Earlier in the year, I was contacted by Andrew Roby Events to do a bridal shoot in DC. On this occasion we met at Malmaison near Georgetown. Given that I have photographed a couple of events for Andrew previously, I was excited about this event!
Andrew shows through these photos what an excellent event planner can do. For this reason, he setup an entire wedding reception table complete with linens, tableware, decorations, and dessert! Not only was the room setup, but he had two models to stand in as bride and groom!
In effect, he prepared an entire wedding reception at Malmaison in DC for this shoot. While this shows what he can do from a design standpoint, it also shows the capabilities of his team. Given that this was a completely empty restaurant room, he produced a beautiful space for a reception. In the event that you would are planning a wedding or corporate event in the area, Andrew and his team should be the first call you should make!
In April, I photographed the Small Biz Pitch Event in Washington, DC. Andrew Roby the event producer from District Fete was holding this event for entrepreneurs in the fashion industry. Similar to a show like “Shark Tank” this event would give business owners a chance to present the story, product, and their vision of the future.
It was inspiring for me to be in the room as they did their presentations. In addition to get good feedback from the judges, the presenters needed to have a few items prepared. Moreover, a combination of an interesting product, and a clear view of where they want to go helped get their point across. Moreover, this will help them pitched to investors for their company.
Andrew Roby is an event planner and producer working in the DC metro area. I have worked with him on a number of fashion shows, media events, and parties where customers are looking for a high-end event that look great on social networks. His events run smoothly even if there are a lot of moving parts.
At this event, there were 3 judges, 10 presenters, sponsors, and a sold out audience. The site for the event was the very modern workspace at iStrategy Labs. Not only was this a great place to have an assembly for this kind of event, but it was a very creative space for this creative agency. It was an appropriate space for aspiring creatives to further their business aspirations.
The photos from today’s post were from a fashion show produced by District Fete at the Pentagon City Mall as part of the “Indulge” event for mothers as a celebration of Mother’s Day. I have worked with them before on other shows, and they always have a professional setup with stylists, makeup artists, and models. On this occasion there were many professionals working hard to put on a good show. Consequently, I tried my best to make good representative photos of the looks on display.
Since I had lots of space at the front of the stage, I setup two flashes pointed towards the runway. Many of these shows are photographed with available light. This works when there is a lot of bright constant light setup. For this show, there was no additional light from the ambient light of the mall interior. The addition of the flashes helps to make the colors really stay true to the clothing, and makes for a much cleaner image.
The show was hosted by Brooke Ryan from Mix 107.3. She kept the show flowing with description of all the looks as the models walked the runway. The models for this show did a great job showing the fashions, giving me lots of opportunities and different poses with each outfit. I had to adjust my shooting position between shows since I was a bit close to get a good composition without having distracting backgrounds to take away from the models.
For the second show, I did have a good shooting position. I was able to keep the models in front of the mostly black mall banner. This really helped to pop them out from the background, and it made it easier for me to keep them in frame. It was also easier for them to see me, and look right into the lens as they walked.
Thanks again to District Fete for producing such a professional showcase! I hope to work with them again on future projects. Pentagon City Mall is a great venue to host fashion shows with their beautiful open spaces and many stores available to pick up the fashions on display. I would enjoy the opportunity to make more photos there again.
