Back in March, I had the pleasure of taking photos at St. John’s Bread and Life, a soup kitchen and pantry in Brooklyn. I really like these sorts of photo jobs because they give me a chance to step outside the realm of wedding/event photography and put my photojournalistic tendencies to good use in a more low-key environment. Here are some of the more colorful characters I encountered:
I’ve had the privilege of assisting a certain nonprofit organization with taking pictures at some NYC soup kitchens for their annual report. It’s been so much fun meeting the clients, chatting with them about their experiences at these soup kitchens, and photographing them.
Shooting various NYC events in the past year has really opened my eyes to how diverse this city is. From soup kitchen clients to the Real Housewives of NYC at a boutique opening, I’ve seen firsthand how New York can be home to anyone, no matter what race or class they may be. I think this is one of my favorite things about NYC – you can find anything and anyone here. I’m so glad to be living here!
There’s this community garden in the East Village that I’ve been to many times in my NYC wanderings ever since moving here 2+ years ago. It’s La Plaza Cultural on 9th St and Avenue C. What initially drew me to it was the fence surrounding it, decorated the whole way around with flowers made out of recycled items. Beautiful AND eco-friendly, not to mention super-creative and durable (they’ve been there for 10 years!). Love it!
This past weekend, on the Vernal Equinox and 10th Anniversary of these Winter Flowers, there was an assembly line setup where passers-by could help in constructing 300 new flowers for the garden. It involved cutting up old soda/beer cans into flower petals, layering these cans and threading them onto a pipe cleaner, adding a bottle top as the center of the flower, and finishing the flower off. They had us wear robes, hats, and gloves while participating in this special process. Lauren got to cut the cans into petals, and I had the task of assembling the cans and putting the flower together. And oh, this was not a task to be taken lightly! I took my sweet time with it, even though it backed the assembly line up a bit. But it was incredibly gratifying to be a part of it and finally see how the flowers came to form. I’m so glad we stopped by!
Lauren took the photo of me here (on the left), which I just LOVE because it’s so natural :) By the way, that hat barely fit on my big head!
These are the flowers we made:
There are a few things I won’t think twice about spending exorbitant amounts of money on (i.e. photography equipment, traveling) – but eating out is not one of them. On the rare occasions where I DO go out to eat, I typically only order an entree – and an inexpensive one at that.
But the lovely thing about NYC is that sure, you can go out and spend a fortune on a meal – but you can also just as easily eat on the cheap. And once in awhile, you can even combine extravagance with affordability, such as during Restaurant Week. Or, in this case, during Dine In Brooklyn week. A $20 three-course lunch at a restaurant right on the Brooklyn waterfront, where there are doormen, complimentary fresh bread, and sweeping views of the bridges? Sign me up, and fast!
So Lauren and I ate like queens on the most beautiful day of the year thusfar. I had salad, penne alla vodka, chocolate cake, and a mimosa, and it was nothing short of glorious. Giando on the Water is such a beautiful venue too, and they host events. Oh how I’d love to shoot weddings here!
Last weekend was the first spring-like weekend of the year, so in true Lindsay fashion it was spent primarily outdoors. On Saturday, I oh-so-stupidly biked about 10 miles around Brooklyn after my morning ‘total body conditioning’ class. The whole point of the class is to overload your muscles so you can’t even complete the reps, basically breaking them down and making them hurt. You’re not supposed to lift weights for the following two days as the muscles are repairing themselves (and in theory, getting stronger). But I figured some cardio work would be ok afterwards. As I often do, I overestimated my comfort level for all this physical activity and arrived home absolutely exhausted that evening. And sore – oh so sore. My poor legs!
The next day I was sore all over, which I thought was strange since I’d only really overworked my legs the day before. But it was so nice out that I couldn’t resist a frolic through Central Park. The whole time I felt like I was forcing myself to wander around while my back ached and all I really wanted to do was lay down. But I NEVER want to lay down! I never want to sit and relax – I’m the girl who always has to keep busy. And honest to god, I’ve never had a single problem with my back (which I am SO so thankful for), so this was all pretty weird.
And then I spent the next 3 days bed-ridden and unable to function. I don’t know what happened, but I went through a whole gamut of non cold-like symptoms in a span of about 24 hours. The kind that really knock you down and prevent you from doing ANYTHING, really. And for someone like me, that is pure torture. Not only was I unable to lift my head for 3 days, but I also missed *2* live tv show tapings and 3 glorious sunny 60-degree days. If that’s not FML-worthy, I don’t know what is!
But anyway, at least I was able to enjoy the weekend before my body decided to take the next 3 days off from life. On Saturday I did some shooting around my favorite wedding venue (Bubby’s), and on Sunday I snapped some shots around Central Park and the Upper East Side:
