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Urban Daddy DC launch party. The W Hotel. February 12, 2010. photo © Tony Powell

Shooting last night’s Urban Daddy DC launch party at the W Hotel was the perfect remedy to a week of postponed-by-snow photo assignments and cabin fever. When I got the call from Fingerprint Communications co-chief Barbara Martin, asking if I was free, I jumped on it!

The "Harlem" James Gang © Tony Powell

Jeff Dufour and Jayne Sandman © Tony Powell

Sally Stiebel, Mark Ein, and Jeff Dufour © Tony Powell

There was a feast for the eyes and ears on the top floor of the W - intricately painted nearly nude models dishing out trays of cupcakes while – influenced by the roaring twenties/hip-hop/rap group –  The James Gang - belted out some of the most original music being made today! But we all really went there to celebrate Jeff Dufour, newly appointed editor of Urban Daddy DC, who along with new wife, PR meister Jayne Sandman, are one of DC’s youngest power couples.

Victoria Michael and Katherine Kennedy © Tony Powell

W Hotel Marketing Manager Kaitlyn Ferrara, White House speechwriter Jon Favreau, and Fingerprint PR co-founder Barbara Martin © Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

Christopher Reiter, Juleanna Glover, Christina Sevilla, Amy Holmes © Tony Powell

The "Harlem" James Gang © Tony Powell

Tyler Beardsley, Amy Argetsinger, Emily Miller, and Todd Flournoy © Tony Powell

Ashley Taylor and Omar Popal © Tony Powell

Pam Godet, top party planner Andre Wells, and Miriam Karim © Tony Powell

Dr. David Washington and Alexe Nowakowski © Tony Powell

Some of the politicos and night-lifers that braved the snowed-in side streets and snails-pace traffic of downtown DC last night included: Kastles owner Mark Ein with girlfriend Sally Stiebel, Meet the Press Executive Producer Betsy Fischer, White House speechwriter Jon Favreau, former Obama aide Dr. David Washington with CityDance Executive Director Alexe Nowakowski, Wash Post writer Amy Argetsinger, Hisaoka Communications prez Wendy Gordon, everywhere there couple Juleanna Glover and Christopher Reiter, CNN political contributor Amy Holmes, Marc Adelman, PEPCO VP Kim Watson and sister, JWoW Founder, Jacqui Watson, Rachel Pearson, a newly brunette Pamela Brown, Christina Sevilla, top bloggers Kate Michael, Emily Miller, Christina Wilkie, and Matt Dornic, my favorite new couple Ashley Taylor and Omar Popal, Becca Glover and Pepper Watkins, Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten, L2′s Rodrigo Garcia and Philippe Lanier, Carlos and Erika Gutierrez, Victoria Michael, Katherine Kennedy, Andre Wells, Lee Brenner, Latin Concepts’ Anna Chaley, Brian Komar, Todd Flournoy, Lydia and Scott Logan, and Elizabeth and hubby Almus Thorp.

© Tony Powell

Pamela Brown and Tyler Boyd © Tony Powell

Moira Bagley, Pepper Watkins, Becca Glover © Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

Rodrigo Garcia and Kate Michael © Tony Powell

DJ Mia Moretti © Tony Powell

Carlos and Erika Gutierrez © Tony Powell

Kim and Jacqui Watson, Leslie Rogers © Tony Powell

© Tony Powell

The ladies behind Fingerprint Communications © Tony Powell

jackquinn

To view and purchase all photos click here!

© Tony Powell. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with Susanna and Jack Quinn

The most impressive and anticipated holiday gathering to date this season occurred last week on the entire roof level of the W Hotel.

© Tony Powell. Jack Quinn and New York Rep. Joe Crowley

© Tony Powell. Ed Henry and John Warner

When Susanna Quinn calls to say she’s having an event and wants it captured it MUST be important.

© Tony Powell. Susanna Quinn and Tommy McFly

© Tony Powell. Jocelyn and friend

Each party she throws seems to be better than the last and the Quinn Gillespie & Associates Holiday party she hosted was the best yet! (they got it to snow inside!)

© Tony Powell. Brit and Virginia Hume

Carrie Miller Portfolio

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.

Wintour’s World!

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!

Impromptu Shoot with Sharon @ the W

Sharon Dougherty © Tony Powell July 29, 2009

The best thing about the newly renovated Hotel Washington is it’s panoramic view of Downtown Washington, DC from the top floor Sky Terrace. No other view like it. PERIOD! When I ran into Sharon Dougherty on my way into the KEENfest warm-up party Wednesday night, I asked her for an impromptu photo session. The sun was just right and Sharon couldn’t have been more of a good sport. We had to weave through dozens of patrons on the jam-packed roof terrace to get to a far corner spot I knew about from a few years ago when I photographed the President of the Greater Washington Board of Trade there for their Annual Report. The view of the Washington Monument is particularly evocative from that vantage point. Thanks Sharon!

Sharon Dougherty © Tony Powell July 29, 2009

Sharon Dougherty © Tony Powell July 29, 2009

Sharon Dougherty © Tony Powell July 29, 2009

Sharon Dougherty © Tony Powell July 29, 2009

Sharon Dougherty © Tony Powell July 29, 2009