adam david kissick photography | Category Archives: travel

New York City In December

My last trip to New York City in 2011 gave me about 2 hours of photo time to work with. No wandering, just a point A to point B agenda, snapping along the way.

The editing left me in a very B&W mood with the desire to return armed only with film and about a week of free time in front of my computer to scan and edit to my heart’s delight. I will have to remind myself to take a “film vacation” sometime in 2012.

Photos range from Rockefeller Plaza to 5th Ave, some of my favorite portraits of my wife Christy this year, a return to the Van Cleef and Arpels windows, and the most energetic Salvation Army bell ringers the world has ever seen.

Hope you have enjoyed my various travels in 2011 and I promise to bring you even more in 2012! Enjoy.

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October 27, 2011 by adam david kissick

Halloween in Chelsea Market

Is there a better time of year than Halloween? Not for me. And I sure do love photographing spooky decorations!

Here is a look at Chelsea Market doing it up nice for the entire month of October…

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October 27, 2011 by adam david kissick

New York City in September: Highline & Chelsea Market

If you are ever in Chelsea Market, go to Friedman’s Lunch, get some breakfast and then go walk The Highline. It is a winning combination.

More pictures to come of Chelsea Market from my October trip when it was totally decked out for Halloween. Needless to say, it was perfection.

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October 26, 2011 by adam david kissick

New York City in September: American Museum of Natural History

You want to practice still life photography? Low light? Composition? Portraiture? Detail work? Nature? Wildlife? Then go to a museum. Most any will do, but those of the Natural History variety offer an amazing range of subjects that are the best models a photographer could ever hope for. They don’t move.

The exhibit layouts at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City are classic and remind me a great deal of the New York State Museum in Albany where I went many times as a child. When you step in front of each scene, you really get a sense of perspective and the various angles the designer intended for the viewer and it is thrilling to try to emulate these with a camera.

All images shown were photographed with a D7000 and a 24mm f/2.8 prime. This was my combination choice for the day since I was also planning on capturing a lot of video and wanted a stable and compact solution.

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October 26, 2011 by adam david kissick

New York City in September: Walking

It is no secret that when I do a photowalk, I usually carry a lot of gear with me: Body + three 2.8 zooms, 50mm, teleconverter, flash, and a second body either for video or film. Cumbersome to say the least, but it gets the job done 100% of the time.

This trip I knew that I would have four solid days in the city for leisurely photography, so I decided to travel a bit different – One body + one lens per day. Attach that to a Black Rapid shoulder strap and you barely even notice the camera is there!

The decision of what lens to pick before I walk out the door depends on how I feel like capturing:

Normal scope, wide range of scenery with the most options? 24-70mm f/2.8
Feel a bit artsy and want that extra depth of field? 50mm f/1.4
Want more detail and and candid people closeups from a distance? 70-200mm f/2.8

With that choice, you own personal field of view for the day will adjust to match the focal length. And by that I mean that if you have the 24-70mm lens and nothing else, you are not going to be gazing down streets with perspective compressed telephoto eyes. The focus is going to be immediately in front of you because of the limitation of the lens.

If I had more time in the city, I would train like this on a regular basis. Athletes do it, so why not photographers? As long as you are going out with a specific purpose and don’t look for shots you can’t get, you will not be disappointed by “missed opportunities” or find yourself saying, “if only I had the blah-to-blah mm, f/blah lens!” It won’t matter because you won’t be looking for it. There will always be plenty of photos waiting to be captured all around at any focal distance. Sometimes you just have to narrow your scope to see them.

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October 14, 2011 by adam david kissick

New York City In September: Central Park

Love affair with New York? Yeah, pretty much. It was my New Years resolution this year to make it to the city once every month for work (with an exception if I made it to Los Angeles). Living in Raleigh, North Carolina, I knew this was far fetched, improbable, and probably not going to happen, but aspirations are boring if they are too easily achieved. So in the back of my mind I knew I would be happy with at least 50%… and I beat it. December, January, February, March (LA), April, May, September, October and plans already for December. Come on November!

These are the first photos featured from my September trip, which focused on a headshot session I will be showing off sometime next week. But for now, lots of themed individual posts of walking around the city and pointing my camera at stuff. And starting off is Central Park. Enjoy.