Emma Moose
Emma and I first shot together November 15th 2025 in Atlanta. She picked a painting style portrait session and far exceeded my expectations in her commitment to the theme. We tried to shoot again in December before I moved but we were not able to connect.
I sent her a note in March and asked if there was any chance if she would want to come up to NYC to shoot; to my surprise she said yes! I was enthusiastic to shoot with her again because I thought we had both grown during the 6 months between shoots. I had worked with over 20 other models in multiple studios and I wanted to bring those new skills to a session with her to give her the photos that she deserved.
We decided on two main themes for our shoot day with the first being fun+flowy in the city and the second being cozy. I knew we needed to make the most of the Saturday so this meant an early start at 8:30AM in the financial district of Manhattan. I did some research and picked a few spots within a short walk to get different looks quickly.
8:30 Rector St Station at Trinity St - We liked the vibe of coming up the metro stars and the unique look of the street entrances in NY. The light was a little challenging and in hindsight 10 or 11 would be been a better time to be there.
8:45 Delmonico’s - This building is unique and I thought some people would recognize it as unique to NY but unfortunately they were getting carpets cleaned so we went next door and shot on William St. This was better as we had some light from the sun down the street but I didn’t predict how much light the buildings and street block or soak up.
9:00 Stone St - I loved the idea of including the European style street and the texture it would bring compared to city buildings. This street delivered slightly better light but very cool cobblestone streets, doors and steps to use in the pictures.
9:15 Hidden Acre - Hidden Acre delivered far above my expectations. NY was much colder than all of use expected in the morning and Hidden Acre gave us an opportunity to pause, warm up and wake up. The photos in the dress here are incredible because they give a warm softness with the city reminder in the background. These were by far and away favorites from the morning.
Next it was time for brunch! We walked up to Regular NYC, got iced coffee and waited 15 minutes for a table. One of my favorite parts of portrait sessions is getting to know the subject and we had a wonderful conversation about family, personality types, and personal growth over ‘The Bagel’ and ‘The Ranchero’ which we highly recommend.
Next we hopped on the red line and rode up to the W41st street stop to grab some snacks at Wholefoods for the shoot. A few Spindifts and dark chocolate snacks we were on the way to @lovestudios at 545 8th Ave. We chatted and shot a little while Carly finished up with Bomi the HMU and headed over. Carly and I shot until about 3:30 and Emma was done with HM at that point.
Emma and I had conversed some about themes up to this point but not landed on something specific. I’m a planner while she is more go with the flow so it took trust from me that she was going to be prepared. These situations are good for remembering that every model or client needs and expects something different. I gave Emma some ideas then just gave her space to develop those ideas. Here are couple of the ideas that I sent to her.
I am still working through the edits and will add a few of our favorites when I’m done!
