The Catwalk, it's easy?

You may think fashion events are easy to photograph as you do not have the interaction with the models, but challenges are still there. The first is sitting in the audiance, getting the right spot. If you have no choice you will need to deal with problem lighting, and plenty of distractions in the frame.

So for the Escorpion Winter Collection at Barcelona 080 I was seated in the front row at the end of the stage. The pit is to my right, and as you can see the lights are set-up for the video cameras to my right as well. The camera was set-up, and the photos taken whilst it was resting on my knees so I didn't interfere with the paid photographers there.

This is the RAW image from my Nikon Z7 (cropped slightly). The Z series do a fantasic job with exposure range, so reducing the exposure in the highlights in CaptureOne works well. There were only a few shots which were over-exposed, generally when the model was further away. This is due to using an averaging exposure setting and not the spot (or highlights on the Z9) setting.

I am always impressed with the image quality of the Z Series Nikon lenses, absolutly no flare or ghosting, with plenty of contrast. This was taken with the 24mm to 70mm f/2.8 set at f/4 and around 1/250th second, using auto ISO to correct the exposure.

If you are interested in seeing typical lighting conditions take a look at Escorpion, 080 Spring/Summer 2024 on YouTube. Very dark ambient lighting with spotlights following the models.