“Runway Ready”

I attended the annual runway show at West Potomac Academy in Alexandria, VA.  The show is produced by Maggy Fancy Francois who runs the school’s fashion design program.  The show had the high energy level to be expected from a high school production.  But it also had some great designs from the students and also from establishedl designers including Betsy Johnson.

You can find all the details about the show in Jimmy De La Cruz’ informative blog at this link —

De La Style: “Were You Runway Ready?”

You can view all my photos from the show at this link —

http://gallery.me.com/philkdc/100956

Photo of  local runway model Nora Sommerkamp —

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Orsi at DC Studio

May 22 Shoot with Orsi

Orsi is a Hungarian student doing an intership in the US.  This shoot was her first time modeling.  Teresa Atchison handled makeup.  Unique Thrift Store provided wardrobe.

CANON BG-E6 — This was my first shoot using the Canon BG-E6 grip for my 5D Mark II.  It is certainly more comfortable shooting with the extended grip.  But I found it has other advantages.  I made greater use of the now more accessible auto focus lock.  This will hopefully reduce the amount of lens blur that occurs.  Most important though is that I spent more time composing.  That’s a result of being in a more comfortable shooting position.  I didn’t feel rushed to get the shot since I had a steady two hand grip on the camera.

Christine Ann – Ashburn VA

Christine was interested in updating her portfolio.  But with a young child at home she didn’t want to travel all the way to DC.  Her apartment complex in Ashburn allowed us to spend an afternoon and evening shooting in some great locales in their main building including a common room, a game room, and nicely lit hallways.  Christine did her own hair, makeup, and wardrobe.  I invited my colleague Chris Maxwell to join us for the shoot and he agreed to help out by bringing along equipment from his Dulles studio as well as his substantial expertise.

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Catwalk Studioz Grand Opening

I went to the grand opening celebration at Catwalk Studioz on May 15 and did a few hours of shooting. Thanks to the gracious hospitality of Joseph Philbert and his wife this was a fun event for all.

I ran into my shooting partner Vox early in the day. We each had brought along one studio light.  Joseph let us set up in an enclosed loading dock area and gave us a canvas drop cloth for a backdrop. The space was only 7 feet high and that became an issue with one model. Emery Wallace in the pic below is 6’2″ and played small forward at Maryland.  The first thing I did was ask her to remove her heels. We then got her into poses that would deemphasize her height relative to the space.

View Vox’s image of Emery.

Springtime Shoot with Nora and Liz

April 20, 2010 Shoot with Nora and Liz

Nora’s friend Liz Weygrzyn is an MUA and she wanted to get some shots of Nora for her port.  We decided to do a location shoot at the Smithsonian gardens behind the castle building on the Mall.  It was a near perfect spring evening and Nora’s pose lying on the grass reflects the serene setting.

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