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Fashion Designer Natalie Wood has a flair for the dramatic and hauntingly beautiful her show for pre-fashion week

Instead of a conventional runway Natalie transformed a photographic studio into a wonderful living theatrical set, where models stood displaying her fashion.

500 guests were led through in small groups and I was let in for only 10 minutes on 2 seperate occassions to photograph this amazing set, unfortunately after the show the set was torn down - what a shame!

i was shooting for Brad Ngata, Australian hairdresser of the year who worked with Natalie to come up with the post apocalyptic romantic looks
so i had to concentrate more on the hair rather than ambience shots but i just had enough time to get atmospheric shots for myself

lighting was really low so i had to artificially light in most cases
taken on the d200, 17-35 f2.8 sb800 and my moded studio softbox










fashion week reportage in my fashion column on 360 fashion
http://anina.typepad.com/anina/fashion_shows/index.html

Wendell. Only one word - fantastic! I went back and forth from one image to the next and not only could I find anything that bothered me but I could not pick a favourite one!

Alex

even though 3 is excessively over cluttered, it still works, and infact is kind of like "Where's Waldo". everything in the image matches and blends to hide the model. fantastic set of images Wendell!
Thanks for sharing

Great stuff.. what a shame the set was pulled down. Many photographers would have lined up and paid to have use of those sets.

Mark

Excellent work, especially the lighting.

I must admit I don't think much of the hairstyles - but that's not your fault.

Dude, these shots has so many things that can make you look and look for a long time and try to get out all these details inside! The preparation and direction in these must be a real headache.... Job well done mate

Up to your usual standard Wendell....bloody fantastic. You have really captured the mood in these images.
I'm interested Wendell. How do you rate the 17-35, say comapred to the 17-55 in terms of image quality? Any suggestions on technique. I sometimes get a little softness creeping in I think the lens camewr combo is very intolerant of anything less than good technique. Any tips?
cheers
marco

i did notice with the 17-35 or any wide angle lens it backfocuses slightly in low light situations probably because theres not enough light to focus on
with the sc-29 the ir helps
i use AF-S to help obtain focus

17-35 is the best focal range for me i've owned a 12-24 and a 28-70 the 28-70 being impractical and the 12-24 just too wide so i'd rate the 17-35 as my favourite most useful lens, it also has a really small minimum focus distance so you can get really close to your subject
the 17-55 i have only used once it's build isnt as good as the 17-35 but focal range is good

Forever helpful. Thanks Wendell. Keep up the glorious work
cheers
marco

Wendell, you have captured a magical charm in these images. Superb !!

Beautiful work Wendel!

Nice work Wendell..the fashion and hair suits your style nicely.

Have to agree RE the 17-35mm, other than it's occasional back-focus in low light it is a sweet piece of glass.

I would be keen to know as well re the 17-35 vs 17-55 i have the 17-55 and i am not that happy with it, it constantly backfocuses and it just doesnt seem sharp....(could be my shoty camera skills......lol) but yeah i would love to know....anyone?

What makes these shots exceptional is the subdued colour - superb

hey chris thanks also the magnificent styling Natalie wood is a creative genius

thanks everyone for the comments

to answer the 17-35 question the 17-35 is in another league compared to the 17-55 it's better in terms of quality its got less Chromatic abberation wide open and is much better built than the 17-55
also has a much closer minimum focus distance that makes this lens exceptional
i can put the lens as close as 5cm to someones face and take a good shot
also its a non dx lens so the camera(d2x d200) only uses the sharpest part of the glass since the rest of it is cut off via the 1.3 or whatever crop factor

I agree about the subdued colours. Wendel - you have such a tallent.

Shame that all the girls look like they have stuck fingers in power sockets but the quality of the photos is great!

Briefly back on the 17-35mm (sorry to get sidetracked Wendell!!) it does also suffer a little from flaring but not using a UV filter helps this - otherwise just keep an eye out for stray rays!

hi liam

i like my flaring i think it adds a bit of atmospheric funk to my fashion images
see my next backstage post
notorious flaring from the 17-35

Beautiful and very arty! Whoever came up with the concept for the set is brilliant!

thanks bud

Natalie Wood was the stylist and designer
shes a fashion designer with an art directors vision

its just a shame they teared down the set after the first viewing
everyone agreed they should of got a kick ass photographer like Richard Baily or Georges Antoni to shoot a full on fashion editorial spread in there for Vogue

last year she built a theatrical life size doll house each room had a different theme and models were dressed appropriately