11 Comments

Awesome story! It's amazing when it all comes together on the fly like that. Access is everything! Sorry you had to shoot the event (people holding cocktail drinks) but you came away with this beautiful shot that would have never happened otherwise. Bravo!

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Really interesting post (and beautiful images). I'm curious about the handler previewing the images and how you manage that. I suppose part of that is expected given the subject and setting (pretty different from a lot of your other work). Does that reality make analog a non-starter (aside from other reasons you might opt for digital)? Like a lot of people, one of the reasons I like film is that neither of us gets to peek at the image until it's back from the developer.

What are your thoughts on showing subjects raw images during the shoot?

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Hi Brent, I prefer not to show images while I am working, it breaks the flow and allows other cooks to get their hands in the kitchen. But depending on the context and client, sometime its unavoidable. Every job/commission is different. Thanks for commenting.

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Adam, are handlers viewing these images just on your camera screen, or are you tethered? Crazy to think that access can come down to such whims, but I know it does. Thanks for this!

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I love this backstory, Adam.

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Great to hear Dan. There will be more this!

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“I did not have the visual language to articulate anything interesting about the cocktail party and dinner”. I’d love to understand this sentence!

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How did it run? We’re you wearing your usual hat and if so did Nicky wonder why she was being photographed by an Australian wheat farmer?

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Excellent question mate. I was not wearing a hat. I decided to wear Manhattan camouflage to assimilate - button down shirt and a jacket. Although perhaps this was a mistake. The shoot may have come together easier if Nicki knew the truth of who I am.

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This is another really interesting post Adam. As you move from 200th to 60th, on an 80ml lens to pick up ambient. At what point will you start to have to deal with movement, or blur? I have always been interested in the magic behind images with flash / ambient and how to get around making them look like something out of Amateur Photographer.

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Thanks for writing Justin. It's a good point you raise. I find any capture below 1/250 has the potential for some blur or movement, depending on how quickly the subject is moving, or the camera. For a portrait shoot like this any shutter speed below 1/60 might have caused some image blur, if say Nicki moved quickly, or I wasn't holding the camera steady. In this case Nicki wasn't moving around too quickly, so I knew I would be okay at 1/60. Although this does beg the question - what would the image have looked like at 1/15 or 1/30. Some movement in a frame can be dynamic and make for an entirely different photograph. Or some movement combined with a flash can create some exposure drag within the photo. The flash can freeze the content of the image, and as the camera moves the ambient light will also contribute to an exposure while the image blurs. Interesting technique to play with.

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