The Art of Great Fashion – 2013

Checking out the location ahead of time is critical in determining the available lighting and other details for a shoot.  Last year’s venue for The Art of Great Fashion had high ceilings with the lighting coming at a slight angle from vertical and hitting the white runway floor; the Kelvin temperature of the lights varied from 3200 to 3400⁰. Because of a low ceiling at this year’s venue, the lighting for the show came from both ends of the runway several feet above the height of the models.  The runway floor was dark gray, and the color temperature of the lights ran approximately 3900⁰ K.  Photos were timed so the models were “in the light” as they walked down the runway.

Last year (see blog post July 15, 2012) I photographed a runway show put on by a professional production company, with the photographs and video being using for a national ad campaign.  The Kelvin temperature was right on 5700⁰. The color balance and light intensity was even the entire length of the runway, and the runway floor was white.  These were ideal conditions for both video and photo, and the audience.

The technicals for those interested – for this most recent fashion show, I used a Nikon D800 with a 70-200mm f2.8 VR lens set on aperture priority with an ISO of 1000 and f-stop of 3.5. I also used a Nikon D700 with a 24-70mm lens set on manual with the zoom set on 29mm, f13, 1/125th, and ISO 800; with this camera I used remote flash (with three speed lights ) and an umbrella. Approximately 1200 photos were the end result of the 30 minute shoot.

As noted in my blog, the theme for this year’s fashion show was The Italian Carnivale to help celebrate a current exhibit at the Jepson Art Center of old masters from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. The show was divided into three sections: casual, daytime, and evening dress. Before the actual show, there are a few photos getting ready for the show, a few from the rehearsal, and one from the party before the show began. Not all of the wardrobes in the show are seen in this collection of photos. To view the photos in their highest resolution, please click on a thumbnail and then click through the rest of the photos.