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2009 Oct 5: On the set of The Adjustment Bureau

On my first real day working for Splash News, I spent my morning in housing court, then high-tailed it into Manhattan to the West Village to check out the set for The Adjustment Bureau. There was a large crowd gathered around the street corners, mostly people with point-and-shoots. I quickly spotted a smaller group of paparazzi and joined them at the end of the block, where the scene ended. It was a scene with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt walking down the block, then stopping at the corner to talk. After several takes, I figured I had what I needed and tucked into a nearby cafe to edit and upload my pictures.

Two remarks:
1. I recognized a couple of paparazzi from past shoots. I think most of them know each other, even if they don’t work together.
2. Emily Blunt is gorgeous, and reminds me a lot of Alexis Bledel.

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2009 Oct 4: Adventures in Paparazzidom, Day 1

I’m expecting mixed reactions to this news, but… I’ve just started a new job! AS A PAPARAZZO! Yup, a bona fide, real deal, oft-hated celebrity photographer. Thanks to the glorious world of Twitter, I saw an ad for a pap job, wrote a damn good cover letter explaining why I was the perfect person for it, and 2 days later got a call from a celebrity photo agency that distributes photos through Splash News, who “provide images to publications ranging from People Magazine, Us Weekly, Variety and Rolling Stone and to newspapers such as The New York Post, LA Times and USA Today.” And so it seems I am now a “NY-based celebrity/news photographer who’s also shooting news events, red carpet, film sets and musical performances in and throughout NYC”.

I know the paparazzi get a bad rep and are generally seen as rude, intrusive, and ruthless… but I prescribe to a different belief system and intend on breaking the mold and being respectful with my camera. If I’m asked not to shoot, I won’t. If I’m in the way of the set, I’ll move. If I see a celebrity out and about with their baby, I won’t be sticking a lens in its face. So with my moral scruples in tact, I begin a new career path. I have no idea how long it’ll last or how lucrative it’ll be, but it’s right for me at the present time.

And now, for my first adventure as a paparazzo…

After a few days where the weather was blah and I barely left the house, I got a little stircrazy and, after hearing word that Wall Street 2 was filming in the Financial District, impulsively went into Manhattan on a Sunday night. Apparently Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf were filming a scene in the Broad St subway station. Of course the station entrances were blocked off, so I hung around outside for awhile with a few other folks. I noticed a trio of girls were waiting to see Shia, and occasionally they’d ask a crew member for the status of the shoot and whether he’d be coming out soon. One advised them to walk down the block, eastward, to catch him. So I followed them, and none of us really knew where to go. They stopped at the other subway entrance, asked another crew member, and were pointed toward the trailers the next block over. Just as the 4 of us reached the trailers, we caught a glimpse of Shia LeBeouf darting into his trailer. One of the girls, allegedly a 10-year-old superfan, immediately burst into tears. To appease her, another crew member told her to hold on a minute, and that Shia would emerge in a minute.

We eagerly awaited outside his trailer. Before I knew it, a small, sharply-dressed guy was standing on the steps, calling out to me. I think he said something like “hey, how’s it going?”. I impulsively swiveled my camera around, off my shoulder, and Shia immediately says “please, don’t!” 3 or 4 times to me. I was sort of stunned, as it all happened so fast. Then I thought how sad it was that the poor guy must automatically turn on his anti-photog mode the second he sees any big camera pointed at him. I almost felt bad for him. At the same time, I was floored at the way he handled it. He could have easily been mean about it, flicked me off, yelled at me, or made demands. Instead, he practically begged me not to take his picture. I couldn’t help but put the camera down and tell him I’d respect that. He thanked me, and went over to the other 3 girls. The young superfan was pretty much speechless and had one of the others speak to him, and she said something about how they’d seen him at the Kid’s Choice Awards and asked to have a picture taken with him. So I let them have their moment, and it was just so cute. I would have felt like a douchebag if I’d ruined their moment with my camera.

Afterwards, Shia said goodbye to them and walked past me and to another trailer across the street, and thanked me again. I sort of just stood there for the next 5 minutes, digesting what had just happened. Then I hear someone calling out on the street to me, and I see it’s him waving to me and saying “thank you, again”. The whole experience made me a little teary-eyed. I don’t know much about him, but based on his actions tonight I’d say Shia LaBeouf is a class act. I was beyond impressed by his politeness and respectfulness. Other celebrities should take note!

