This is my research on fashion shows, catwalks and portrait photography.
Catwalks
Lighting Design
"The lighting design for a catwalk show is essential to accurately depicting the collection. All catwalk shows should start with a completely smooth wash of white lighting without any 'hots-pots'
Considerate Design
Our philosophy towards fashion show lighting and production design is that the show is about clothes, the models or the brand. Our involvement is only required to accentuate these elements.
'Production Based' Show
Many shows are dance or music based. In these cases there is often an exciting array of high-energy and exciting lighting and special effects.
Fashion Show Lights
Our belief is that all lighting for fashion shows should start with accentuation of the models and the details of clothing. From this basic remit we then look to implement creative and effect lighting to suit the show's theme and style.
Catwalk Lighting Design
The lighting design for a catwalk show is essential to accurately depicting the collection. All catwalk shows should start with a completely smooth wash of white lighting without any 'hot-spots'. From this basis we can implement moving lights and effects such as crowd-blinding, colour changing and strobing-all depending on the style of the show and what look you wish to create."
Event Sound
The quality of the sound at your show is critical to it's success. The audience must be able to hear your compere and the music must have the impact required.
Staging and Presentation
The stage is one of the most important things about the show. It is the runway for all models/clothing to present itself and it needs to be sturdy.
Steeldeck would be your best bet. It enables you to create stages of all heights and sizes and is incredibly versatile.
Catwalk coverings
Studio Tak- This is a plastic flooring media, which allows for a choice of many different colours and reflectiveness. Ideal to create a clean, finished look.
Marley Flooring- This is thick, rubberised floor covering which ideally suited to dance catwalks due to it slightly bouncy properties. It comes in a range of colours.
Mirror Floor- Using adhesive material, it provides a semi-mirrored finish to your catwalk.
Gobo Lighting
'Gobo' lighting is perfect for image projection, logo projection, and advertising. Great for creating a mood or trying to create a theme at an event.
What are 'Gobos'?
A 'Gobo' is a round disk that has the image or text that the user wishes to project etched into it, or cut out of it. There are two main types:
Metal Gobos- These are made from a thin metal sheet and have the shape or text laser-cut. Graphically this is very much like a stencil for painting in that round images must have a break to ensure that central piece stays in place.
Glass Gobos- These are made from a piece of glass with a thin surface that can be etched off."
This research is taken from or adapted from : http://www.fashionshowlighting.co.uk/events/fashion.php
Photography at fashion shows
"Taking shots of runway fashion shows is not that difficult if you have the right equipment, but can still be challenging. The most important thing is to identify your spot first and then proceed from there. I was fortunate enough to be the official photographer of this year’s fashion show. I had already produced their publicity shots and, needless to say, I had reserved the best spot right in front of the catwalk. I found out a small chair and manage to stand on it, elevating myself to have a much better view of the model’s and almost be at their eye level as they walked toward me.
Now that my location was set, it was time to choose the right tool for the job. The camera of the choice was the Nikon D2Xs and the lens was the Nikkor 70-200VR. I like this combination for shooting fashion shows because the crop factor of the D2 camera extends my lens’s focal length to 300 which enables me to isolate the subject and zoom in close if need be. The camera was set on Manual mode, 1/250 and f5.6 and the SB-800 attached to an SD-8A battery pack was placed on hotshoe. The f5.6 gave me all the detail I needed to for clothes, make-up and accessories and was also shallow enough to throw the background out of focus; the 1/250 would prevent camera shakes and also minimizes the light from the background reaching the sensor. The White Balance was set to flash and the ISO was on 400. The focusing was on Continuous and Dynamic so I could focus on the models and zoom out with them as they walked down the catwalk.
Here I am going to share a trick with you when it comes to shooting subjects that they are moving, particularly if there is lighting like strobes to create special effects on the catwalks/dance floors. Most photographers hate these lights because of many good reasons - namely the fact that we have no control over them.
The problem with these lights is that they often burn the model’s forehead and create unpleasant effects on their faces. However, these lights can be mixed with the on-camera flash and the results will be great. The way I use these lights to my benefit is to locate the spot where the strobes hit the catwalk and then wait for the model to pass that point. This is a very crucial moment here, you want the subject’s face to be out of the strobe’s light and the head and shoulders in the light. Therefore, the head and shoulder will be well illuminated and the strobe light gives them the separation from the background. All is left here is the face which is in dark, but my on-camera flash will fill in the shadows there. It is all a game of anticipation and quick reaction."
This research is taken from: http://kayhan.co.uk/news/?tag=how-to-photograph-a-catwalk
Portrait Photography
1. Alter Your Perspective
Most portraits are taken with the camera at (or around) the eye level of the subject. While this is good common sense – completely changing the angle that you shoot from can give your portrait a real WOW factor.
