With New York Fashion Week Fall 07 two weeks behind us, memories still glitter in my mind. As a blogumnist for PDNedu, I was given the opportunity of registering for a press pass for the week. This allowed me to have access to the lobby, the waiting area in the front of the tents. I was also on the official press list, which allowed designers to invite me to the shows. I was able to request invitations from the PR reps of each designer.
It’s no big surprise that photographers become integral members of fashion week.
The pit photographers, probably the most important people in the room next to the fashion editors, are the runway photographers. The pit, where photographers and videographers document the shows, is the small area at the end of the runway where photographers sit and stand monopod in tow to get every shot of every design. The environment is aggressive, each photographer trying to maintain inches of personal space, and the job is high-stress and fast-paced, as the shows only last for 10 to 15 minutes. In seconds, pit photographers must capture the 30 to 50 designs walking down the runway. And like every other style of photography, there are trends on the runway, like the change from flash to a more natural look using available light, and capturing the pose—not the movement, popular in the 90s.
Capturing images in this environment is simply difficult. I was using a 10 mp point-and-shoot camera with a 4x zoom shooting at 800 ASA, low shutter speeds and fully open aperture. The movement and the lighting are not made for easy shooting, and depending on the mood that the designer is trying to set, you may get no light at all. At the Zac Posen show, the room was completely dark except for the spotlights moving with the models, making it especially difficult to get any good shots. The fact of the matter is there will most certainly be blur if you shoot in manual without flash, and with flash the images will be washed out. I suggest manual with automatic focus and hope for the best. You’ll find so many fantastic images come out just by chance. If you are not carrying a digital SLR with image stabilization and standing at the end of the runway where there is the most light, then expect this.
With bloggers becoming an increasingly important part of journalism, there are many photographers sent to the tents to photograph the crowds. Sites like the sartorialist.com are interested in the best dressed at the shows from average person to socialites; New York fashionistas with funky outfits and anyone who appears to be someone.
The last type of photographer is paparazzi capturing every celebrity’s movement from front row to backstage to the after party.
For a photographer, that’s fashion week in a thumbnail!
We support our own here at PDNedu, so when PDN Senior Editor Anthony LaSala teamed up with photographer and former PDN's 30 Seth Kushner on a new book, we had to blog about it. 
The 
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