Vancouver Fashion Week 2012

I was called in at the last minute to provide coverage last day of Vancouver Fashion Week 2012 (Spring/Summer 2013 Collection).

I've shot at VFW a bunch of times before at the Empire Landmark Hotel, and I knew that venue inside and out.  I headed out thinking it was going to be more of the same.

But it seems things have changed in the last few seasons I missed.

The venue was the Chinese cultural center, a major improvement in my opinion, way more room and high ceilings make the whole operation feel like a bigger production.  Most importantly (for me) it had superior lighting that I'm sure many other shooter appreciated too.

These are some photos I took while getting footage of the various designers.  I got there in time to catch six of the shows: PINGHE, Daniela Villa, Farida Lalji, SODDI by Solon Diego, Y!D.N.A. by Andy Hoan Nguyen, and George Bezhanishivili.

See more photos at my FLICKR!

Nerd Stuff Below

For this assignment, I brought out a Canon 5D mark ii and the Canon 70-200 mm IS II.

What?  Yeah I never normally bring out the 5D to a fashion show, the auto focus is too slow and inaccurate compared to the 7D, and the shallower depth of field makes it more hard to miss some shots (or lose focus while pulling in video in this case).  I actually brought it out because it doesn't get enough love, no real technical reason.

The photos are decent, but I have to take more pictures to make sure I get them sharp.  I know, digital photos are free, but more photos mean I have to take time to sort through them and stuff.  I would say about 2/3 of the photos came out sharp, while the 7D gives me better 9/10 sharp images.  You can increase the number of hits with strong technique and timing too.  Anyways, this is a feature of the full frame, shallower depth of field and larger sensor means it takes more processing power to get accurate focus.

It's okay, I still like the 5D for shooting things like landscapes and watermelons, things that don't move.