London Fashion Weekend

Vertigo · 21 Sep 2014 at 18:50

So yesterday I popped down to London to take a few snaps at London Fashion Weekend. The event was organised by Canon CPS and basically gives 'togs an opportunity to shoot during a few of the catwalk shows.

Thought I'd give it a go and was quite good fun. Here are a few of my snaps, the full set is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/veewan/sets/72157647855251141/

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Phal · 21 Sep 2014 at 19:19

Looks like something cool to try

Was your 5d3 and 70-200mm mk2 pretty much what everyone else was using? Or was there a varied amount of kit there?

Vertigo · 21 Sep 2014 at 19:21

Some varied kit. Body-wise most seemed to have a 5D2 or 5D3, although some had a 7D and there were quite a few with various 1D series bodies, including a couple with 1DXs.

Lens-wise, let's just say I've never seen so many 70-200 Mk2s in one place at one time

Phal · 21 Sep 2014 at 19:25

Vertigo1 said:
Lens-wise, let's just say I've never seen so many 70-200 Mk2s in one place at one time

Sh4rkie · 21 Sep 2014 at 19:41

Crackin' shots, all of them! Nicely composed, sharp and well exposed, wouldn't be out of place in the glossy's

GTRacer · 21 Sep 2014 at 20:39

That reminds me, I need to post my Fashion Week photos up! Lovely shots Vertigo, they're easily pro standard when you're in the right spot (straight on with the model 'making' eye contact).

The CPS center at Somerest House makes me want to switch to Canon every time I cover the Fashion Week there... So much nice kit to try out. I snagged a sweet Canon umbrella on the last day (Tuesday) after all the shows.

Nexus · 21 Sep 2014 at 20:39

I shot a couple of shows there myself today. However, I got my place through Calumet, having purchased a qualifying lens, as I couldn't get one through CPS as it looks like the ballot for that went quite quickly.

There was quite a range of Photographers there from working professionals, to students and keen amateurs, some travelled quite a long way for it.

I'd agree that the 70-200 f/2.8 was the most popular lens, but there were people using kit lenses and even one guy who lugged a super tele down. First show I sat on the front step, dead centre, it got quite tight at 70mm as the models get very close. I didn't bother to bring my second body as the instructions said you could only use one camera, but that turned out not to be the case. The second show I moved to the back and off to the right if looking down the catwalk, as the models were turning that way. I haven't had a chance to look at my photos properly yet to see how they came out but it was certainly a worthwhile experience.

I think the model in your shot labelled number 5 was the best, as she seemed to be the most expressive.

Did you do the Canon 360 thing? Where you wear an Occulus Rift and get to experience life as a model at London Fashion Week?

GTRacer · 21 Sep 2014 at 21:18

Nexus said:
Did you do the Canon 360 thing? Where you wear an Occulus Rift and get to experience life as a model at London Fashion Week?

So that's what they were doing:

I wonder if I ended up in it?

An Exception · 21 Sep 2014 at 21:41

Nicely taken pictures.

OT
I feel like I wanna throw some of those girls a chicken wing...

crinkleshoes · 21 Sep 2014 at 22:01

Yikes... those models look ill/mal-nourished to my eyes... and I usually like the "skinny" look

Nexus · 21 Sep 2014 at 22:12

GTRacer said:
So that's what they were doing:

I wonder if I ended up in it?

Haha!
Yeah you probably are!

You arrive in a taxi, then walk through the courtyard as that woman who is 'your PA' leads you into hair and makeup.

A lot of what they filmed was setup, but the outdoor parts appeared to be people just standing around and taking photos on their phones, so you were likely amongst them.

Vertigo · 21 Sep 2014 at 22:32

Nexus said:
I think the model in your shot labelled number 5 was the best, as she seemed to be the most expressive.

From what I understand, I think the models are instructed not to smile at all during catwalks so they can look a bit "unexpressive". We actually got a smile out of one of them during the final parade:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/veewan/15123960617/in/set-72157647855251141/lightbox/

Did you do the Canon 360 thing? Where you wear an Occulus Rift and get to experience life as a model at London Fashion Week?

No, we were told about it during the CPS intro and told it was free if we wanted to try it but never really got the chance. Only had about 20 minutes free between each show.

Vertigo · 21 Sep 2014 at 22:41

GTRacer said:
That reminds me, I need to post my Fashion Week photos up! Lovely shots Vertigo, they're easily pro standard when you're in the right spot (straight on with the model 'making' eye contact).

The CPS center at Somerest House makes me want to switch to Canon every time I cover the Fashion Week there... So much nice kit to try out. I snagged a sweet Canon umbrella on the last day (Tuesday) after all the shows.

Cheers

Unfortunately the main CPS presence is long gone by the weekend so you can't borrow gear etc.

So you shot the main thing during the week as a pro then? Must have been mayhem

GTRacer · 21 Sep 2014 at 23:17

Vertigo1 said:
Cheers Unfortunately the main CPS presence is long gone by the weekend so you can't borrow gear etc.

So you shot the main thing during the week as a pro then? Must have been mayhem

Ah what a shame, they had a large format printer as well, it was nice seeing all the shots from various photographers get put up on the wall as the week went on.

Yeah, I was covering it for a magazine, if you thought having 20mins between shows was bad imagine having that much time while racing between all the different venues as well!