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Credit: Maria Plutz/Tony Powell Images
WASHINGTON LIFE MAGAZINE APRIL FASHION EDITORIAL
PHOTOGRAPHER Tony Powell
MODEL Natalie Hockey
DATE Sunday, March 20, 2011
LOCATION Tudor Place, Georgetown
CLOTHING STYLISTS Krystal Ugo & Kristin Lyle
HAIRSTYLIST Warren Beautiful
MAKEUP ARTIST Leah Bassett
LIGHTING ASSISTANTS: Andrew Paterini, Daniel Gill, and Maria Plutz
Credit: Maria Plutz/Tony Powell Images
Credit: Maria Plutz/Tony Powell Images
Credit: Maria Plutz/Tony Powell Images
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
The Tiffany 2009 Blue Book Collection is the defining symbol of luxury in the World of fine gems. Teardrop Diamond Drop Earrings are $40,000, a flower Jardinet Diamond Bracelet in 18K gold is $320,000, and a 6.19 carat brilliant diamond – flawless and colorless with a double border diamond setting – a mere $1,475,000!
The dinner that was thrown at the Tysons Corner location November 20th, in honor of the collection, was just as luxurious as the stones being offered.
© Tony Powell. Tiffany VP Diane Ray Brown, Michael and Susan Harreld
After cocktails and shopping in the store guests were ushered out into the large foyer for dinner which was transformed into a Winter scene: every inch of the ceiling covered in white balloons and streamers nearly reached the floor – simulating falling snow.
© Tony Powell. "Chef" Geoff Tracy and Norah O'Donnell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
Catering was provided by Tiffany neighbor “Chef” Geoff Tracy who was accompanied by his wife, MSNBC correspondent, Norah O’Donnell. Other notables included Tiffany & Co. CEO Michael Kowalski, Michael and Susan Harreld, and Newt and Callista Gingrich.
© Tony Powell
The woman behind my involvement is Tiffany & Co. Vice President Diane Ray Brown, for whom I am greatly honored to have worked with now, twice.
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell. Juelles Chester. 11.23.09
You never know who you’ll meet or where it might lead when staying open to all possibilities! Choreographer and dancer Kate Jordan invited me to the most recent open house at the Carriage House Studio, just before Halloween. The loosely knit group of photographers (pros and hobbyists) that comprise the DC Photographers Co-Op come together there once a month to share ideas and also to work with a variety of models, in the studio, and throughout the adjacent alleyways in the historic Logan Circle corridor of DC.
© Tony Powell. Juelles Chester. 11.23.09
© Tony Powell. Erica Dudley a.k.a. Model Keka. 11.23.09
The models that night a few weeks ago were dancers on loan from Kate’s dance company – they also rehearse there as part of an exchange. The stylist was a newbie seamstress and Booshie Design founder, Ginger Carlin – she only started sewing a year ago. What I first noticed about her was an overabundance of energy – she bounced around from model to model adjusting clothing (all her designs), applying makeup, and touching up tresses of hair, here and there. A veritable one stop shop for models, she seemed like an ideal partner for a photo shoot.
© Tony Powell. Vanja Simovic.11.23.09
© Tony Powell. Juelles Chester. 11.23.09
We hit it off right away. A casting call went out and we had 3 great new faces with which to work – Vanja Simovic, Juelles Chester, and Erica Dudley a.k.a. Model Keka. Makeup artist Carl Ray, Hairstylist Shannon Greene, and my photo assistant Kevin Smoot, rounded out the team.
© Tony Powell. Erica Dudley a.k.a. Model Keka. 11.23.09
Fast forward to the day before yesterday! Our grand plan for an all-day shoot at the Carousel, the Hall of Mirrors, and the Spanish Ballroom in Glen Echo Park came to a screeching halt when Mother Nature showed us her plans for the course of the day! The steady downpour of rain forced us inside and thanks to Ginger we were able to get the Carriage House studio on short notice. After a long day of shooting and some homemade chicken and steak fajitas back at Ginger’s Q Street crash pad we were ready for round 2! But where? Still raining, Ginger, model Juelles, and I drove all over NW DC looking for a quirky indoor location. A gas station? Safeway? The nightclub Heaven and Hell? Tryst? At midnight I finally decided to try the lobby of the Donovan House on Thomas Circle. After a series of emails and phone calls to the director of PR and Marketing, we got the green light. The PR director remembered my name from the summer when I would come up to shoot parties on the roof by the pool each week.
