Fashionably Westport 2023

Each year the Westport Downtown Merchants Association produces a fashion show to raise money and awareness to Homes With Hope. Homes with Hope provide solutions to help homelessness in Fairfield County.

I do not get to photograph runway models often, but when I do, I really enjoy it. The hardest part is holding my camera in a vertical position for so long. your arm starts to get wonky after the 10th model so you have to find ways to give your arm a little break.

My favorite part of the shoot is the backstage stuff. Going unnoticed and capturing expressions of people who are not aware of you and being a native Westporter, I get to meet and talk to my old and new neighbors.

Here are the links to my photos. Have fun.

https://videlerphotography.pixieset.com/fashionablywestport2023/

https://videlerphotography.pixieset.com/fashionablywestport2023runway/

Before the storm.

Can you find my logo?

Another view before the show.

Backstage catching sportscaster Lynsday Czarniak in a candid moment.

Hats off to all the models that donated their time and look

Last minute advice on walking down the runway.

More advice.

Young love caught in the dressing room.

70-200mm canon lens gets pretty heavy after 5 minutes of vertical shooting.

But it is such a great lens. Tack sharp. Even caught a wink.

My spot at the end of the runway in “the pit” it was so much fun. ( photoshop of me)

Homes with Hope Helen telling the audience about what their organization does.

DeTapas

I photographed De Tapas restaurant for Westport Lifestyle Magazine and I could not be more happier to do so. One I love food and two, I really enjoy photographing people in their environments. Call it environmental portraits but I like to call it branding photography where you show the world a business and images to promote that business.

Chef/owner Carlos Pia could not be any nicer to me. He helped with the set ups and had all of the food prepared and ready to be photographed. My father was a food photographer working mainly with Campbell Soup and Pepperidge Farm so I would watch him as much as I could to learn how to photograph it and how to eat it.

De Tapas has a great vibe and a very friendly atmosphere. I photograph many interiors.

I also like “dead on” shots it has more of a geometrical look.

Love this color, shot with the Canon 5D mark4

What service!!

Here is Carlos Pia owner of De Tapas.

Pinkchella

I photographed Pinkchella this year for Westport Lifestyle Magazine. Pinkchella is a fashion show held at Mitchell’s of Westport and produced by Pinkaid. The fashion show highlighted by breast cancer survivors was hoping to raise over a million dollars to help cancer patients. Light bites a silent auction and a live auction greeted all participants. I enjoy photographing these events, especially when the cause is so great!

Here is a photographer capturing a group.

These ladies were awesome during the live auction.

photoshoot for a corporate client

I photographed a gathering at Gray Barns in Silvermine for Exclusive Resorts. It was a very simple shoot where the client basically said that they wanted a mix of candid and posed images for their website. I have photographed at Gray Barns a bunch of times so I am very familiar with the grounds. This particular shoot was at the actual barn on the property which is a refurbished and really nice to shoot in. I worked with available light and bounced some flash. The feel of the barn was so relaxed and fun to work in. The clients were in a very good mood and the food and wine tasting was superb. I enjoy shooting candidly in a group of people. My goal in my mind is to get everyone who is at the function. Somehow recording everyone who is there along with some fun background images.

The Gray Barns is a perfect place for a gathering.

one of the most important gifts that I have is shooting unobtrusively.

I made Dan Woog’s Podcast!!

“Of course I will do the Podcast!” That was my answer after Dan asked me to do his 06880 podcast last week. He is a Westport treasure and his blog is my ” must reads” every day. I always said if it was not for him keeping up with town stories and sharing them, it would be a boring world. In retrospect I really should have given my father more credit for teaching me photography and helping me see things differently and as a photographer, try to make things “prettier”. Here is the podcast. Enjoy!!

Engagement portraits at Compo Beach Westport

Julia and John are getting married in the fall so we wanted to get the word out to there friends. What better way to announce this by taking photographs together at Compo Beach! When it is sunny at the beach, you get a lot of squinting. Sometimes to the point where your eyes are watering and you are in pain. I have seen grown men cry from the glare of the sun. Not this time. With a well calculated overcast day, we set foot at Compo to grab these images. I enjoy shooting with my 85mm 1.2 lens because the bokeh is just gorgeous.

Here is my godox octogon that I like to use for soft fill light.

Fairfield University Graduates

Yesterday I photographed the next generation of talented young ladies. After meeting at the front of Fairfield University campus, we travelled to a few locations that will remind them of their journey through college. Even the Seagrape was picked for our exotic photoshoot. I remember going to The Seagrape when I played summer league baseball with Byron AC. After games we would usually celebrate our games their. Good luck ladies!!

had to get one with my assistant in there. Staples internship with Chase

All these images were photographed with the Godox Travel system and I used a trigger on top of the camera to fire the flash. Inside at The Sea grape I used a back light to separate the subjects from the background. It really is an ideal setup for a photographer.

Madelyn plays guitar

I make house calls!! This special portrait was photographed at Madelyn’s parent house. She is a musician and needed a portrait for professional use. Madelyn sang the national anthem at The “sticks for soldiers” Lacrosse fundraiser at Staples High School last week. She said this would not be her first time singing the Anthem, she had actually performed it twice before. I couldn’t do it.

I love shooting portraits. It is a very easy set up. backdrop and three lights. Main, background and a kicker light. I do love the soft light effect we got on Madelyn, it has a real fine look.

classic soft light with a little rim light.

What I love about my light set up is that I no longer need wires to connect to electrical outlets. It is all self contained. Setup is quick and I have more room to move around.

Fashion Show in Westport

I was the official photographer for this years Fashionably Westport. The sold-out event showcased downtown’s fashion and beauty merchants while guests enjoyed a festive evening. The event benefited Project Return, Home with Hope’s program that focuses solely on the needs of homeless women. I arrived early to set up and check things out and was happy to be let into the room where all of the models were getting ready. I enjoy the candid photography most of all. The runway images are a little tougher because of the quick movement of the models and the spot lights.

Jen Falik was the MC and Helen McAlinden the CEO of Homes with Hope, gave a wonderful presentation at halftime. They raised a lot of funds and everyone had a great time.

Maxx Crowley the new President of The Downtown Merchant’s Association

Fire Department Photography

I was asked to photograph all of the Westport Fire Department personnel and I wanted to show that you really do not need a lot of space to get some great portraits. This was photographed in the fire chief’s office and I used the main light, a backlight, and a little kicker camera left to get a nice little sheen on their faces. Up until a few years ago, all of my lights had cables to be connected to outlets. Now I am fully battery-driven using my Godox a200 and accessories. On Memorial Day, I am scheduled to photograph the whole department using a drone. Can’t wait!

A Connecticut Photographer

Videler Photography

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