56 Leonard St. For Nella Vetrina . New York City / NYC

About This Shoot

Working with architecture means working with those who create it, however, photographing anything architectural the same day that even one electrician is present is less than ideal. This issue for me at least has been such a common occurrencethat it is actually one of the first things I iron out when taking on a shoot. Unless it's absolutely impossible to be accommodated on another date, having others trying to do their job, while you are trying to do yours is fine if your are working to achieve the same thing ie complete the building. What usually happens is they have been told a photographer will be on site today, they think you are 'just taking a picture' and you think ' they will be done in a minute' neither are true. My advise, make those hiring you understand that nobody working means nobody, and even that usually fails, but try!

This shoot at 56 Leonard was for Nella Vetrina an Italian company which showcases designer furniture and lighting. It was one of my first post real estate era shoots, there was a team of 10 decorators who were supposed to be just finishing up, they were there all day, I was initially only hired to photograph the cabinet fixtures however as the day unfolded we went on and covered more of the apartment. It was all a bit rushed and unplanned, I used a mixture of hot lights and strobes or just natural depending on the areas. I was pleased with the cabinetry images and still am today, however it was early days and I was still approaching most shots with a high end real estate perspective. The lighting is pretty heavy handed and there were probably much better ways to work the furniture and fixtures in to the images than my approach back then, but hey you learn something every shoot..and it's 56 Leonard St, that's why it's here :)