Courtney Caldwell. Georgetown. October 22, 2009. All images © Tony Powell
To see the entire photostream click here!
© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009
© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009
© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009
© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009
© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009
© Tony Powell. October 22, 2009
Samantha Craig. October 21, 2009. Northwest Washington, DC & National Harbor Waterfront, MD
Makeup by Carl Ray
© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09
© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09
© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09
© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09
© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09
© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09
© Tony Powell. Samantha Craig. 10.21.09
Click here to see the entire photo shoot!
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. 9th & G Sts., NW. October 10, 2009
Shortly before photographing Barack Obama and Lady Gaga for Washington Life Magazine on Saturday, Carrie Miller and I were able to squeeze in our first photo shoot together. I’d seen her a few times with lawyer and night-lifer John Burns, while I was shooting over the summer at the W Hotel, but I never had a chance to introduce myself. I decided to ask her to shoot with me when I saw her again this past Thursday night at the grand re-opening of the W. My instincts were dead on. Carrie is one of the most naturally gifted models I’ve worked with to date. I normally leave a shoot with a handful of usable images but the portfolio Carrie and I created Saturday yielded dozens.
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Chinatown. October 10, 2009
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Chinatown. October 10, 2009
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Dupont Circle, NW. October 10, 2009. Clothing by Terra Boutique
Little did I know that time was of the essence if we were to make this work. She was heading back to school at USC Sunday night, so when I got the call on Friday that she could only shoot Saturday, I had to scramble to make it work. And work it did!
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Chinatown. October 10, 2009
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. 9th & G Sts., NW. October 10, 2009
I didn’t want to try to round up a few assistants in a day so I decided to shoot before and during the “golden hour” – the hour after the sun has risen above the horizon line or the hour just before the sun dips below it – a time of day when the shadows cast by the sun are least harsh. With the help of her boyfriend John, I was able to shoot, guerilla style, at a few different locations around DC.
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. 9th & G Sts., NW. October 10, 2009
© Tony Powell. Carrie Miller. Dupont Circle, NW. October 10, 2009
Backgrounds exist everywhere. Training the eye to make use of any location and deciding how to light it is the great challenge. The process of creating an image is as rewarding, if not more so than the image itself. The only way to surmount a new obstacle is to take a chance at thinking or doing something in a different way. I’d never grow in understanding if I always did what I’ve always done. Instead of canceling the shoot when it started to rain lightly, I went with it, taking advantage of the even, overcast lighting produced by the thick overhead clouds – the greatest of all softboxes….and it’s free! With a set of brand new White Lightnings and my new Canon 5D, we set out to create something that was never there before.
Check out all the photos here !
Lindsay Kin wearing a vintage Bob Mackie © Tony Powell
Sunday’s fashion shoot at Meridian Hill Park and later – 35th & Reservoir in Georgetown – was like a dream come true. I never really thought I’d be able to assemble a first-rate group of hair and makeup artists, or work with models and designers that I admire without having deep pockets or Leibovitz as a last name. But with lots of honest hard work and plenty of gentle begging I was able to do just that.
Andrew Paterini wearing Andrew Nowell and Stefanie Ball in a gown by Carmen Marc Valvo © Tony Powell
Stefanie Ball and Andrew Paterini © Tony Powell
With my website launching on my birthday – November 14th – I needed one more photo shoot to complete my fashion gallery (for the time being) in time for the launch. My good friends Susanna Quinn and Lily Mazahery were gracious enough to lend me current and vintage couture dresses from their personal collections just for this photo shoot. With dresses by Vera Wang, Nicole Miller, Bob Mackie, and Carmen Marc Valvo, I was entrusted with clothing worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Lindsay Kin, Brooke Monahan, and Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell
The hair and makeup team for this shoot were all new to me but it felt like we’ve been together from the start.
Lindsay Kin wearing Nicole Miller, Andrew Paterini, and Brooke Monahan in vintage Vera Wang © Tony Powell
I saw Shana Janelle Swain‘s makeup before I ever met her, at a fashion show I photographed at K Street Lounge over the summer. Eduardo Bravo is a very popular hairstylist in Georgetown, and hair & makeup artist Myken Garcia was introduced to me by styling wunderkind James Cornwell backstage after the Fashion Fights Poverty (FFP) runway show last Friday night! One of the most talented and kind people I know, clothing stylist Anais de Viel Castel, agreed to help me bring the clothes to life. We started at Washington Life at the exact same time 3 years ago and have been friends ever since!
