One main takeaway from doing casual photo shoots in the street is that anything can go out of sequence, so the more I get to practice in this kind of situations, the more I’m learning not to over-plan or beat myself up when something goes wrong. Focusing on a positive outcome enables me to find benefits, and in the case of this photo shoot with Michelle Montorsi, the benefits couldn’t be any greater!

The day of this photo shoot started with big question marks, It was a rainy, breezy day and my initial idea was using wet reflections on the road, but I imagined those reflections wouldn’t hold for much longer. Upon checking with Michelle, she suggested the station tunnel in191st Street, and I was immediately excited once I did a quick search online.

The lighting situation was challenging to say the least. Initially, I wanted to mix off camera flash with the overhead LED lights in the tunnel, but that only made things a little slow and frustrating since the recycling times on my speed light wasn’t fast enough, so I switched to ambient light. Unfortunately, I got stuck with a low ISO and slow shutter speed with a wide aperture; nonetheless, regardless of the amount of sharpness in the pictures, I’m pleased with the results we got from this photo shoot because they encapsulate a vibrant dynamic that took place during a fun collaboration.

Michelle is an Italian-American fitness, and editorial Model with a formation on classical and modern dance. Follow Michelle on Instagram: @mikichia92