It was nearly 4am when I arrived in Times Square that morning, as I pulled in behind a bakery truck delivering that morning’s bagels and rolls to all the diners preparing themselves for the morning rush. A young couple was quietly quarreling outside of the neighborhood bar, with the smell of alcohol on their breath and cigarettes dangling from their fidgeting hands. In a metropolitan area of 23 million people, it’s nearly impossible to find yourself on the empty streets of NY…even at 4am. Although this was not the couple I was meeting this morning, I had to commend their (liver’s) remarkable endurance, which was likely due to years of dedication and an under-appreciated metabolism. My couple, on the other hand, was already en-route to one of the busiest and well-known intersections on the planet.
My rendez-vous with Adrienne & Olivier started early that morning in Times Square, and we would spend much of our pre-sunrise hours covering as many popular NYC locations as possible. Not many clients would’ve agreed to such an extraordinary shooting itinerary, but Adrienne & Olivier are no ordinary couple. Once they understood the challenges of shooting in a city that never sleeps, they gave me full control to direct their day in such a way that would allow me to produce the kind of images they’ve always dreamt of. Not to mention: they even brought bags (and bags) of confetti, which made them even MORE AWESOME.