Crystal Hannon wearing a dress by Studio D Maxsi © Tony Powell
Two other meaningful things happened that night, at FFP. When I saw through my lens, model Lindsay Kin, walk down that runway in the Chinese Ballroom of the Mayflower Hotel, I knew right away I had to work with her. She was wearing clothes by Studio D Maxsi, and as soon as that set was over I left my camera (something I never do) to race back to meet both model and designer before being swallowed up by the next wave of outfits and models to go out on the runway. I had been waiting to meet the right model to wear the red Bob Mackie dress that leads this posting. When I met Lindsay I knew she was the one. She was kind enough to oblige and I can say that never has an idea in my mind been so easily transferred to the real World. I almost didn’t go the runway show that night…the organizers were very busy and I didn’t know if I had place from which to shoot. That’s the beauty of staying open, of moving towards fear, not running away from it. I went that night despite the fear I wouldn’t have a place to get a good shot. It turns out that FFP founders Sylvie Luanghy and Kadrieka Maiden not only had a place for me, it was the best center spot in the house…and I almost stayed at home.
Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell
Andrew Paterini © Tony Powell
Model Collage © Tony Powell
I jokingly told a friend – a few weeks ago – at the premiere of the Anna Wintour documentary “The September Issue,” that one day my pictures would be in VOGUE magazine. Little did I know it would become a reality much sooner than I anticipated. I owe it to Barbara Martin who recommended me to VOGUE after seeing my “The September Issue” after party photos taken at the W Hotel, an event she coordinated. None of this would have been possible without the support of Nancy Bagley and Soroush Shehabi, Owner/Publisher and CEO respectively, of Washington Life Magazine, who keep me in the public’s eye – photographing the best events in DC on a regular basis!
Mayor Adrian and Michelle Fenty © Tony Powell
So it came as a great surprise to be given the opportunity to photograph Evenings in VOGUE, hosted by the wife of Washington’s mayor, Michelle Fenty, and Nancy Koide. The fashionable crowd that descended upon Oya restaurant on 9th Street, in the District, was a who’s who of the DC social and nightlife scenes. The partial list: Mayor Adrian Fenty, Rima Al-Sabah, BET chief Debra Lee, Buffy Cafritz, Nini Ferguson, Debbie Dingell, Heather Podesta, Meryl Chertoff, Cindy Jones, Mai Abdo, Ann Walker Marchant, Nicki Kalokerinos, Andrea Rodgers, newly married Jayne Sandman, Becky Lee, Ellen Chube, TV anchors Lindsay Czarniak and Angie Goff, Kiki Ryan, Julian Epstein, Ernie and Debbi Jarvis, GEICO VP Rynthia Rost, Holidae Hayes, Jacqui Watson, and Rebecca Fishman Harris. DC Chief of Police, Cathy Lanier was there, sidearm on the ready, as well as the mayor’s mother, Jan Fenty.
photo © Tony Powell
My good friend and DJ Seyhan Duru worked his usual magic at the mixing table while 3 top models took turns strutting their stuff up on a platform in the latest fashions from New York. There was even a 3-chair makeup station sponsored by cosmetics giant Shiseido, where ladies could have their makeup touched up throughout the evening. The best finger foods I’ve seen in a while (crab cakes, mounds of sushi, and mini chocolate cakes) were being passed around all night and adding to the frenetic atmosphere? News crews, and the clamoring of people trying to get their picture taken with Michelle and the Mayor.
photo © Tony Powell
Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell
Crystal Hannon © Tony Powell
Thanks to the staff of Urban Chic, yesterday got off to a great start with a photo shoot at one of the most solid and of the moment boutiques for ladies in DC. When model Courtney Caldwell and fashion blogger/stylist Mekeda Saggau-Sackey approached me – at Noche de Gala last Monday – about shooting there, I couldn’t resist. Washington Life Magazine has sent me there twice to cover events: Shoshanna Lonstein’s trunk show and a Spring shopping event, so I knew the layout, but found the back patio and parking lot to be great impromptu locations to take pictures. Courtney is a natural. I could have photographed her all day. I brought along my newest model/friend, Crystal Hannon, to get to know her, in front of the lens, before our really big couture shoot this Sunday – two very wealthy friends have agreed to loan vintage couture dresses by Vera Wang, Badgley Mischka, Calvin Klein, and Nicole Miller. Our first shoot together yesterday was a great success, even though my Pocket Wizards had a mind of their own and decided to trigger the strobes whenever they chose. I guess I’m heading over to Penn Camera today. After the Urban Chic shoot, Crystal and I found a wooded area on Whitehaven that was ideal for playing around with black and white photography. I learned from it all and the results exceeded my expectations. If I can walk away from a shoot with a handful of solid images I’m satisfied. Yesterday’s shoot yielded dozens. Let’s just hope that the rain stays away this Sunday!!!
