I’ve been wanting to get back to New York City for a few months now, but I know I needed to shoot a couple in the city; it’s been on my mind for awhile. I was last there in late September, and spent the two days shooting street.

About a month and a half ago or so, one of my friends and clients, Jose, reached out to me and said that they had friends in NYC who were interested in hiring me for engagement photos in New York City. He had showed them my work while visiting the city, and within the next couple of days, I had an email waiting for me.

Before I knew it, I was hanging out inside their living room while they got ready. Prior to arriving and in the weeks leading up to it, we hopped on FaceTime a few times, which resulted in an instant connection, and immediate friendship between us.

Eventually, as the light faded, we walked out of the apartment on the Upper West Side, and onto the street lined with historic Brownstones.

From there, well, I’ll let you have a look at what we got into throughout the night. This turned out to be everything I imagined NYC engagement photos could be.

Soon after we wandered around their neighborhood, the light completely dissipated and we went searching for the bright lights, and constant movement within the city. From their neighborhood, we hopped on the subway, and over the proceeding 3 hours, road all through Manhattan in search of scenes that made us feel something. Scenes that hit home for Danny & Arianna; after all, that was our entire goal for the shoot.

To simply make images that encapsulated the two of them.

WITHOUT AN AGENDA

To be quite honest, I didn’t really pay too close of attention to where we got on and off the subway, although I imagine these two would be more than able recall what stops we got off and on at. It felt like most of the evening we were just hanging out, riding the train with really no agenda other than to pay close attention to our surroundings. We found so many hidden gems just off the sidewalks; I couldn’t believe my eyes. It felt like I was seeing everything through a new lens.

These ones are a few of my favorites from our random pull offs while walking. I’d get an idea, and then moments later the perfect scene would present itself to execute the concept. A lot of these images were inspired by cinema and the curiosity surrounding the city.

WHY ON ANALOG FILM?

I had been dreaming about shooting in the city at night for so long, it felt like everything finally clicked when we got about an hour into our adventure through the worlds greatest city. I quickly began noticing compositions to accentuate the city, and their overflowing love. Everything seemed to be lining up perfectly, and it became second nature to casually stroll, stop for an image, and then to continue on in pursuit of the next frame.

I chose to shoot the majority of this with my Leica M6, and the entirety of the shoot on analog film. I did end up breaking out my Pentax 67 for two rolls eventually, but the majority of these were made with the M6. I prefer to shoot most of my work at a 35mm focal length, and my plan worked perfectly. I paired my cameras with Cinestill 800t and Portra 800 to give myself enough room to breathe in low light situations. I’ve been shooting 90% film at most of my sessions and weddings all year, and this shoot in particular didn’t require any sort of digital camera. I knew I wanted this to turn out a specific way. I knew for a fact that I needed this session to be all on film to ensure the experience was what I wanted for my clients. We took our time. We waited, hung out, and actually made art.

SWITCHING IT UP

After a little while of walking through the neighborhoods, we decided to pop into a local bodega for a few shots before we got back onto the subway to head back towards the Upper West Side. We had talked about this idea over facetime, but we weren’t sure if the opportunity was going to present itself or not. We got super lucky with the time we had in the bodega. To preface; while we were in the store, we all wore masks except the split seconds it took to get the shot. I never took mine off, and we all discussed the shot prior to capturing it to make sure our time was minimal.

Something I noticed pretty heavily in this shoot was my street photography influence playing a huge factor in how I was shooting and documenting this session. I love shooting street in NYC, and I think it was just such a natural feeling implementing that into my session with these two that I couldn’t resist the urge to weave every part of the city into these images that I could.

STREET PHOTOGRAPH OR ENGAGEMENT IMAGE?

So it seemed that our night was coming to an end. Then I thought about it, really, we were only half way home. We still had another long subway ride to get back to their place, and that presented some opportunities, per usual. We quickly hopped back on, and before I knew it, we were shooting across platforms in the subway, surely just having as much fun as possible. I knew I wanted to get at least a few specific shots that we needed to wait for, so we shot some 120, and decided to get everything ready. They went back up, across, and down to the opposing platform, and we waited for the train to come.

There’s something incredibly therapeutic about shooting a session like this amongst the chaos of New York City; everyone running around, oblivious to the person next to them. Emotion is displayed for everyone to see right on the walls, most of the time without care or concern. Bringing those tangible, genuine emotions into an image with a client, and a backstory creates such a powerful photograph.

TIME TO GO

We jumped back on the subway, and to our surprise, the entire car was without a soul. Not a noise. Not a peep. We found the holy grail of train cars within the New York City subway system, and you bet your ass I took advantage of it. We quickly snapped 10-12 frames before the next stop, and luckily, it was an older car that had the brown and orange accents on the seats. What a treat it was to be in that car without anyone else. We all talked about how cool it would be if it happened, but none of us actually expected it.

I shot some more 35mm and 120, but mostly decided to use a whole roll of Cinestill 800t in the Pentac 67, my favorite medium format camera. It yields insanely thin depth of field, and the separation of the background in the subway was exactly what I wanted. The low light required a push of +2 in development, but without much grain or color shift, I was super happy.

THE NIGHT IS OVER

We finished up the night by getting back to their apartment, then heading back out into the brisk winter night to grab a bite at one of the outdoor dining locations around the block from them.

Eventually, we parted ways and I headed back to my car to start my long drive back to Ohio. I had only planned two days in the City, and I held myself to it, although I would have liked to stay another day to shoot more street photography.

I came away with legitimately my favorite images from any session I’d ever been a part of, and I quite honestly can’t believe that we made the photographs we did. They’re everything I imagined for Arianna & Danny, and more. Shooting in the city presents so many challenges, but the rewards are far higher than anywhere else. The city is alive, even amidst a pandemic, and I am incredibly thankful to have had the chance to make images with my new friends not too long ago.

I self developed and scanned these at home using color C41 chemicals, and a 35mm scanner, and flatbed Epson. Processing film myself is the most rewarding part of the process. I get to see every bit of the timeline start to finish; the entire process.

I’d love to come back to NYC soon to shoot more engagement sessions, or even an urban elopement. I find that my creativity is through the roof when roaming the city, and I’d love to make some magic with you. Feel free to reach out if you enjoyed these images.

Urban NYC Engagement on 35mm Analog Film