Having a photo shoot in New York was really fun, but the preparation got a little stressful. The City of New York has very strict rules on professional photography when it involves any kind of tripods or light stands. I was glad that our friend Mark told me about the permit requirement or this shoot might never had happened.
There were three forms that I needed to fill out from the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting website. Everything has to be typed and not handwritten. I then needed to provide an insurance certificate, signed with ink by the insurance broker which had to be the original copy. Someone then had to come to the office and apply for the permit in person, at least 7 days before the shoot. Since I wouldn’t be in NY until 3 days before the shoot, I mailed all of the paperwork to Mark hoping he could hand everything in. The crazy thing was that by the time that I got to NY, so did the paperwork. So I wound up walking down to the office the next day. Luckily the lady there was nice enough to let it go. I was so relieved and excited that it was finally done!
Then I worried about the rain…I was expecting nice weather but the forecast showed non stop rain beginning the day of the shoot and through the rest of our stay. No miracle this time like when I got the permit. The rain was iffy for the start of the shoot in the middle of Times Square but then it started to come down pretty steadily. That was good since the crowds started to thin out a bit but as the time went on, it got colder and colder. I was pretty amped up from shooting in Times Square but I knew that the models must have been getting pretty cold in their strapless dresses.
Surprisingly, the NYPD did check our permit since we had all of our light stands setup and were drawing a crowd. One officer said that we had to start moving along unless we had a permit. We told him that we did and he seemed surprised since I guess most people just do guerilla photography there and scoot after a few minutes. He checked out our permit, handed it back, and left. After that, we didn’t get any more visits from the pretty visible police officers in Times Square.
Fashion Designer: ImaniLia
Models: Wei Lin, Lauren
Our 2 minutes shoot inside the Time Square Visitor’s Center before our actually shoot
There were so many people watching us! On more than one occasion, people asked if this was for a magazine, if anyone of the models were famous, etc. I figure that since we were smack dab in the middle of Times Square and were doing a model shoot in the rain, people would think that it was pretty important. It was definitely cool to hand out business cards and having a crowd around our shoot!
I love how this picture turned out! I needed to adjusted the exposure of the back light few times to get it just right.
It was pouring at the Time Square so we needed to hide under the ‘TKTS’ ticket booth so Wei Lin and Lauren wouldn’t get wet, but it was still freezing cold! 
I always wanted to shoot some pictures in the rain, but it was impossible to see the rain drop with the city full of light (aka light pollution) so I found this black garage just across the street from the M&M World. 
At the end we cut the shoot short since the models were freezing, the rain kept coming, and the camera gear was getting wet. I’m deeply appreciated to everyone who participated in this shoot. I cannot think Wei Lin and Lauren enough for their sacrifice and ImaniLia for the fabulous evening gowns. It was impossible to keep the beautiful gowns clean and dry when everyone was soaking wet.
After we said our goodbyes and packed up the gear, Jeff and I were getting hungry and wanted to find a dry spot to have dinner with our gear. We decided on TGI Friday’s for dinner in Times Square since it was close by. That was a much needed meal on a rainy night and yet the most expensive mediocre meal that I have had in a very long time, although I do understand everything is more expensive in New York especially at Time Square. It was really fun shooting this session with so many tourists taking pictures of us and I hope I can return in the near future for a real wedding in the Big Apple.
by Jessie
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