One of my favorite photography blogs, From Me to You, recently featured a short interview with a runway fashion photographer who shoots Fashion Week every year.
The photographer is Robert Mitra, and you can read the entire interview here.
Don’t bother going to Mitra’s website. The idiot has it locked down for some dumb reason.
Mitra talks about why he shoots JPGs over RAWs at runways, what lenses, what camera body and the settings he uses. And he talks about what it’s like to be in the photo pits fighting for position.
After shooting in music festivals and runways here and in New York, I can attest to the fighting for position and how difficult it can be.
I don’t agree with Mitra’s camera settings so much. I like a little more depth of field so I try to shoot at 1/320th and at 3.2 to 4.0. Runways are generally slow, and 1/320th is good enough to stop the action. Heck, it’s good enough to stop a drummers arm in low-light, I think it’s more than enough to stop a model shuffling slowly down a runway.
I don’t like the softness that starts on the face with an f-stop of 2.8. I want a little more in focus to go from nose to ears.
The shot above is yours truly fending for position at a Bridal Week pit last October.
Below is a huge pit from fashion week that was featured at From Me to You. How crazy is that! Also below is a short, short video of what it looks like and sounds like in the pit.
It’s essential to chew gum like a champ.
I’ll never live down not having the right lens last year. This year, I’m going to be over prepared. 
