A Fashionable Autumn - Photo Shoot

Nov 6, 2011 - I met Rachel Annamarie almost two years ago through seeing each other at events. She's a university student studying Broadcast Journalism/Theater and she is a Model/Actress with Model Management Agency Philadelphia. I had taken pictures of her at various events and in the numerous fashion shows she modeled and walked in. It was time do an official photo shoot of her.

With the hair styling services of Zara Korutz and the makeup artistry of Laura Marie of Red Door Spas in Pentagon Row, Arlington VA, we were able to give Rachel the look that was needed for the shoot. The clothes to be worn was planned ahead of time and we had our concepts down. Being fairly familiar with the area and just by scouting around, we found a few locations and Rachel had a different look for each location. It was a long afternoon but we felt we got some good images out of the shoot outdoors and some indoors too. Here are a few of my favorites.

Pink Rocks The Runway

The date of Friday, October 21 was emblazoned in the consciousness of the many who were looking forward to Pink Rocks the Runway, an annual breast cancer awareness fashion show that combines couture fashion and live rock music brought about by Pink Jams! It's a one-of-a-kind charity event thanks to all involved and this year's event was held at the beautiful and spacious atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center from 7:00-10:00pm.

Pink Rocks the Runway 2011 was proud to have headliner Christian Siriano with his ENTIRE Spring 2012 collection to our runway! This is the same collection shown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

View my album of photos from this event:
http://vithaya.smugmug.com/Fashion/20111021-Pink-Rocks-Runway-VP/19710412_cGmnF2#1547067444_B6t6xNF

ON THE RUNWAY
* Young breast cancer survivor models wearing pink couture by DC designers
* Pink Tie Guys - Washington Redskins' Reed Doughty and Brandon Banks, DC United's Clyde Simms and Devon McTavish, Actor Wil Lash, ESPN's Jorge Andres, Fox-5's Will Thomas, Comcast Sportsnet's Ivan Carter, former Redskins Ade Jimoh and Ravin Caldwell, Michael Woestehoff, and more.
* Spring/Summer 2012 Runway Show from Christian Siriano

MORE
* Live Music by Charm City Devils
* Open Bar and Hors d'oeuvres
* VIP Swag Bag
* Private exclusive after-party at Hard Rock Cafe

Sponsors and front row ticket holders received a meet and greet and photo with Christian Siriano. All proceeds from Pink Rocks the Runway supports Pink Jams, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness for men and women under the age of 40. Pink Jams! will be awarding a special grant to the Capital Breast Care Center for their work in our community that evening.

2011 Host Committee:
Alan Popovsky, Alex Mehrnaz Naini, Angela Steever-Diba, Barbara Saylor, Brendan Kownacki, Bryan Thomas, Chris Brown, Deidree Bennett, Jane Roser, Kate Marie Grinold, Kate Michael, Katy Adams, Lisa Shapiro, Makeda Saggau-Sackey, M. Nicole Siobal, Ashley Estill, Mark Drapeau, Stef Woods, Susannah Fox, Kimberly Robinson, and Wendy Gordon (Chairperson).

2011 Pink Dress Designers:
Aidah, Booshie Designs, Chez Kevito, Elizabeth St. John, Estella Couture, KAS Collections, Punk Rock Bride, Walish Gooshe, Natalia Sanz, Dennya, MAVEN, LLC, Studio Maxi-D, Tsyndyma, and Tashia Senn.

2011 Sponsors Include:
Bubbles and Cibu (Ratner Companies) - Presenting Sponsors
Lifetime Television, vitaminwater, Comcast Spotlight, Gibson Guitar, Bayer Onyx, BB&T, Belmont Reconstructive Surgery, Effen Vodka, BB&T, Dining in DC, Moshe Zusman Photography Studio, Mix 107.3, Send the Trend, and Savoir Faire Media.

After-Party at Hard Rock Cafe DC
From 10pm to 2am American Giant, a 90′s and Modern Rock cover band performed live at the Hard Rock Cafe DC exclusively for Pink Jams! Admission was free for event ticket holders.

Thanks to Christa Floresca and her crew including Maggy Francois, the executive producer of the event. Thanks to the designers, models, hair stylists, make-up artists, sponsors and supporters for making this all happen.

www.PinkRockstheRunway.com
www.PinkJams.org

Key to the Cure 2011 Kick-off Party

October 20, 2011 - Off to a Good Start - It was a well-attended kick-off party for Key to the Cure and guests were all over Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase enjoying all that was offered. Event co-chairs Maura Fitzgerald Shannon and Nina Snow hosted an evening of shopping, entertainment, cuisines from local restaurants, and the exciting Key to the Treasure raffle! This cocktail party event kicks off a sensational shopping weekend benefiting women's cancer programs at Suburban Hospital.

