The Gear
For lighting, Brandi shoots with the compact Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL Dual To Go Kit, a two head kit that’s ideal for the small spaces she shoots in.
She discovered the ELB 500 TTL while looking for a lighting kit to use for a commercial shoot. Contracted for an ongoing job with a large tech company she was "tasked with photographing professional headshots and needed something I could easily carry from my apartment in Brooklyn to Manhattan." The ELB 500 TTL fit the bill, the entire kit can fit in her Tenba backpack or in a wheeler bag with her computer, camera and lenses. "The kit is so small," she says, "it blows my mind."
In addition to the Nikon D850, Nicole prefers to shoot with the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8, the 85m f/1.4D, and a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art lens. A Fujifilm Instax Wide Instant camera is also never too far away, which allows her to grab quick prints of a shoot (and give a copy to the model). She often adds textures and grain to her images in post-processing.