Tim Engle 3/7/25 Tim Engle 3/7/25

Sacramento Fashion Week 2025 – A Photographer’s Perspective

Fashion Week always brings a mix of creativity, spontaneity, and technical challenges. This year at Sacramento Fashion Week, held at the Crocker Art Museum, I set out with a clear vision of how I wanted to capture the event. Over two nights, I experimented with lens choices, lighting techniques, and visual storytelling,

Night 1 – Up Close & Personal with a 20mm Lens

For the first night, I committed to using a 20mm fixed lens, which forced me to get close and fully engage with my subjects. A wide-angle lens like this is powerful when used up close—it creates intimacy and pulls the viewer right into the scene. When shot from a distance, it tends to lose impact unless you’re capturing an entire environment.

I also experimented with a strobe positioned outside the main window to illuminate the runway. The idea was to create dramatic backlighting for the models as they walked. While I liked some of the results, I hadn’t anticipated the subtle patterned texture on the museum’s windows. This caused the light to diffuse more than expected, softening its impact. That’s part of the creative process—trying new things, adapting, and learning from the results.

Night 2 – Flexibility with a 24-70mm Lens & On-Camera Flash

For the second night, I switched things up and shot with my 24-70mm lens, staying mostly at the 24mm end. This gave me more flexibility to react to the fast-paced environment while still keeping the immersive feel I wanted.

I also mounted my flash onto a strobe frame, keeping it as close to the lens center as possible when shooting vertically. This technique helps reduce shadows, creating a distinct, high-energy look. The bright, direct light adds an editorial feel that works well in a fast-moving setting like a fashion event.

Finding the Right Moments

While covering events like this, I always seek out candid, organic moments rather than posed shots. If someone naturally strikes a look when I raise my camera, I’ll take the shot, but the most interesting images often come from unexpected interactions.

For example, I captured a few moments when models were eating sour candy backstage—it was a break from the polished, high-fashion aesthetic, showing their personalities in a fun way. Encouraging these unscripted moments adds layers to the story of the event.

Post-Processing & Creating a Cohesive Style

Once the event was over, I spent a few days refining my edit, looking for a consistent visual style that tied both nights together. My final adjustments included:

• Opening up the exposure for a brighter, more open feel.

• Dramatically lowering contrast to create a soft, balanced look.

• Dropping highlights & whites while lifting shadows & blacks to retain detail.

• Shifting the white balance cooler for a sleek, editorial feel.

• Fine-tuning colors in Lightroom’s color mixer to match the aesthetic I envisioned.

Applying this look across all images helped ensure the series felt cohesive and intentional.

Final Thoughts

Shooting Sacramento Fashion Week was a fantastic creative challenge. With so much visual energy—bold designs, vibrant colors, and stunning models—it was the perfect playground for experimenting with different techniques.

I’ve learned over time to shoot for myself first—to create images that I find visually compelling rather than worrying about outside opinions. In this case, there wasn’t a single “client,” just a shared goal of representing the event well. That gave me the freedom to pursue the angles, subjects, and style that felt right.

It also reinforced something I’ve long believed: warming up visually before shooting makes a huge difference. Before each evening, I looked at images in a style I wanted to emulate, sometimes building a reference board on Pinterest to set the tone. Just like an athlete warms up before a game, priming your visual brain before a shoot helps you get into a creative rhythm faster.

I’ll be posting my final images in a series of Instagram posts, so keep an eye out! If you see yourself or know the designers, models, or hair & makeup artists, feel free to tag them.

📸 Follow along on Instagram: @englephoto_in

What’s your approach to shooting events like this? Drop a comment, and let’s talk about photography!

Tim Engle 6/12/23 Tim Engle 6/12/23

The Timeless Art of Black and White Portraiture

Introduction: Photography is an art form that never ceases to evolve, yet there's a profound depth in the simplicity of black-and-white portraiture that color sometimes obscures. This article explores this timeless medium, with my collaboration with model Morgan and makeup artist/stylist Ernesto Robledo serving as our guiding narrative.

