Photographer taking photo of guests at Michael Kors Spring/Summer 2012 runway collection presentation in New York, during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week on September 14, 2011

“Gaspar, watch!“ -  quote on the day.  September 14, 2011, waiting in line for Michael Kors runway, standing amongst photographers in the barricade of metal and army style boxes, stools, tripods and monopods, feet numb, watching over the arriving crowd of guests.  The air conditioning this season must not be in agreement with the plans of the event organizers, or perhaps 10AM show is simply too early in the morning on a hot day for the vents to cool off the area.  The multilingual murmur of the riser photographers is the tune of the runways.   Anticipation is high for some, a duty for the others, but the morale is highest as the day did not take its toll yet.   Standing shoulder to shoulder on the riser, sweating, watching the front row photographers struggle to photograph arrivals on the narrow runway, just as the riser shooters will shortly mirror them in the struggle to photograph the runway.

Arrivals at the popular Michael Kors Spring/Summer 2012 runway collection presentation

On the riser, the window of opportunity to take a shot is limited, the equipment must be flawless, and the photographer skills must be that of sniper with a kalashnikov.  And that’s what Gaspar is.  He shoots details and he is a machine.  But even he cannot do  the impossible.  And when in the midst of preparations someone says, “Gaspar, there is a watch” the photo crowd breaks out in laughter.   Someone jeers  - “There is a watch on one hand, and then there is a handbag in the other”, all laugh.   Of course, it's asking for the moon.  Not only there are 30-40 looks to take into consideration, all made of: shoes, handbags, belts, sunglasses, jewelry,  nails, hair, make up, front, back,  one word: “details”, then there is the compositional consideration, you can only shoot certain details when the composition is right when the model turns, which is 2-4 seconds, and then there is also that one watch on one wrist to look out for.  And if you miss that watch, you’ve missed the whole show.  Mission impossible if there is one, and nobody except the photographers knows it.  One thing, when the model with the watch stepped on the runway, a chorus of photographers spoke in unison:  “Gaspar, watch!”