Courtney Caldwell © Tony Powell
Crystal Hannon © Tony Powell
Courtney and Crystal © Tony Powell
Photos from the after-party are available at www.washingtonlife.com.
Click here to see the movie trailer!
Last night’s E Street Cinema screening of the new behind-the-scenes documentary about Vogue magazine, “The September Issue,” and the after-party at the W Hotel were the places to be for anyone in DC with an interest in fashion. I’m grateful to my friend Jayne Sandman for squeezing me in at the last minute (I’d only heard about the screening and after party a few days before). There was just enough time to catch up with Gwen Holliday, Johnny Wright, Ashley Taylor, Lindsay Craig, Carol Joynt, and Hilary Rosen before the movie started and I was lucky enough to snag an open seat next to Tracy Bernstein. Centering around Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and the production of the highly anticipated and coveted September issue of American Vogue, the film offers a – fly on the wall – glimpse into the world of high fashion: its editors, photographers, models, and designers. While Wintour comes across as an icy perfectionist, an unlikely heroine emerges from the film in the form of Creative Director Grace Coddington, below left, who started working at Vogue the same day as Wintour 20 years ago.
Hailed as the greatest fashion stylist alive, Coddington’s prodigious gifts are apparent up on the screen. “September Issue” director Cutler has said, “Every billboard, fashion magazine spread, every advertisement we see today has been influenced by Grace Coddington.” Her 1st book - Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue – should be on every model/designer/photographer’s short list – even though Amazon is selling the hardcover for $400. The dramatic action of the film comes from the tension between the two powerhouses. Throughout the film, Wintour and Coddington are at odds over editorial content and we watch as the two women tacitly battle for control over what stays and what goes in the magazine.
As the September issue gets closer to being finalized, more of Coddington’s editorials get axed. The climax of the film, so to speak, is watching the fallout from a near disastrous cover photo spread of the actress Sienna Miller by Mario Testino, which then gets trumped by the reinstatement of Coddington’s once canned photo spreads. The film is worth seeing just to watch the photographers – Patrick Demarchelier, David Sims, and Testino – work their magic. After the screening most of the audience made their way over to the W Hotel to join a hundred, or so, others for a party hosted by GILT Groupe founders Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank.
The fashion conscious crowd included Sharon Dougherty, Anais deViel Castel, Carolina Furukrona, Amy Baier, Jamie Dorros, Darcy Jones, Nat Fogg, Susanna Quinn, Sassy “Sassanova” Jacobs, Katie Rost, Ellen Chube, Pamela Sorensen, Ebs Burnough, Elizabeth Thorp, Mona Sutphen, Tina D’Souza and David Sutphen, Will Thomas and Andrew Noyes, Mary Barth, Joelle Myers, Dondi Dahlgard, Alicia deForest, Holidae Hayes, Omar Popal, Paul Wharton, Lindsay Czarniak, Matt Landsberg, Shelly Galli, Amanda Polk, and Nicki Kalokerinos. Author on the verge of stardom, Walker Lamond, was there promoting his October release: “Rules for My Unborn Son.” A nice departing gift was created by an on-site photographer – a photo keepsake superimposed with the Vogue logo so that each person went home with his or her face on the “cover” of Vogue magazine. A really nice touch!
To view or purchase photos from the fashion show click here. To view or purchase Adult Swim photos click here
SyLene Swimwear Models © Tony Powell
Each Sunday, throughout the summer, the rooftop of the Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill plays host to Adult Swim, one of the most popular weekly pool parties in DC. I hadn’t been until this past Sunday when I was asked to photograph the Courage Cup fashion show by my friend Andrea Rodgers. The show, which took place during the height of Adult Swim, featured the Washington Wizards’ dancers as models, bling courtesy of Elizabeth Mandros Miller’s Mystique Fine Jewelers, and swimwear designs by syLene.