The Beauty of Monochrome: In the realm of monochrome, distractions are stripped away, leaving us with raw basics: light, shadow, texture, and form. It's not about removing color but about revealing a different kind of depth, a different kind of beauty. Every wrinkle tells a story, and every gleam in the eyes is a poem.

Our Creative Team: A photoshoot isn't a solo endeavor - it's a collaborative process that brings together diverse talents. I've had the privilege of working with Morgan, a model whose presence in front of the camera is truly captivating. Complementing her, the creative eye and meticulous attention to detail of makeup artist and stylist Ernesto Robledo have been instrumental in creating unforgettable images. His work enhances the model's beauty and adds layers of depth and meaning to each shot.

My Experience with Morgan and Ernesto: Our recent photoshoot exemplified the timeless quality of black and white portraits. Ernesto's stylistic choices brought out the raw emotion in Morgan, transforming her into a timeless figure within the frame.

Collaborative Art: Photography is a collaborative art - particularly black and white photography. As a photographer, the monochrome challenges us to see and capture the world in different terms. As a viewer, it invites us to fill in the gaps with our own colors - our experiences, emotions, and interpretations.

Final Thoughts: The next time you come across a black-and-white photo, take a moment to see beyond the monochrome. There's a whole world of depth waiting to be explored. And as photographers, we have the privilege of bringing that depth to life, thanks to our collaboration with models like Morgan and creative partners like Ernesto.

Tim Engle 6/14/19 Tim Engle 6/14/19

30 days with a 40

If you ever hang out with me you'll notice that for the most part, I am a prime lens shooter. Not that I don't like zoom lenses, but they don't have a great place in my bag for what I do. At the moment I have an 85mm prime and the 35mm prime, both from SIGMA. Those two lenses seem to be able to cover everything I need to do from portrait to full body images. Lately, I've been thinking about adding something in the middle, probably a 50mm. Talking with the SIGMA rep, he suggested that I try out the brand new 40mm F1.4 DG HSM. He kindly offered to send it to me to use for a month, well, of course, I'll said yes! When I received the lens in the mail, the first thing that I noticed was this lens was a substantial piece of glass. The build quality on it is impressive, it definitely feels like a solid lens.

Knowing that I had the lens for 30 days, my goal was to put it in as many scenarios as I could to see how the lens performed.

I have to say that I'm very impressed as it has very minimal vignetting for a wide lens. It focuses very fast and is exceptionally sharp. I worked the lens quite a bit at F1.4 and it was always spot on.

I most certainly will be adding this lens to my bag in the near future.

40mm F1.4 DG HSM in action with the amazing Anna Lisa Wagner

Tim Engle 4/16/19 Tim Engle 4/16/19

Photo Day - Early Session

Sunday marked another great outing at the Preston Castle this was the first of three photo days this year. This one took full advantage of early morning light which is always spectacular.

For this session, I was joined by model Julianna Steel. She and I have been friends for many years, and she’s always wonderful to work with, she also provides a vast collection of vintage outfits. For this outing I had two goals, one was to take full advantage of the existing light in the morning and the second was to make images at midday which is the hardest time to photograph.

Another challenge was one that Julianna brought forth. She said she could provide three different outfits for under $25. Sure enough, she came up with fantastic looks that came in at about $24.50.

All of the interior shots I used my Nikon D810 and switched between my Sigma 35 mm and my Sigma 85 mm. These lenses are so sharp and have such excellent color rendition.

Here are some of the sample images from the morning.

After we finished, we went across the street from the castle and photographed in an old abandoned house. It proved to be a perfect setting for the looks that Julianna made. For my lights I used my Phottix Indra 500 with the wide angle diffuser. These lights operate on a battery pack and take advantage of high-speed sync. Most of the time the light was at full power or just under that. I’m so pleased with how he’s like to perform. We shot for about an hour, and I still had full power on the battery pack. Average setting: ISO 100, f3.2 and 1/4000 sec

I’m looking forward to getting out and making more images this spring with a similar style.

