adam david kissick photography | Category Archives: portraits

If every trip visiting New York City could begin with a rooftop headshot session I would be a happy man. In this case, it involved a pre-dawn drive from Raleigh that had me snapping pictures in the Upper West Side by 5PM. That evening light is a terrible thing to waste.

The lighting for a majority of the shots you see here is the typical portrait setup I have been using for a while now:

Main Light = Elinchrom Ranger in an Octabox (triggered w/ PowerST4)
Secondary Accent Light = SB-900 (triggered w/ Plus II)
FlexTT5 on camera

You might be looking at that setup saying to yourself, “hey, why not another FlexTT5 on that SB900?” Cause those triggers are expensive friend! And at the time, I only had enough for one… Luckily though, I have since upgraded to a second TT5 and an AC3 Zone Controller on camera and It Is GLORIOUS! No more running back and forth to the Nikon unit every time I want to change the power setting, making you look like a mad fool in front of the client… But for this shoot, Plus II with lots of running.

I brought both the 39-inch, deep octa and the 69-inch octa for this gig and to be honest, I rarely leave home without them. The majority of the close-ups are the smaller box while the wide, full length shots are, you guessed it, the larger one. As much as I like the flash shots, I am also curious as to how things would have turned out only using natural light and a reflector. Lots of great angles and textures up there to play around with. Other things I want to try/get/experiment with… more lights, grids, harder light, and edgier lighting setups. But for this straightforward headshot session, I figured I’d stick with soft light at 45 degrees + accent light. Hard to go wrong with that.

Now please enjoy a myriad of different looks from the day.

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August 31, 2011 by adam david kissick

Katie & Luke: Oregon Engagement (Day Four)

I long for the day when I can travel with cases filled with c-stands, sandbags aplenty, and assistants waiting to fill them. The opposite of that is me vs. the wind – leaning up against a $50 ultra portable light stand, my head (or non-camera arm) pressed against the softbox so that the whole rig does fall with a dreadful thud onto the beach. Even with the Elinchrom battery pack and a full camera bag hanging off the knobs, flash modifiers seem destined for aviation instead of light shaping. For the thirty minutes we had on the beach, I must have looked like a clown single-handedly trying to run a daycare business. But it worked. And I am happy.

Since we were incredibly restricted on time, we unfortunately did not get to stay for sunset. We left the beach at 8:15 to make the two hour drive back to the airport for my 11PM flight. A hectic, but thrilling way to end my four day photo explosion in Oregon. Next time, more coastal exploration and days (instead of hours) in Portland! Thanks for reading. Read More »

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August 30, 2011 by adam david kissick

Katie & Luke: Oregon Engagement (Day Three)

Ranch Time! You want wheat fields? Then I suggest traveling to where ever the heck I was on Day Three. All I know is that there were cows, tree farms, and more grasshoppers in five minutes than I have ever seen in my life!

So here’s a little detailed analysis about the gear on the trip. See this trunk? That was my equipment closet traveling across the state. The suitcase filled with reflectors, stands, a tripod, gaffe tape, a diffuser, an ezybox, Elinchrom 39″ deep octa and any micellaneous accessory that would get me there with a 50lb photography bag. My cary-ons consisted of my camera bag (Crumpler Brazillion Dollar Home, which I am liking more and more every time I pack it) jammed with the following gear:

D700
D7000
Mamiya M645 w/ Lenses
50mm f/1.4
14-24mm f/2.8
24-70mm f/2.8
70-200mm f/2.8
SB800
SB600
Zoom H4n Portable Recorder

And a Pelican case with the Ranger, Flash Head, and all power cables, charging accessories, and triggers.

Long story short, I am shocking myself with the amount of gear you can pack into three bags for an airplane. And speaking of air travel and my continuing curiousity of how security checks bags – On the way out there out of Raleigh, no problem at all, didn’t even open my lead lined film bag. On the way back from Portland, I was seriously afraid they weren’t going to let me on the plane with the Ranger case.

Note to self and all potential flyers: Do not use gaffe tape to tape the fuse to the side of the battery pack. Use clear packing tape. I did this before, but accidentally removed it for this trip. So I just slapped on the nearest piece of used gaffe tape and was on my way. I most certainly was questioned about this by security and they weren’t exactly thrilled when I used the word “fuse” to describe what was underneathe the tape. I went on to tell them that it was certified for air travel as long as the fuse is not engaged in the battery, but for next time, I think I am going to save this wordy description for an agent who knows a thing or two about photography. They actually pulled me aside and had to look up in their code books to see if there was anything listed about traveling with large battery packs. Luckily for me, there isn’t (or at least these security agents couldn’t find it). So I packed up my case and was on my way. Not exactly dreaming of the day when I travel with two or more of those suckers.

Espresso’d up gear ramble OVER. Picture time…

FULL GALLERY
Read More »

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August 30, 2011 by adam david kissick

Katie & Luke: Oregon Engagement (Day Two)

By the time Day Two came along, I had already spent 8 hours on a plane or in an airport, five hours in a car and photographed two people in no less than 5 locations in and around Portland. Waking up in a foreign daze in Eastern Oregon made Day Two feel like it had come and gone before my shutter could click even once.

But click it did! In a forest, on top of hills, and at a wildflower picnic. Don’t believe me? Just check out the images below and see what the next 24 hours of my adventure had in store…

FULL GALLERY

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August 25, 2011 by adam david kissick

Katie & Luke: Oregon Engagement (Day One)

You might remember Katie from previous portrait blog posts from NYC & DC, but this was the first time I photoed her with her fiancé, Luke.

Luke and Katie met while attending graduate school in Ohio. After getting engaged, they both spent the summer together in Luke’s hometown of Heppner, OR. And since they were both out on the west coast (and eastern landscape is super boring), the obvious choice was for them to fly me out for four days of non-stop picture taking. Duh.

For the next few posts, you will see eastern Oregon, Portland, coastal Oregon, and everything in between. The first day featured here, focuses on some Portland city walking, Multnomah Falls, and Vista House. Lighting for the photos will vary between natural light, Nikon small flash, and the bigger Elinchrom Ranger which I supplimented with the Rotalux 39″ Deep Octa. I purchased this modifier specifically for travel & location gigs where I would need the portability of a softbox (read: fits in my suitcase) without sacrificing the smoothness of my larger octa. Up close the 39 incher absolutely SINGS and performs quite nicely from a distance as well. But enough talk, let’s see some engagement photos! Read More »

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June 24, 2011 by adam david kissick

Nicole

I met Nicole through a roommate of a friend (facebook is a wonderful thing) and we agreed that Queens/Long Island City would be a great location for her new headshot. I went out a few hours prior to the meeting time to scout and take some preliminary pictures with the Lumix. The areas I found definitely proved that the photo gods were watching over me that day and I returned with four or five prime spots.