Had a blast shooting at one of my favorite outdoor locations in the city. We were down on the cobblestone streets of the meat packing district -Gansevoort St. Great time, great people and an awesome crew. Call time for the shoot was 11am for the first model and then the rest were arriving at 3pm! Yikes! I was trying to get everyone on location by 7am! Got ruled out. So of course, I had that brutal bright sun high in the sky to deal with. Fortunately, most of the day was spent in the shaded section of the street. We were finishing up a few shots of Janine and I realized it was getting late and the sun was now at that lovely point in the sky, setting in the west, casting a beautiful glow as it made it's way out. Looking west down Gansevoort St, the light was shooting right up the block and looked awesome. I wanted to get Janine over there asap and do some shots. My photo assistant Dave Mack began to break down gear and Janine went to change outfits. We headed down street which quickly narrowed and was flanked by construction of all kinds on either side. Watching the light, I yelled out for Janine to quickly get in the middle of street. I did a quick test shot exposing for the ambient light and then had Dave get ready with a Nikon SB-800 to light Janine from front. The first test shot (above) had me amped! It was EXACTLY what I wanted- That gorgeous, golden rim light with her blonde hair. As we're just about ready to get into it an fire off with the flash, a car comes down the street and we all move out of the way. We get ready to shoot again and another car comes. Then another. Within seconds it seems, I lose the sun! Huge clouds completely take away my light. Bummer. We waited a bit, thinking the sun would return but no such luck. Lost it. If only we had moved west sooner. All good! I loved this shot immediately, even without Janine being lit from the front. Below, is a shot when we lost the sun/rim light and just have the flash. Not bad, but really wish we didn't lose that sun! We've got a another shoot with Janine soon on the beach. Will have plenty of use of that setting sun and golden hour of light.
Model: Janine Leishear