More of the natural light images below

Tim Engle 6/11/18 Tim Engle 6/11/18

Afternoon At The Preston Castle

We had another wonderful outing at the Preston Castle last Sunday. This session was from 12 noon to 4 in the afternoon. During other sessions I found that the light streams through the windows, and is constantly changing. With midday light most of the windows act like large soft boxes. With the age and deterioration of the windows it makes for some beautiful light.

Window light: I used the Nikon D4 with a Sigma 35mm — Window light: I used the Nikon D4 with a Sigma 35mm

For this session there were a few goals I set for myself. One was to work with existing light from the windows in different locations. Another was to use a strobe light in different areas in a way that I haven’t done before. And then the last goal was to use a strobe outside to balance the sun with high-speed sync.

I was very pleased with how the images came out. The light that I chose to use was is the Phottix Indra 500. I added the wide angle reflector with grid and diffusion attached.

I have been working with this light for about a month now and I am very impressed with its versatility as well as its ease of use. I’ve worked with extremely high end systems in the past, and these definitely are on par with those.

My model for the afternoon was a good friend, the beautiful Julianna. We have been friends for about 9 years and she is always a total pleaser to photograph! You can find her on Instagram here and here.

The last 2 images take full advantage of the Indra's High Speed Sync ability. It has been such a huge add to my kit!

Tim Engle 11/20/17 Tim Engle 11/20/17

End of the season..

Well the season came to an end on Friday night with a 1 point loss to Center High School. I felt terrible for the boys.

My boy is #17, and has 1 more year on the team.

This year we had an entirely new varsity staff. We knew we had a good team, but they're all very young. The season certainly had its ups and downs. Through all of it I made images of the good times and the bad. We ended up having a good run at the end of the season, and were seeded number 2 in the playoffs, which was very exciting. We won our 1st round playoff game. This was further than any of the Casa Roble teams had gone in the past.

I had been thinking about making portraits after the games for a few weeks and figured this would be a good chance win or lose. So I pulled out the generator, set up my lights, and was able to make these images after the game.

The team should be extremely competitive with this many returning kids. Already looking forward to next year!

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Tim Engle 11/25/16 Tim Engle 11/25/16

Friday Night Lights

Another football season has come and gone. My youngest, Ryan (#32) is a sophomore and on the JV team, who won the league with a 10 and 0 record. My oldest son, Ethan (#40) is a senior on Varsity. Varsity was 3 and 7, which made for a tough season.

I always struggle with the written word. I feel as if I can never do my thoughts justice. Hopefully this reads well.

This high school football season was very special for me. I had both my boys playing on Friday night for the first and last time. The pride and excitement I had on Friday nights was unbelievable. You would have thought I was playing. Several times I had to take a deep breath and relax.

A select few know the struggles I had growing up with severe dyslexia. In middle school I was placed in a different class, different recess, and different P.E from the rest of the kids. This lead to fairly heavy bullying and very low self esteem. I never participated in social or group activities until I played football in High School. Football was the one thing that kept me in school and led me to college.

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I’m very fortunate I could document their actions and enjoy every game from the sidelines. As a photographer I get one of the best views on the field, roaming free. I tried to capture the whole team’s efforts. I approached photographing the games, by trying to get the kind of images I wish I had when I played. The only downside to shooting from the field is not sitting with my wife in the stands. I truly wish we could have shared our excitement together, but I can’t be in two places at once.

I took the opportunity at the end of the season to make some images for them and a few team members. I pulled out the full setup. 4 lights and the fogger. I wanted to give them something a little more "hero" feel.

I have two more years of Varsity football with Ryan. I’m not sure how I’ll manage when its all done, but I will enjoy every moment until then.