Amateur Portrait Photography In NYC

There was a giant photography meet-up in New York City this past weekend (April 23).

It was a gorgeous spring day! The sun was out and it felt good not to wear a jacket going outside.

The meet up was sponsored by NYCTME & New York City Kopp and a LOT of people turned out for the event.

Here I am with my Bills cap! This isn’t all of the photographers at the end, maybe a quarter of them in the shot.

I think the estimate was around 310? Maybe more. It was pretty cool to see so many photographers in one setting. The one negative thing was that there were only a handful of models that turned up. As I learned from a friend, @Sverd_, it was mostly landscape photography.

But I can take landscape photography and cityscapes on my own time. And the majority of the photographers I was with agreed, so I ended up asking @500John and @frenchduplex if I could get a quick shot of them. I had met them at a Pursuit Of Portraits meet up a couple of weeks prior and they were more than happy to model.

And Lex let me photograph her with her dog, Teddy Bear!

I’ve been really enjoying boosting reds and keeping the photos warm lately. It’s a change from dark muted tones I’ve been experimenting with earlier.

Here’s one I took of Chloe (@thatbritishgal) from the H Influencers meet up back in March:

And one I took of Hiba (@hibasoull):

Much warmer, much more colorful (I guess the pink blossoms really helped)!

I was able to get some great photos of three more models (I won’t put them up here). If you aren’t already, follow me on Instagram: @kohmichael_ to see what I’m up to!

The event went from 1PM to roughly 4PM. And we got free sandwiches from Parm in the end. Delicious!

Next Saturday, I’m looking forward to working with Kimberly (@kimberlyaandy) and going to another meet up on Sunday.

I never intended to get into portraiture. I wanted to document my life in New York City and see the city from a new perspective. And it really has helped me gain a new way of seeing life in the city for sure. It also took me to places I’d never thought have venturing out to, like Sylvan Terrace, in Harlem.

Photography has helped me meet and become friends with people from all over the city and even people from other countries! (Hi Julie, if you are reading this! — If you aren’t following her on Instagram, do it now. She’s a great photographer living in Rio de Janeiro!)

I had an incredible time composing and taking photos (and learning a few ways to pose models) and hanging out with really cool people. And I can see myself continuing this path for a long time to come.

Some shots of NYC I took in the winter:

I had to wait for a cab to pass me by for this one. I probably looked sketchy doing it.

I waited for the two women to walk into frame to give it some sort of depth. The curvature of the street is enhanced by the two, I think. I went to Nom Wah after this and had some mediocre dim sum. (I’ve had better on Mott St. I think. Although I’ve heard Flushing is the place to go for dim sum in New York City.)

In case you’re interested in what I use:

MY GEAR:

Leave a comment