2012 Phoenix Fashion Week Runway Shows from Talking Stick Resort

“How about some more images from the 2012 Phoenix Fashion Week Runway Shows at Talking Stick Resort you say.” Well here are some more of my images from the Thursday night runway shows, but first I want to talk about the value of these images — Zero, Nada, Nothing, Zip, Not One Thin Dime, A Big Fat Goose Egg. The reason for this lack-of-value is because they are not unique, or special in any way and the fact that there were at least two dozen other photographers there on the riser around me as well as several guys and girls shooting hi-def video with most, if not all of them willing to give away their images and video footage for FREE. So, I can’t for the life of me figure out why the nice folks at Phoenix Fashion Week would even consider paying a photographer to license his or her images when almost every image of almost every designer’s clothing is available from any one of several photographers for free.

I know before the lights come up that there isn’t much value in covering runway fashion shows, but yet I still enjoy doing it for some odd reason and as long at I am allowed to cover these shows I will continue to do so. Sure some day I would like to be paid to cover a New York Fashion Week runway show, or gasp . . . travel to Paris France to cover an event associated with the Paris Fashion Week, but sadly I’m sure that’s never going to happen. In the mean time I’ll keep working to improve my runway fashion photography and continue to have fun doing it.

At least they are using a nice raised runway with a decent reflective surface to help with the lighting, I shot all of the Thursday shows using only ambient, i.e. no flash.

To see more of the runway fashion shows, click the continue reading link below.

Phoenix Fashion Week – Wed. & Thurs. – The Disappointment and Shame

And now for something completely different, runway fashion shows. I like to mix it up a bit so when the Phoenix fashion Week shows are presented I usually enjoy covering them. It turns out there were a number of issues with this years shows.

To see more of my coverage of the Phoenix Fashion Week runway shows click the more link below.

Portrait/Lifestyle session with model

I’ve got some basketball and some new-to-me golf to put up as well as some travel stuff but I will start with some off-camera flash and natural light model work.

Working with models is fun and always a learning experience for me. Portrait sessions include working with the models on posing, lighting and the ability to control the lighting with either strobes or small flashes and reflectors to just working with natural lighting. Portrait sessions are a great learning experience for me, and each time I work with a model I learn something new about triggering off-camera strobes, posing models, natural lighting, my camera and lens choice, as well as post-processing techniques and ways to improve my skills with all those things.

We did this thing at the end with headphones, and maybe we should have worked on this first as it gives the model a chance to relax and act a little bit silly. The headphones aren’t really plugged into anything and I ask the model to imagine the music in their heads and groove out to it.

See more shots from the session by clicking the more link below.

Scottsdale Fashion Week 2010 a few selects

I had fun at the Scottsdale Fashion Week runway shows, I really did. At times my fun was interrupted by photographers that were being absolute jerks and couldn’t play nice with others or drunk people wandering into places they shouldn’t be, but overall I spent most of the time working on my classic runway shooting and improving my skills.

I understand that with these low-level events the promoters will credential people with a variety of skill levels and equipment, and in most cases all we photographers have to do is work together so we can all get our shots . . .

. . . but hey, come on. I have no problems standing elbow to elbow with someone with a point and shoot camera, just as I have no problem standing elbow to elbow with someone with top of the line pro-level gear. We are all there to shoot the same thing and will most likely get relativity the same shot, but who cares, I mean that is going to be the case with just about any fashion show, correct?

I’m sorry, enough of my rantings. On to some images of pretty girls, um I mean women.

The classic runway walk, I was told to wait until the model has one foot in front of the other which gives a classic hour-glass shape as their feet cross over so all you have to do is put the focus point on the models faces/eyes and watch their feet for just the precise moment to click the shutter. Oh yea, like it’s that easy.

See more beautiful people by clicking on the more link.

Scottsdale Fashion Week 2010 – Thurs.

Scottsdale Fashion Week’s Thurs. night event was titled Community Night for the emerging designers and local talent from high school fashion and college fashion designers to local accessory designers. Here are a few standouts.

I loved the makeup job on this model, outstanding work.

You know there is more to this story right? You realize that if you click the more link you can see, you guessed it more stuff (images and story).

Phoenix Fashion Week – Oct. 7-9, 2010

Phoenix Fashion Week was held at the W resort in, of all places Scottsdale rather than the city for which the event is named, but hey with that many beautiful people all around you, who cares where it is.

See more beautiful people after the jump by clicking on the more link.

Phoenix Fashion Week, Oct. 7, 2010

What more can I say . . .