Behind-the-scenes at the Preakness-inspired Sun fashion shoot at Pimlico

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The Darkroom recently tagged along on a Sun Magazine fashion shoot at Pimlico inspired by the spirit of the upcoming Preakness Stakes.

According to the Sun’s resident fashion stylist and guru John-John Williams, he gravitated towards bolder, bright colors, with a focus on lighter fabrics and over-the-top showy styles. “Preakness is all about standing out and being noticed,” Williams said. “I wanted to incorporate the trends of the season, while capturing the essence of the event.”

Williams and Sun photographer Lloyd Fox scouted out locations at Pimlico two weeks before the shoot. “Part of the fun with any fashion shoot is finding interesting locations and figuring out how to compose and light the model to create an image that makes the reader look at it more than once, hopefully more,” Fox said. “We found about eight different locations to use for the shoot at Pimlico,” he added. “Did they all work? No.”

In additon to abandoning a few original location options, another factor Fox had to adapt to was wind and cold temperatures.

“I wanted to shoot the models with the cupola in the background but the wind was creating havoc with the model’s hair,” said Fox, who added that one particular shot was elevated thanks to the wind. “I photographed model Cari Funkhouser standing at the top of a judges’ stand with the finish line post in the background and I used the wind to my advantage this time. The wind lifted and carried her hair and dress around her creating such a wonderful image.”

View the Spring Fashions for Preakness 2013 spread, which hits stands this Sunday in Sun Magazine. Photos were taken with two D3 Nikon cameras, according to Fox, who used a 60mm, 300mm and 70-200mm zoom lens. (We’ve included a couple of Fox’s fashion shots in our gallery.)

Meanwhile, enter the Sun’s Pin-It-To-Win-It Preakness 2013 fashion contest.