This was the last show in the Fashion Meets Music tour and the one that yielded the best images although the evening wasn’t withot a few technical hitches. Thanks are very definitely due to Ande from the Dilema Agency for all her hard work and efforts, not only thoughout the tour but especially for this event.
As one might ecpect with night clubs, the environment is dark and Runway was especially so as the next sequence of images show
In fact, it was so dark the MUAs were asking me to take a snapshot so they could see their handiwork. The hairstylists improvised with an iPhone…
As with every show on the tour, when the models came on, the lights went off 🙁
This time, I was ready. I’d set my lights up very similar to the Embassy Club the week before. Two bare speedlites on stands at about 6′, one to camera left and one to camera right. I also had a third on the hot shoe to act as the conroller for the other two. In this configuration I could then control the output from each light indepedently from the camera position without touching the speedlites. I just love this feature of the Mini/Flex PocketWizard. Works a treat and very simple once you know how. [I’ll have to write a blog post on that over the next week or so as a quick tutorial]
So, with the lights all set and the models made up it was time for the dress rehearsal. Use this opportunity wisely to check that the equipment is working and the light levels are OK without burning highlights or underexposing the image.
Then change the batteries in every speedlite. This is something I didn’t actually do on the night but in hindsight I really wish I had. By the end of the show my speedlites were giving me a much increased recycle time. Not so much that I missed a shot but this would certainly have been the case had the show gone on much longer.
Time for the show propper. Relax and enjoy it and above all, don’t rush the shots. Catch the models when they pose for a static shot and then on the turn to add a little energy and flare for something more dynamic.
TIP of the day…
one of the advantages of getting there earlier was to prime the models to look at my camera rather than the other photographers’….
Images from the Show…
[…] hot on the heels (litteraly and no apologies for the pun!) of the Omar Mansoor show at Runway, the Dilema girls launched straight into a second show featuring the amazing Agnes Valentine […]
[…] The success in shooting a runway show is all about the preparation and making sure you have the right equipment for the job. They are very varied and can often be extremely dark, particularly if you’re shooting a show on the fringe where they simply don’t have the budget or knowledge to invest in lighting. The worst lit shows I’ve covered have been in London’s nightclubs where very often all the lights are switched off as the show starts (see earlier post). […]
[…] The success in shooting a runway show is all about the preparation and making sure you have the right equipment for the job. They are very varied and can often be extremely dark, particularly if you’re shooting a show on the fringe where they simply don’t have the budget or knowledge to invest in lighting. The worst lit shows I’ve covered have been in London’s nightclubs where very often all the lights are switched off as the show starts (see earlier post). […]