In this final posting about 2012 Austin Fashion Week, I’m going to share scenes from the catwalk at the Driskill Hotel. I got a special opportunity this year to shoot at one of the “serious” fashion show venues thanks to Kellye King from AZIZ Salon. While it’s not New York, Milan or Paris, the event still had a feeling of a big production. Certainly on a different scale from the shows that I’ve gone to at local Salons.

Unlike the photos from Austin Fashion Week, behind the scenes, where I shot with my 35mm f2.0 prime lens in a documentary style, the fashion show photos were taken with my 70-200mm f4 zoom lens. In a nod to the Wizard of Oz, the black and white of the behind the scenes gives way to glorious color as the transformed models take the stage.

My friend Steve Wampler, who has a lot more experience at these things gave me some pointers. He mentioned that the lighting was adequate at f4 so I decided to use my 70-200 zoom lens for maximum flexibility. I also brought my 85mm f1.8 prime lens but found that it did not work as well. Even with the bigger aperture, I preferred a deeper depth of field and the image stabilization of my zoom. Something I didn’t realize is that there is a standard look to shooting these catwalk fashion shows. Steve mentioned that you usually don’t want to cut off any part of the model and you ideally want the model’s back leg to be lifted. And he is right. When I look through the fashion shots from the New York Times, for example, most of their images follow this standard look. I found that it took a bit of timing and I need more practice to get that perfect shot. I do admit though, that after an hour, just trying to capture this look got a little boring.

It makes sense to show the model from head to toe. After all, it is a fashion show, and the clothing and the shoes are the main attraction. For me though, I’m more interested in the models and I frequently found myself wanting to zoom in. Getting a half body or more of a head shot to focus more on the face and their expression. I ended up doing a mixture of both to keep it interesting. I was perched on a 8 x 10 foot platform with about a dozen media photographers and videographers at the end of the runway. And while this type of photography was not very creative, the whole experience was kind of fun. I felt like I was part of the media and I had a level of access that I usually do not get.

The hardest thing about shooting this kind of event, the weight of the camera. The entire show, including intermissions, ran about 3 hours. For a person used to using light micro 4/3 cameras these days, the Canon 7D with the 70-200mm f4 lens started getting pretty heavy as the night went on. I noticed that my shots towards the end where not framed as straight. Steve did suggest that I use a monopod which would have really helped. I didn’t bring one since I didn’t have a head that allowed my to position the camera in the portrait orientation. If I were going to do this kind of shooting with any regularity, I would definitely invest in a good monopod with an adjustable head. My shots would have been better and I would be less tired.

Between the behind the scenes and the fashion show, I had a fun night of photography. I shot both halves in a very different way which allowed me to experience more variety. If I had to choose, I liked the documentary style of shooting better. I found it to be more creative and less predictable. I is also similar to street photography which I enjoy doing. That said, being up on “stage” with the other photographers is something that I usually don’t get to do. New experiences can also be fun and keeps the whole photography thing fun and fresh.

Please make sure to click on the photographs to see a larger image and hover over the photos to see the exposure details.