Showcased restaurants for Key to the Cure Kick-off Party 2011 (as of 10/10/11):
Bezu, Firefly, Food and Wine Co., 42° Catering (Frederik De Pue), Neyla, Rosa Mexicana, Estadio, Melting Pot, Hudson, Georgetown Cupcake, Indique Heights, Matchbox, Mon Ami Gabi, Sushi Ko, Lincoln, The Capital Grille, The Red Tomato, Urbana, Woodmont Grill (Houstons), Yuraku.

More information: http://www.suburbanhospital.org/charitableGiving/keytocure_2011.aspx

Anna Maria - Fashion In Studio

October 15, 2011 - It was a beautiful and sunny Saturday outside, but I was in RC's studio in Baltimore for photographing fashion model Anna Maria from New York. Thanks to RC for coordinating having Anna Maria be available and for use of his studio. The diffused light coming into the studio made for great pictures and working with Anna Maria was a treat as she is experienced and very good at posing. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the shoot.

Passport to Style

October 13, 2011 - The Shops at Wisconsin Place in Chevy Chase MD hosted the Passport to Style fashion event in their courtyard area. Just like last year, it was under a big white tent at the corner of Wisconsin Ave and Willard Ave. It makes for a nice open location and outdoor event, yet the weather this day was sketchy. By the time the event started the rain stopped but later on it rained hard. Yet the rain didn't stop the event from happening with everything being under the spacious tent.

Passport to Style gives a fresh perspective on fall fashion and trends, giving inspiration on what to wear, what to add, and how to pull looks together. The event brings together fashion, beauty, food and wine, and it benefits two amazing charities: Hope for Henry and Fashion for Paws. It was wonderful to see everybody come together: adults, children and pets enjoying the evening.

Part of the enjoyment stems from all the wonderful retail stores, products and services represented: Adolfo Dominguez, Anthropologie Accessories, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Bloomingdale's, Cabot Creamery, Circe Salon and Spa, Cole Haan, Eileen Fisher, Georgetown Cupcake, Hope for Henry, ILORI, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Renu Med Spa, Rosa Mexicano, Rue Washington DC, Sephora, Talbots, Tasting Room Wine Bar & Shop, The Capital Grille, Tynan Coffee & Tea, Washington Humane Society's Fashion for Paws, White House | Black Market, Whole Foods Market.

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of fall fashion spotlighting looks from a variety of fine retailers: Adolfo Dominguez, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Bloomingdale's, Eileen Fisher, ILORI, Talbots, White House | Black Market. The show was produced by TESstylist. Fall Fashion trends are with: Color Block, Leather, Shine, The Lady (60's classics revisited). Fall Hair Trends are: Long and Straight with Center Part, Slicked Back Front, Bob Style with Strong Front Fringe, Low Slung Ponytails.

Thanks to the Passport to Style stylish sponsors: Circe Salon and Spa, Capital Party Rentals, Fashion for Paws, Georgetown Cupcake, Hope for Henry, Rue La La/Rue Washington DC, Sephora, The Tasting Room Wine Bar & Shop, Washington Life magazine, White Elephant Hotel Residences.

Come and visit The Shops at Wisconsin Place.

Sarah - Georgetown DC - Photo Shoot

October 6, 2011 - It was an incredibly beautiful day and great weather for a photo shoot, so I photographed model Sarah in historic Georgetown DC. We were envisioning a somewhat vintage in foliage look. Sarah put on this long red dress and we found a spot that we felt captured our vision.

Even though we did the shoot around 2:30pm in the afternoon, we still made the photographs work and we felt comfortable working with each other. After shooting for awhile in this park-like place, Sarah changed outfits and we went to other locations in Georgetown, looking for more of that urban look. Sarah wore a stunning black and white striped dress, but modified the outfit by wearing a black wrap-around short skirt, and over the knee high black boots. It was a fantastic look and we used this row of columns as the background for an interesting perspective.

It was a long afternoon but worthwhile for the experience we had and the shots we got out of our time together.

MBFW S/S 2012 Covered for MyDCStyle

It's been a couple weeks since MBFW S/S 2012 and I wanted to show the photo galleries of the eight shows I covered there for MyDCStyle. I enjoyed being in NYC again and felt so much more comfortable traveling around there.

