is in the empty area and you shoot it from a scissors lift/building window/ballon that lifts you up 40 ft or so, etc. It would cost her about $20 per cab every 15 minutes ($800 an hour) so 10 cabs at that time should not be hard to arrange to get and they may give you a cheaper rate if their engines are not running. Just be sure the cops won't freak over the cars stopped and hope for no traffic or pay to have the street blocked off for that part of the shoot.

[HotHolly]

Thanks Paul...Interesting idea. I dont think her pockets are that deep though. And Im not sure I could coordinate that many cabbies at once. But if I see an old checked cab, I'll totally grab it. I think they have all been put to rest. :o(

So, snowy wet streets would be good? It will mess up her dress beyond belief. Hmmmm...

Any other tips. That was so great, I'm floored! Keep 'em coming!

[HotHolly]

Nobody? I thought a bunch of you shot in metro areas...with tall buildings and glass.

Is it different than shooting with the sky in the background?

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

That is why I said that you should try to get a tilt shift lens so that the buildings don't appear to be leaning on you. (rent one if you have too-they tend to be wider angled but a prime focus but you may be able to find one that has some limited zoom). It allows you to do what the old Large Formats could do in regaurds to lining up your film plain in relation to the building-they ain't cheap by a long shot but will make building look better not sure how it would affect a person in the foreground.

[Daniel Bates]

I would definitely recommend bringing an ultra-wideangle lens (12mm or equivalent). A T/S if you can afford it would be great too...

I'll come along as an assistant, if you want!

[HotHolly]

Thanks Paul! Is that going to be the major issue here? The buildings leaning in? Should I expectt he neon to blow out or to have lighting issues or cold issues or anything? I only have 1 shot, I dont want to screw it up.

Daniel - if these become a regular thing, I'll take the interns to Time Square! You can assist! :o)

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Neon is a lot like Christmas lights "hot" so you need to bracket under either in PS and then meld layers or just do an actual bracket with the camera. Really shooting off a burst of 4 or more shots with bracketing enabled in under one second using a tripod for the camera and if the bride isn't doing twirls in the street should give you a range of images to work with together. So the background neon may use the under exposed shots and the evenly exposed shots with your fill flash would be your bridal layer etc.

Do you get what the TS lens will be doing with the buildings and why you really may want to look into renting one for the shoot? If this is going to be during the dark early morning hours with all that neone going full blast you also don't want those mutlistory signs looking a bit off in the background.

[Donner]

I don't know if these pictures will help, but there is a photographer in tulsa who has a couple of shots like you are talking about up on her blog. I'll include the link to the page that has two examples. I actually went to school with the bride who tagged along, and, as it turns out, i know the groom who in the pictures at the bottom from high school, as well. Go figure. I hope this all helps.

http://lsdunham.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

dt

[Gordon]

Not shot brides there, but if you can get the lighting to look flat and bland here, then you are actually pretty talented ;)

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

Neon is a lot like Christmas lights "hot" so you need to bracket under either in PS and then meld layers or just do an actual bracket with the camera. Really shooting off a burst of 4 or more shots with bracketing enabled in under one second using a tripod for the camera and if the bride isn't doing twirls in the street should give you a range of images to work with together. So the background neon may use the under exposed shots and the evenly exposed shots with your fill flash would be your bridal layer etc.

You should be able to balance the lights with the flash on the bride though - shouldn't need to be merged after the fact - same sort of thing as shooting christmas lights, as you say. Just get the aperture and flash power set up for the bride, then open up the shutter to get the neon and buildings showing the way you want. Might need a tripod if you want to keep that background sharp.

Sunrise would be a great time to do this too - just before at twilight, when the blue (hopefully no clouds!) sky lightens to a point that it exposes well with the neon and then you can mix in the bride with the flash.

[HotHolly]

Thanks for the tips guys!

We decided to shoot Time Sqaure 1st and then move through to a few other locations. I think we'll end over by the Brooklyn Bridge. I am sooooo looking forward to this!

I'll post some when we get back.

:o)

[TexasTrails]

A few other places to consider:

Rockefeller Center - busy but there are good spots right off the street and around the ice skating rink that make for excellent shots. Lots of Christmas decor to boot.

Little Italy - Extremely well decorated with a very romantic feel and taste of Europe. During the holiday seasons part of the streets (Mulberry and Canal) are blocked off to automobiles.

Central Park - Also decorated for the holidays and utilizing one of the many of the horse drawn carriages adds a touch of nostalgia to the scene.

A couple of suggestions:

1. NYC is very windy and cold this time of the year. I highly recommend that you have a full length wool coat for the bride to quickly slip into. Otherwise, she may become to numb and frozen to give you beautiful expressions.

2. Prepare for rain this time of year. Have a couple of large umbrellas for the bride to wait under while you are prepping for a shot. you might get lucky and get snow, but you will see rain for sure.

Good luck and have fun with it!

[Breezy]

Good luck we just got back from there on the 19th

[Daniel Bates]

I wanna see some pictures!