It’s a Wrap: Mercedes Benz Fashion Week
Mercedes Benz Fashion Week is officially over & I survived the madness for five days….
This season for me was the best of the three that I have attended for one major reason & that is because I refused to let anyone or anything stress me out. This means that I got into no arguments with Italian photographers, I didn’t have to elbow anyone & I did not have to cuss anyone one out.
On the way home, I thought about how calm & reserved I was, which is totally not me.
Although I did not stress like in the past, I did have my fair share of incidents that were challenging such as:
– Twisting my ankle the 1st day of MBFW. A total bummer considering that photographing at MBFW means lots of walking & standing. When the accident occurred, honestly, I could have cried. It hurt like never before & walking on it was a bitch! A week later, the ankle is feeling better but not 100% so you know that I really messed myself up.
– Having my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens die on me stemming from a drop months ago during a photo session. I noticed that it died moments before I was about to photograph the Lacoste runway show. In order to make it through the rest of the assignment meant procuring a replacement lens fast. Luckily, I found a replacement at THE only open camera store on Manhattan. I so did not plan on getting a replacement lens but I have to say that the updated version of the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is far more superior to its predecessor. Much faster, lighter & much more crisp. I guess it all came together…
– Losing my laptop charger. Luckily, the 5th Ave Apple store is open 24 hours!
– Missing several runway looks in six shows because my rental Nikon D700 camera mirror kept locking up on me. Fortunately, I keep a back up camera. And even better, when I returned the camera to Foto Care & informed them of the issue, they totally took care of me in a way that I did not expect. They have the best service and I appreciate their commitment to photographers.
– Losing my Metro Card on the last day & almost missing my flight after busting a cabbie who tried to rip me off by double charging.
Outside of the drama, I worked my ass off photographing twenty shows/presentations, processing and uploading images the same day & being in the bed by 1am.
Making my turn around time even better was the fact that my editor, Asia Willis and I were coordinating via phone, text and email as she was in LA whipping up our reviews over the weekend and posting on the spot. Technology is a beautiful thing!
Without the company & humor of my friends in New York with me, I don’t know if I would have been able to stay sane because after the ankle, I was like, OK. After the lens, I was like, REALLY?!!!. After the camera, I was like, I must have a Gypsy curse on my life (as I screamed loudly in my head)…
On an interesting note, my friends at The NYLA Report and I are already talking about MBFW in February as we continue to wrap of our coverage from the past week. It’s not that far away & we are going to be bigger & badder with fingers crossed for less drama or at least some fun drama!
To see images from that I captured on the runway at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, check here. For coverage & show reviews, check out The NYLA Report here.