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Photographer Spotlight: Brandon King
Born as James Brandon King but he would equally respond to being called BK is a photographer from Brooklyn, New York. When he’s not out capturing candid moments and friends he’s hard at work continuing to develop his own thing and shooting freelance. He also keeps things fresh with his photos over at wordbk.
1. How would you define your photographic style?
Well a little more than a year ago it would have been simply capture everything but I feel like I’ve pulled back on that greatly. I shoot now with a very focused purpose of telling a story. No matter if it is a single portrait, a series of 3 or 5 about the evening at a friends rooftop or with 20 photos from the photo booths I set up at house parties.
2. What does your camera equipment consist of?
My beloved Canon 5D. I remember when I upgraded from the 20D, it was the happiest subway trip back from Calumet
- iPhone
- Canon G9
- Mamiya C220. This is a square medium format. I love the way it feels in my hands. I don’t shoot with a lot but i keep rolls and rolls of black and white film just incase.
- Linhof Technica 4x5. I just recently started pulling this out for Polaroid 55s. It’s just to bad a pack cost as much as a small human baby.
- 24-70mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4 (my most used), 85mm 1.4, 16-35mm 2.8 L (i recently sold this but i realized it was a mistake and will get it again), 70 - 200 2.8 usm
- generic brand remote trigger
- two Elinchrom compact heads
- two White Lightening 1600ss
- a couple Pocket Wizards Pluses
- several light modifiers including my favorite, the Elinchrom Ocotobox
- Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod legs
- Manfrotto 468MGC2 ball head
3. What’s your post-production software of choice?
Lightroom. It is just the absolute best. I have a ton of developing presets that help me get work out super quick. I keep separate libraries for each year dating back to 05 and one for my huge archive of old film snap shots (scanmyphotos.com is an excellent choice to get all those old 4x6s into you computer). I also separate my paying jobs from my personal work.
4. Are you considering any equipment upgrades in the future?
Two. The 5DM2 and a new computer to handle the big files and video.
5. Share with us you proudest photograph?
I was still in school shooting and designing for a little local magazine. I went to shoot an Erykah Badu concert and afterwards a friend invited me back for a quick session with just me and her. I’ve never been so nervous! I shot one roll of black and white and one of color with my trusty Canon Rebel 2000, a kit lens and some cheap ttl flash. I love it because it just shows that no matter how much of a gear freak I can be or how badly I just need the latest and greatest, the only thing you really need is light, a subject and a way to record it.