In walking up to Lincoln Center there was a incredible feeling of excitement. Although I was here last fall in covering S/S 2011, I was looking forward to seeing what changes had taken place and to seeing the new collections. The new front facade was cool and sleek and once I was through the doors I was in a fashion metropolis. It seemed like everybody there was uniquely dressed to impress and picture taking was the norm, as everybody seemed to want to capture and be captured by cameras.

I'm glad to have captured a good number of shows during my two and half day stay at MBFW. Here are photo galleries of just the runway portion of the fashion shows I covered:

Betsey Johnson

Badgley Mischka

Vera Wang

Herve Leger by Max Azria

Tibi

Michael Kors

Milly by Michelle Smith

Elie Tahari

There you have it. Although there was a lot of time spent waiting and through the challenges of getting the best spot I could, and all the processing of the images, it was worth the trip there. Overall it's a great experience and I think I would do it again.

Pink Jams 'Pink Rocks the Runway' Launch Party

September 20, 2011 - Guests were asked to break out their best pink attire for a cocktail party to launch Pink Rocks the Runway (PRR) for 2011. The venue for this party was at one of DC's newest and hottest places called Dirty Bar, which is adjacent to Dirty Martini in a very popular area off Connecticut Ave, NW between M and N streets. Special appetizers and cocktail menu was available with a $1 from each cocktail and $2 from each specialty 'Rock the Pink' cocktails sold to benefit Pink Jams! and their breast cancer awareness efforts.

Pink Rocks the Runway™ (PRR) is an annual breast cancer awareness fashion event with couture fashion and live rock music (by Charm City Devils) to get the message out about the importance of early detection for breast cancer. The show is headlined by celebrity designer Christian Siriano who will showing his entire 2012 collection, and there will be several other designers presenting pieces from their collections. There will also be a pink couture gown fashion show that celebrates and features breast cancer survivors under 40. Athletes from the Washington Redskins and DC United will also be part of the show. PRR is hosted by and in support of Pink Jams! It works to promote breast cancer awareness, self-exam and mammograms for men and women under the age of 40.

Toward the end of the event, Pink Jams! will provide a special grant to the Capital Breast Care Center in support of their work. The Capital Breast Care Center was chosen as the 2011 community grant recipient and works to provide women in the Washington DC area with mammograms and health screenings regardless of their ability to pay for them. The CBCC is currently diagnosing breast cancer at two times the national rate.

We're looking forward to Pink Rocks the Runway on October 21st, 2011 featuring Christian Siriano's full Spring 2012 collection. Thanks to Christa Floresca, the President and Founder of Pink Jams! Her and her team have and are working hard to make this PRR event an amazing one for the cause. For more information about the show, go to http://www.pinkrockstherunway.com/

Betsey Johnson Rocks at MBFW S/S 2012

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week - On Monday afternoon September 12 I arrived in New York City to cover some of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for April of MyDCStyle. It was great to be back in NYC and I'm starting to get used to visiting. I felt very comfortable traveling from my hotel room to Lincoln Center and the first thing I did was pick up my credentials for photographing the shows. It was wonderful to see the courtyard and fountain again, and it was cool to see the sleek new facade for the MBFW entrance.

The Betsey Johnson runway show was going to start at 6pm in the Theatre, so I arrived early enough and waited in the media line to get in and get a spot on the media riser, also called the media pit. There's a good amount of waiting but it also gives the media time to prepare for covering the shows and to capture the people walking in, milling about and seated.

I've been to a Betsey Johnson fashion show as part of the ALL ACCESS: FASHION three-day event at Tysons Galleria in Tysons Corner, VA. If you've seen one Betsey's shows you'll know that she knows how to rock the runway with her clothing collection, the models and their expressiveness which is no doubt part of Betsey's style. Betsey knows how to put on a show! When the runway show started I'm sure eyes popped and jaws dropped because Betsey Johnson delivered another stunning runway show.

With Betsey Johnson's Spring 2012 collection she blends modern and vintage styles inspired by Brigette Bardot and Burlesque dancers of the 1940's. From flirty to sexy, patterns and peek-a-boos, and mixing prints, shapes and colors with splashes of glitter, Betsey creates an alluring and edgy collection that is sophisticated, sassy and playful.

After the show I ran into Jenny of the Betsey Johnson Georgetown DC store, so it was good to see a familiar face there. Even though this was the only runway show I photographed this day, it was an excellent one to cover. Oh what a night!