|FAT| Fashion Art Toronto 2013
This was my second time covering |FAT| Fashion Art Toronto and although I didn’t need to cover all of the runway shows, I did so once again. Some of my favourites included Inna Clothing Co, B.E. Shields, Wallace Playford, Cinched Tight, Starkers Corsetry, House of Etiquette and Y.D.N.A. There were also, as usual, interesting designs and presentations from many designers of whom I’d never heard before. This year there was a total of 42 runway shows spread over 5 nights with some performances, guest DJs and short films thrown into the mix. Definitely a long week with minimal sleep and major speed review/edits of over 7500 images.
This year there was also a new set up in the pit which made for some interesting first day conversation/discussion with some battling of positions. All good though and we were able to work it out and I ended up with a pretty good spot. Great to see the usual gang once again in the pit although many of the regulars were not present. Definitely had plenty of laughs with Raymond and Michael. Hey guys, how about that volunteer videographer?
Gear for the week was solely my D3s with 70-200 2.8VRll. I didn’t use a monopod but I definitely used some ear plugs (music was loud even between shows). Settings were ISO 1250, 1/640, f2.8 and custom white balance.
Until next year enjoy the images.
Uta Bekaia & Ideal Glass – The Purple Jester
Fashion Takes Action Presenting Designers Nationwares, Local Buttons, Azadi Project
Craig Renaud presented by Seneca College
Workman Arts – Mad Couture Catwalk
Dianna Dinoble – Starkers Corsetry
House of Etiquette – Filthy Gorgeous
Widowspeak @ the Garrison
Covered this New York band for Quip Magazine at the Garrison. The alternative rock band with hints of classic rock and pop americana definitely kept me interested in their set. At times they also reminded me of Mazzy Star. Great band! Check out their latest album Almanac.
Visit Quip Magazine for the review of the show here.
All of my images from the show can be viewed here.
Thanks to Quip Magazine.
*Shot on April 15, 2013*
The Auras @ the Garrison
Groovy psychedelic pop band from Cambridge were the opening act for Widowspeak at the Garrison. The lighting at this venue challenged my camera once again and it was a good thing the band brought some of their own psychedelic lighting which helped brightened things up…slightly.
My images from their set can be viewed here.
*Shot on April 15, 2013*
Inna Clothing Co. lookbook/editorial Part 2
After some quick packing of gear and consuming of lunch in the car on the way to our location shoot, we arrived at The Edgewater Manor in Stoney Creek at 12pm. Although we had scouted this location a couple of months previously (made notes, took pictures, etc), there was still some testing that needed to be completed before actual shooting. For this reason I brought extra gear not knowing what would be needed (4 Elinchrom heads, several large modifiers, plus all of the regular studio accessories along with several lenses). We decided that 4 looks in basically 3 areas in the Edgewater Manor would be the goal for the afternoon. We had a hard line 4pm stop since the restaurant had to prepare for their customers that would be arriving by 6pm that evening. Kirill was looking for a more dark theme with a Victorian, minimalist futurism to match his designs and I set up my lighting and colour balance to achieve this. The images above were a few of my fav’s from the afternoon.
Tech notes;
Image 1 – Elinchrom RX600 with Deep Octa left of model as key light, Elinchrom RX300 with snoot from second floor towards model’s face for some fill and Elinchrom RX300 with 10 degree grid reflector on second floor pointing towards the back of model for some rim light. I had a hard time positioning the key light where it would not get in the way (awkwardness of the stairwell) as well as eliminating all of the ambient light coming through large windows and a glass door from the right of the model. D3s with 35mm.
Image 2 – Elinchrom RX600 with Deep Octa as key light and Elinchrom RX300 with snoot for hair light. D3s with 35mm.
Image 3 – Elinchrom RX600 with 10 degree grid reflector as the main light with Elinchrom RX300 with soft box to light up the railing. D3s with 70-200mm 2.8. For this image there was some time spent balancing my lights to capture the chandeliers, lighting of the railings behind the model and the need to eliminate the ambient light which was coming in pretty heavily from several large windows in front of the model.
Image 4 & 5 – Elinchrom RX600 with large soft box. D3s with 85mm 1.4.
Thanks once again to our gorgeous model DJ from Sutherland, Tasha Farrington for the fantastic styling, Buffy Shields for the awesome job with hair and make up and to Colette for her invaluable assistance.
Soundtrack for the afternoon included Red Hot Chili Peppers’ album Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
*shot on February 2, 2013*
Hilary MacMillan F/W 2013 at the Glass Factory | 99 Sudbury Street
Great pieces from Hilary MacMillan, a Canadian fashion designer from Toronto. She showcased her Fall/Winter collection at the Glass House | 99 Sudbury Street for her first runway presentation.
All of my images from the runway show can be viewed here.
Thanks to Magnet Creative.
Tech note: The lighting at this venue was basically non existent except for one spotlight early on on the runway. Although I concentrated on getting the one shot as the model walked into the spotlight, I did take several shots just before and after for the full length images. After viewing the images in Lightroom I decided not to use the images that were in the spotlight due to the contrasty, uneven light with heavy shadows. Although I probably could have evened out the lighting in Photoshop, I decided to do the usual speedy workflow/processing in Lightroom with some very dark images that came out pretty well…considering. I had my camera settings set for the exposure in the the spotlight – ISO4000, 2.8, 1/320 which was easily 4 to 5 stops too dark for the rest of the images outside of the spotlight.
Raise the Rhythm 2013
Awesome evening covering Raise the Rhythm 2013. The event was a mixture of emerging designers and performers at the Isabel Bader Theatre in order to raise funds and awareness for Canadian charities. This year it was to support Autism Speaks Canada.
Media had one full row on the second level of the theatre. Great spot actually but my 70-200 2.8 was a tad short. 300mm next time! Also, I had to battle some serious high ISO for several dance performances. I’m always amazed how well the D3s focuses in low light and how clean high ISO images turn out. Crazy. Best part shooting from the media area? The comfy theatre seats plus all of the extra space between photographers! What a drastic change from the norm.
A big thank you to the producers Dani Kagan, Jessica Domingo and Victoria Marshman.
For more information on Raise the Rhythm, the designers and performers visit www.raisetherhythm.com
Click on the following links to view all of my images:
Ducktails at The Garrison
Great night at the Garrison shooting Ducktails for Quip Magazine. The band’s catchy psychedelic pop sound definitely had me grooving at the bar after the 3 song limit for media. I liked them so much I bought their latest cd a couple of days later. This was my first time shooting at the Garrison. Great little venue although the lighting could have been a lot better. I was at ISO 6400 and f3.2 mainly with my 24-70 2.8 and with various shutter speeds as I was shooting manual. I did have a couple of primes with me but stuck with the 24-70 2.8 due to the fast and reliable focusing. Got some great shots regardless.
Review of the Ducktails show in Quip Magazine can be viewed here.
All images from the show can be viewed here.
Special thanks to Quip Magazine.
*shot April 3, 2013*
