So this was, without a doubt, my most memorable session of 2015. Shockingly, it wasn’t because I was in New York City and capturing a Brooklyn Bridge session.
Shelly and I go waaaay back…like middle school way back. Shelly and I went to a suburban school that back in the day was considered pretty country. I remember Shelly wearing Rockies (remember those?) and boots and probably the last place I would have placed her back then would have been New York City.
But here we are, 20+ years later and I’m capturing her family in the Big Apple! Shelly and her husband have the coolest jobs ever. She’s a set nurse for for the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt…like she gets to see Tina Fey everyday. And her husband, Danny, is a set paramedic for the show Gotham. I mean I hear of cool jobs like that, but I never usually know anyone that actually has that cool of a job.
So the day of our session, everything seemed to be going wrong. Lunch took 2.5 hours but we headed towards Brooklyn Bridge with plenty of time. We had an hour to go 9 miles…piece of cake. That is until the subway that we needed to take wasn’t working. No problem, let’s just grab and cab. Oh yeah, it’s rush hour in NEW YORK CITY!!!
Oh my stars, never have I sweated more profusely before a session. My stomach was in KNOTS! I know that all the things were beyond our control but we literally had about 15 minutes before the sunset to capture these photos on a super gloomy day. I thought that I literally may throw up at one point trying to make it there watching the sun go down. It was truly a race against the sunset. Making this session up was not an option!
I arrived sprinting to them from the cab! I’m sure that was a sight to be seen because the good Lord knows I don’t run unless I’m chased! But then Shelly’s family knowing how NYC traffic works, were beyond gracious and their children…well, their children are unlike any I’ve ever known. They were so perfect and cooperative! Thank goodness they were because it seemed everything else was not going my way. We caught the last carousel ride before they closed shop and then captured them in front of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges as the lights came on in Manhattan in the background. Did I mentioned we captured all of this in about 20 minutes?
It’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to having a panic attack before a session. So the moral of the story is, when in NYC, give yourself an extra hour to get where you need to be! Also, I learned I could never be a contestant on Amazing Race!
Thank you Shelly and Danny for an unforgettable experience!