© Tony Powell
The emcee was none other than our very own arbiter of style, Paul Wharton, who brought his reality show camera crew along for the ride. The hardest part of taking digital pictures of constantly changing subjects, in direct sunlight, is not being able to clearly see the LCD monitor on the back of the camera. Without the ability to accurately gauge exposure I was forced to rely on a combination of experience and luck, and hope for the best. The “runway” shots turned out very well, however, 3/4 ths of the way through the show I spied a better vantage point – far away from the other photographers, and one that would place the sun directly behind me. By the time I moved my gear to the other side of the pool only three models were left to walk but what a difference a new point of view makes – frames 78-112.
© Tony Powell
After breaking down my equipment I had a chance to do a little schmoozing: Model Katie Rost with her boyfriend Xavier Eccleston, new to the scene Little Black Blog creator Quinn Woodward Pu in the pool most of the afternoon with pal Mariam Shahla Assadian, and a long overdue tête-à-tête with Joelle Myers. What a simple pleasure it was to relax for a few minutes on a couch with Joelle, Paul, Katie, Xavier, and M. Nicole Siobal. It’s been a non-stop week of shooting in a dozen different locations. Practice makes better! I look forward to the start of the social season and the parties I shoot for Washington Life Magazine, the work that’s closest to my heart.
Andrea Rodgers, Paul Wharton, and Katie Rost © Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
Mystique Fine Jewelers photo © Tony Powell
Click HERE to watch a video of FFP president Chris Belisle!
FFP president Chris Belisle and FFP co-founder Kadreika Maiden © Tony Powell
How often do you think about where you’re clothing is made, or by whom? Was someone paid a fair wage? These questions often go unasked in relation to what we place on our bodies each day. Fashion Fights Poverty (FFP), one of the largest fashion fundraisers in DC, which celebrated it’s 501(c)(3) status last night at Scion in Dupont Circle, IS asking those questions…and many more.
Yvette Castro, Cindy Booth, Kevin Gouveia, and Irvin Marrero © Tony Powell
In addition to hosting Industry Workshops and Socially Responsible Consumer Workshops, FFP hosts a local fashion competition and an Annual Benefit. The mood was lively and the air filled with talk of their 5th Anniversary Gala – September 25th at The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel. FFP co-founders Sylvie Luanghy and Kadrieka Maiden, along with president Chris Belisle took over Scion’s outdoor patio and indoor bar with several dozen friends to celebrate the milestone for the organization. With the new status comes the ability to seek out greater funding from a wider variety of sources to fund its myriad programs designed to foster sustainable community empowerment. No doubt this is just a beginning for FFP!
Judith Dror and FFP co-founder Sylvie Luanghy © Tony Powell
FFP co-founder Kadreika Maiden, Jodi King, and Adra Williams © Tony Powell
Shannon Cline and Rebecca Ballard © Tony Powell
FFP co-founder Sylvie Luanghy © Tony Powell
Check out all the photos at www.tonypowell.smugmug.com
© Tony Powell
I can’t thank model and friend Andrew Paterini enough for inviting me to last night’s Walish Gooshe fashion show at K Street Lounge. Not only did it provide an opportunity for me to practice my craft but it was also a chance to meet a host of new models to work with, from Model Mayhem, a “Facebook-type” website for the fashion industry. Two photo shoots are already lined up. Runway shooting is both challenging and rewarding…it’s a living form of photography, one with many elements that need attention at any given time: lighting, model’s expression, when to trip the shutter, exposure, movement of the clothing, etc. The task at hand last night was made all the more difficult with the discovery that there would be no additional “hot” lighting for the runway show. With no extra lighting, I would have to use flash – once again the 580 EX II flash and Quantum Slim Compact battery pack saved the day. Not ideal, however…using a flash at a fashion show is like playing Stravinsky on a toy piano. It works but there is a loss of integrity and also the odds of getting many usable images decrease. Why? I was surrounded by other photographers also using flash and whenever any two go off at exactly the same time, both flashes cancel each other out. You have to shoot more to get more usable photos. When a show is brightly lit and I can stop motion with a high shutter speed instead of a flash, the number of photos from which to choose greatly increases.
Models with Walish Gooshe © Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
Models © Tony Powell
© Tony Powell
