Tag Archives: Fashion Week

Getting Creepy: Photo Shoot #2

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Sometimes perseverance really does work.  And it doesn’t hurt to have a little luck too.  Well for the latest chapter of the fashion shoot, both worked out wonderfully.  I got access to the Arboretum and the rain stayed away.  It was miserably hot, but this is the south.  Heat and humidity…  what’s new?

The arboretum is everything I hoped it would be and more.  We really could not have asked for a better place to shoot.  So I’d really like to take a moment and thank the owner.  The arboretum feels like a very personal project for him and I really appreciate his willingness to allow us to shoot.

Our goal for the whole shoot is to capture a darkness.  And what better place to capture it than an arboretum full of gargoyles and unique statues!  If you know the designer, it makes sense.  A Femme Fatale theme oozes from the whole collection.   I’m hoping my editing skills are up for the challenge!  Take a look at these ROUGH examples (click the photo and no… I’m nowhere near final edits!).  It’s kinda scary, kinda seductive, kinda… I like.  I can’t wait to work on this project more.  It’s totally bad ass.

Oh Photography… I could do this as a Profession!

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Pro Photography is a crazy industry.  Once you’re in, you’re good to go for the most part.  It’s all about networking, being adaptable, and most importantly… being reliable.  And that doesn’t just mean being on time and keeping to deadlines: it’s about producing reliable work that suits the client’s exact needs.  Having your own vision and ideas about a client’s project is wonderful, but being a professional is about helping your client take their idea and making it real.  In other words, it’s great to have a creative vision, but be careful how far you express it when you are being paid by a client to follow their vision.  In fact, take that vision and drive and use it in your own personal projects.  If it’s good work, you seriously increase your chances of people hiring you specifically for your vision!  (Yes, that’s a hint)  Once you get that big break, you are golden.  If I ever get mine, I’ll be sure to write something about it.  That will require a day… no…. week of celebration.  For the second, I’m just happy to work when I get the chance and gain experience.  After all, I’m totally about being a creative director at an advertising/public relations/etc firm.  That’s more on the planning/leadership side, but from experience, the best leaders come from the trenches.

Well, I recently made a little investment in some new camera equipment and I’m in love with my Nikon D300.  It does things I only dreamed of and the control it offers me…  wow.  I know full frame bodies are the future and there is a D300s, but I’m not convinced the D700/D3 are really worth the extra cost.  And the D300s…  don’t waste your money.  In fact, buy a used D300 (be careful though!) and send me the extra money!  But I will say one thing about the rumored D7000… that actually is a nice deal.  It’s DX, but at 16ish Megapixels and a CMOS sensor, this thing sounds like a suped up D300.  Regardless, right now, I think I’ll focus on new lenses.  After all, a good lens on a entry level DSLR will trump even the best of DSLR any day when you use stock lenses.  And yes, I’m easily bribed with camera gear.

This weekend I spent Sunday afternoon with two of my favorite people in the world attempting to do some fashion photography.  I was approached a few weeks ago to help out with the project and of course I wanted to do it.  Ever since I got to see the inside workings of Fashion Week last September, it’s kinda become… dare I say it, a pseudo-interest.  It’s a very cool industry and I’ve been extremely lucky to befriend some seriously talented people working in the industry.  What draws me to them is their pure passion for what they do and how they have turned that passion into a successful life, not just a job.  Very few people manage to do that and it’s something I really admire and aspire to achieve.

So back to the photo shoot.  It was so much fun and I’m totally thrilled to continue with it.  Photography is often extremely challenging (weather, lighting, the personalities involved), but this was anything but.  It’s a great feeling when you find yourself in a situation when everything clicks.  I can’t wait for round two…  an overgrown garden filled with creepy gargoyles.  Well, after I get permission from the garden’s owner (already in the works!)

Work for free… Get used to your future income

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A lot of my friends have been sending me links to the recent surge of articles talking about the rise of unpaid internships.  As a former unpaid intern, the first thing I tell people when they ask me about unpaid internships: be careful.  Don’t enter into one blindly.  Especially in the creative world.  From my experience, they can be wonderful experiences, but they can also be total nightmares.

On the plus side, I think it’s a great way for students and new grads to gain experiences in places that would otherwise would be near impossible such as one of my friends working NYC fashion week.  I was lucky enough to see  this type of internship in person and recommend taking advantage of this type of opportunity to anyone who can manage it.  You may have to save up and work hard, but it pays off exponentially in the long run.

Unfortunately, many internships are not really internships.  They are free labor and officially banned by the US government.  That doesn’t stop companies or students from participating in this practice.  I’ve never experienced this kind of “internship” myself, but it’s becoming way too common in a lot of job markets.  If you don’t believe me, take a look at the NYC Craigslist under Art, Media, and Design.

And that brings me to the point of today’s post: accepting this type of “internship” devalues recent graduates and junior employees.  In my field, this type of “opportunity” makes it virtually impossible to enter the industry without having paid your dues through this type of labor.  And the worst part, virtually none of these “internships” have even the remote chance of leading towards a paying job nor do they result in any real value to the intern.  Yes, you can officially add something to your resume, but your portfolio and knowledge of the industry have not increased.  If you can not bring that to your next interview, you have officially wasted your time and lowered your future income.

All good things must come to an end… We will meet again NYC.

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I love cities… I haven’t always loved them, but as I get older, I find myself loving the idea of city dwelling more and more. There is just something about cities that does it for me. I’m not sure if I can pin it to one thing specifically, but I’ll put it on my list of things “not to rationalize.” Those of you who know me well know exactly what is on that list. It is pretty small. Of course some cities are just something else…

New York has always been a little different in my eyes. I’ve always known the second I set foot in the city, I would either hate the place totally or fall headfirst in love with the uniqueness of the city. I loved it.

My first experience in the city defies anything I could of expected. Like all my trips, I winged it. When I arrived, I expected to visit a few schools, see some museums, and just try and get a sense of the place. If I end up going to school in the city, I need to know I can survive. For me, there is no better test than just run around the city and see what happens. I visited the schools I had arranged to see, but other than that, I totally ran with the opportunities as they popped up.

I could not have asked for a better or more inspiring experience. Thanks to a friend, I got a very close look at the fashion world during the opening days of NYC’s famed Fashion Week. I can not say I know a huge amount about the industry, but I know I got to see something very special. I quickly realized I was surrounded by total class acts and that was an opportunity I was most definitely not going to pass. Even if you know absolutely nothing about an industry, it is awe inspiring to see creative minds at the top of their game. That is something very special to experience and I am very thankful to have been offered the chance to meet and hopefully befriend some very cool people. I may have been as slept deprived as I have been in a long time, but I would not trade my first experiences in New York City for anything.

Take a look at Cesar Galindo‘s work… pictures really don’t do his designs justice!

I’d also like to personally thank the show’s PR master, Gregory Triana of Blue Cashew Events.  I honestly think you have one of the most amazing jobs I have ever seen!