Get up high and shoot down on your subject or get as close to the ground as you can and shoot up. Either way you’ll be seeing your subject from an angle that is bound to create interest.
2. Play with Eye Contact
It is amazing how much the direction of your subject’s eyes can impact an image. Most portraits have the subject looking down the lens – something that can create a real sense of connection between a subject and those viewing the image. But there are a couple of other things to try:
A. Looking off camera – have your subject focus their attention on something unseen and outside the field of view of your camera. This can create a feeling of candidness and also create a little intrigue and interest as the viewer of the shot wonders what they are looking at. This intrigue is particularly drawn about when the subject is showing some kind of emotion (ie ‘what’s making them laugh?’ or ‘what is making them look surprised?’). Just be aware that when you have a subject looking out of frame that you can also draw the eye of the viewer of the shot to the edge of the image also – taking them away from the point of interest in your shot – the subject.
B. Looking within the frame – alternatively you could have your subject looking at something (or someone) within the frame. A child looking at a ball, a woman looking at her new baby, a man looking hungrily at a big plate of pasta…. When you give your subject something to look at that is inside the frame you create a second point of interest and a relationship between it and your primary subject. It also helps create ‘story’ within the image.
3. Break the Rules of Composition
There are a lot of ‘rules’ out there when it comes to composition and I’ve always had a love hate relationship with them. My theory is that while they are useful to know and employ that they are also useful to know so you can purposely break them – as this can lead to eye catching results.
The Rule of Thirds is one that can be effective to break – placing your subject either dead centre can sometimes create a powerful image – or even creative placement with your subject right on the edge of a shot can sometimes create interesting images.
Another ‘rule’ that we often talk about in portrait photography is to give your subject room to look into. This can work really well – but again, sometimes rules are made to be broken.
4. Experiment with Lighting
Another element of randomness that you can introduce to your portraits is the way that you light them. There are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to using light in portraits.
Side-lighting can create mood, backlighting and silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful.
5. Move Your Subject Out of their Comfort Zone
I was chatting with a photographer recently who told me about a corporate portrait shoot that he had done with a business man at his home. They’d taken a lot of head and shoulder shots, shots at his desk, shots in front of framed degrees and other ‘corporate’ type images. They had all turned out fairly standard – but there was nothing that really stood out from the crowd.
The photographer and the subject agreed that there were plenty of useable shots but they wanted to create something ‘special’ and out of the box. The photographer suggested they try some ‘jumping’ shots. The subject was a little hesitant at first but stepped out into the uncomfortable zone and dressed in his suit and tie started jumping!
The shots were amazing, surprising and quite funny. The shoot culminated with the subject jumping in his pool for one last image!
While this might all sound a little ‘silly’ the shots ended up being featured in a magazine spread about the subject. It was the series of out of the box images that convinced the magazine he was someone that they’d want to feature.
6. Shoot Candidly
Sometimes posed shots can look somewhat…. posed. Some people don’t look good in a posed environment and so switching to a candid type approach can work.
Photograph your subject at work, with family or doing something that they love. This will put them more at ease and you can end up getting some special shots with them reacting naturally to the situation that they are in. You might even want to grab a longer zoom lens to take you out of their immediate zone and get really paparazzi with them.
I find that this can particularly work when photographing children.
7. Introduce a Prop
Add a prop of some kind into your shots and you create another point of interest that can enhance your shot.
Yes you might run the risk of taking too much focus away from your main subject but you could also really add a sense of story and place to the image that takes it in a new direction and gives the person you’re photographing an extra layer of depth that they wouldn’t have had without the prop.
8. Focus Upon One Body Part – Get Close Up
Get a lens with a long focal length attached to your camera – or get right in close so that you can just photograph a part of your subject. Photographing a person’s hands, eyes, mouth or even just their lower body… can leave a lot to the imagination of the viewer of an image.
Sometimes it’s what is left out of an image that says more than what is included.
9. Obscure Part of your Subject
A variation on the idea of zooming in on one part of the body is to obscure parts of your portrait subject’s face or body. You can do this with clothing, objects, their hands or just by framing part of them out of the image.
Doing this means that you leave a little to the imagination of the image’s viewer but also focus their attention on parts of your subject that you want them to be focused upon.
10. Take a Series of Shots
Switch your camera into ‘burst’ or ‘continuous shooting’ mode and fire off more than one shot at a time.
In doing this you create a series of images that could be presented together instead of just one static image.
This technique can work very well when you’re photographing children – or really any active subject that is changing their position or pose in quick succession.
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