January 11, 2015, Asheville, NC.

FASHMOB II is the long awaited follow up to the first FASHMOB held back in late 2014 in Asheville, NC. The followup was held Sunday, January 11th at The Crow and Quill, a small club on Lexington Avenue in downtown Asheville. In the words of event host Duncan Chaboudy, “The purpose of this get-together is to bring together photographers who want to shoot and models/actors/dancers/solo musicians who want to be photographed.”

On Camera Flash

Having missed the first round, I made sure I marked my calender for the sequel. And I was not alone in that idea. Although many models and photographers planned to participate, a mere four individuals attended the first event in downtown Asheville at the parking garage atop the Pack Library on Haywood Street. Having learned of the wonderful photos that were taken of the few models that made it on that cold evening, word of mouth spread of a second outing. Cut to the chase: some 126 photographers and models ascended on the tiny club at 106 Lexington Avenue.

Nearby lamp for lightsource

For me, the event was twofold: It was a great opportunity to try out my ”new” old lens—a 1980 35mm Nikon that I just purchased; and to meet new people, some old friends, and hopefully grab some good shots. The premise of the gathering was to utilize the venue’s ambient light without the assistance of flash. Being a very dark club, photographers eventually resorted to artificial lighting such as strobes, flashes and various handheld lamps for continuous lighting. I managed some very artsy shots using the available light, but did find it necessary to use some flash to reduce my camera’s ISO and stop down my lens for sharper images.

Handheld lamp

Included here are several of my photos that I felt captured some of the mood of the evening—a variety of images featuring either flash, available light such as a nearby lamp, or a continuous light source that someone brought to the event to…shed a little light on the matter!

All in all, it was a very successful turnout. There should be another FASHMOB this coming April (maybe “Son of FASHMOB”?)

More info on future shoots may be found at the Facebook event page.

Pictured above: Crystal, Emma D, and Jacqueline Lowe (on piano)

All images © Joe Longobardi. All Rights Reserved.
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