How To Do It At The Photo Live

Okay. We've had the rescue greyhounds in pyjamas yesterday. How ya gonna top that? With or without cheese... Well, you get someone who does fashion shooting and runway photography for a living to tell some of the secrets of the trade. Stefan Gosatti is a good friend of Camera Electronic and a man well-experienced in the runway and fashion work on a number of continents. Saul gave him an intro, the mic, and away we went. Stefan went to the end of the runway and explained some very practical rules of the game: The end of the runway, dead centre, is the prime spot to get. The pros jostle and possibly pay for it. The lighting is carefully controlled ambient - don't use flash ( Note I did, but to provide you, readers with a look-see at the event. My sort of pictures wouldn't sell to the buyers of fashion shots. ) Shoot every garment and every aspect of each garment. That is what the photo buyers pay for. I guess that means tags and all... The foot position is all-important. Front foot down flat and back foot touching the floor as well. Not like this: Shoot the model's evolutions at either end of the runway as it will show different aspects of the garment. Be prepared to work like mad. Would you like to take 700 shots at a fashion show? Then editing and delivery? Or you can go down the salt mines for a holiday. Note: This is probably the same number of images that the pro sports and big event shooters process, so perhaps it is not unusual - but that doesn't stop it from being hard and precise work. Think about that when you contemplate giving up your day job - you may be buying into an all-day and all-night job... I'm lucky - my job lasts as long as I want to work, and the deadline is whenever the coffee runs out. The shooters at the Photo Live Fashion Show had a very good time, as you can see from the pictures. They were ably assisted by the representatives from the major photo supply firms who had a bewildering array of cameras and lenses on the tables for the people to use. They took their own cards home and the canny ones could do their own comparisons of the gear on their own computers. Of course, some, like myself, brought gear we already own and shot to the limits of it. I do not know how many people returned the next day after being fired up at the show to talk technicalities with the reps - and to take advantage of the specials that Camera Electronic were offering on the day. So what took the editorial eye on Sunday? Read tomorrow and see. PS: What's Stefan shooting? A Nikon D5 in these pictures, but he has shot other cameras at other shows - and makes 'em all work. That's a pro.