Grace Church photography in New York City!

Hey, Steemit! Still making the most of this time to work [post production] after the last 10 days or so of travel. My life has become a series of interruptions and obstacles in just finding time to sit and edit or draw. The things I constantly long to do. Today and most of tomorrow, I “should” be able to get to a few photos and finish the artwork for the upcoming Trial by Comics. This is blissful for me. I love my job. It’s just so hard between family, friends, errands and travel, to actually sit at a coffee shop and work for 8 - 10 hours.

I wanted to share a few photos from my trip to New York over the weekend. @vermillionfox and I have both mentioned in our blogs that we stopped at Grace Church. I have a big shoot coming up in LA with a client that’s hired me for a big jewelry look book project. She has a very clear vision of the photos she would like to create. Although we’re shooting in LA and Pasadena next month, she was hopeful for gothic, castle-like architecture. None of that exists in Los Angeles.

She discovered that I was going to be in New York City this past week and contacted me about shooting the interior and exterior of Grace Church in lower Manhattan. The idea is that some of these photos are going to be used as backgrounds to composite the images I’ll be shooting in LA in just ten days. In almost 20 years of photography, this is the first time I’ve shot something with the intent to combine them with photos that aren’t even taken yet.

@vermillionfox and I attempted to fit this shoot in to our only day off in New York City. We took the train from Midtown to Lower Manhattan, walked a few blocks and found Grace Church. It was beautiful from the outside. The doors were closed, locked and signed indicated there was no trespassing on the surrounding grounds. That was a shame because the outside of was beautiful with overgrown trees with a backdrop of 19th century gothic stonework.

I took photos from the outside until noon, when finally, the doors opened. I was the first to enter the sanctuary hall of the church. I immediately was in awe of that first site of the main hall. I quietly made me way from side to side, capturing images as discreetly as possible as people began filing in to worship and pray. The statues and ornate details were especially important for the look book I’d be shooting in August.

My time photographing Grace Church was broken up between short services and congregations. @vermillionfox joined me close to 1:00p.m. and we walked throughout the halls admiring the sights of this monumental architectural wonder. I filled the rest of my memory card with images, remembering to capture close details and wide angels that accurately portrayed the immensity. We finished, then made our way to Harlem. 

I’m just as interested in seeing how the photos I’ll be taking in LA next month will fit with these images. I’ve done light compositing, but this is a very ambitious project. Thanks for reading and following my trip through New York City. For more photography, art, illustration and the stories behind the work, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!