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2009 Sep 26: John Krasinski promotes his new movie

I found out a few hours prior that John Krasinski would be at the McNally Jackson bookstore in Soho discussing his new movie “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men”. Not surprisingly, about 90% of the audience was college-aged girls (not that I helped the ratio at all, ha). I had a seat around the corner, with an obstructed view of him reading from the screenplay. Not only does he act in this movie, but he also helped write and direct it. And yes, he is every bit as fantastic as his character Jim Halpert on ‘The Office’, except perhaps a wee bit less nerdy/awkward. I love when you meet celebrities or see them speak and you can totally see them and their personality in the characters they play, and then it all fits together in your mind.

So he read, took some questions, and then signed books for the fans. I contemplated creeping forward during the reading and squatting down between the rows of seats, but instead I barged my way to the front as soon as he finished and snapped a few shots as he began the signing. I should really get paid for this, huh?

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2009 Sep 26: On the set of The Other Guys

And on this episode of Celebrity Stalkage, Kelsey and I went to stake out the set of ‘The Other Guys’ in Chinatown. Unlike past episodes, there were several cops around the periphery of the set shooing anyone away who didn’t have a press pass. This made it a wee bit difficult to get a decent view of the actors. But we saw Will Ferrell being escorted across the street to the set, only to be faked out later by his lookalike stand-in. We also saw Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. rehearse a scene several times.

Once the set inched up the block a bit, we went around to the other side where yet another security guard wouldn’t allow us through. Except, rather than turn on my typical Beast Mode, I smiled, took advantage of the fact that I was a girl in a skirt, and asked “ok… so where CAN we go?”, and told him that cops on the other side had told us to go up the street. He caved and let us through to where the paparazzi with press passes were stationed. Holler! :) We got fairly close to Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell waiting for the next scene, though we couldn’t actually see it being filmed.

All shot with the 5d2 & 135L with 1.4x extender.

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2009 Sep 21: Africa-America Institute Gala

I had the honor of assisting a friend of my mom’s, Fran McMullen, shoot a gala event for the Africa-America Institute. The night began with a silent auction and cocktail hour in the hallway outside the dining room, where I was left to photograph the items up for auction, the bar, and candid shots of the attendees mingling, while Fran was ushered around to photograph various VIPs. This is my favorite part of event photography, getting to document everything as it happens naturally even if it’s not the ‘main event’. I hate posing people for shots, so I was happy that Fran was taking care of that. I bounced my flash off the ceiling for most of these shots.

Towards the end of the auction, Russell Simmons walked in and henceforth always seemed to be socializing with different people. He signed some autographs as well. I honestly wasn’t sure what he looked like, but I recognized him with the Yankees cap on. Julianne Moore was another celebrity on the guest list, and one of the first people we tracked down in the dining room to photograph. She politely posed, but it was obvious she preferred to be left alone after that.

The second part of the night took place in the dining room, starting with dinner and then the awards ceremony and a few performances. We quickly lapped around the room, looking for people on our list to photograph. Only problem was that we had no idea who was who! We had a seating chart where we were able to pinpoint which tables held our VIPs, but no real way of determining who they were. My method was to try and guess, and if it wasn’t obvious then I’d snap shots of everyone and quickly move on. All of my shots here were horrible because I had to use direct flash without any sort of modifier or diffuser. So bad! I’ve been meaning to get one of these things, I just haven’t decided which yet.

Luckily I had a much better time photographing people on stage. I snagged a prime spot right in front of the stage, to the left of the podium and right in front of the performers. I didn’t even need to use a flash, which made me happy. I always prefer to use natural/ambient light whenever possible. We snapped all the speakers and award recipients, then got to see some amazing African dancers and a band perform. Very entertaining.

In-between speakers, performers, and VIP captures, we were able to sample a bit of the gourmet meal. I had the fanciest looking salad I’ve ever seen, along with other unidentifiable albeit delicious foods.

By the end of the night I was exhausted yet energized, which is how I typically feel after a day with my camera. It’s such a satisfying feeling, which I think is how I know that this is what I’m meant to do with my life.