A while ago I was offered the very difficult job of travelling to Paris to photograph backstage at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show for Shutterstock Editorial. After several hours of waiting in the cold Paris streets, I was allowed in for 20 minutes of frantic running around and shooting some of the models (Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Irina Shayk and others) getting ready backstage before being shooed away.

Knowing I would have a very limited time I packed light, using a Canon 1dx and Canon 5d III cameras paired with a 24-70mm, 50mm f1.4 and 70-200mm f2.8 and Canon 580EXii I shot as quickly as possible, moving around trying to not disturb the processes, but occasionally grabbing the attention of the supermodels for a quick posed shot.

I was joined by about another 10 photographers who all had the same 20 minute slot as me, so we were all moving around trying to avoid being on top of each other, however there were inevitably some moments with models that we all wanted to get. As our slot was one of the earliest in the day we were able to see as the supermodels were really just getting settled and the hair, makeup and wardrobe artists were just starting to get to work. Sessions later in the day saw the girls drinking and playing up for the cameras, but I think this shows a more realistic view of the actual work behind the scenes getting ready for the catwalk.

Sometimes being an entertainment photographer is a terrible job, sometimes it is a great job, I’ll let you decide which one this day was.

Let me know below what you think if you have any comments or questions.

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