Celebrities | Brooklyn Wedding Photographer | Lindsay Taryn Photography

On the set of Wall Street 2

After a failed attempt at shooting on this movie’s set last weekend, I headed down to the Borders in the Financial District, where I’d heard they were shooting a book signing scene. Just as I was parking my bike across the street, I saw Shia LaBeouf enter the store amidst a crowd. Figures. Still, I went over there and stood outside the store for awhile, hoping that someone would come out. Security kept shooing people away from the door and windows. I ‘made nice’ with one of the guards, who asked me if I was a “wannabe paparazzo”, or a “regular person”. Obviously neither was true, but I got on his good side and he let me stand to the side.

I couldn’t get over the number of people who walked by, saw the fake books and ads in the window for a book signing with Gordon Gekko and didn’t realize it was Michael Douglas on the cover and filming the scene. And again, people would walk by and ask me what was going on. I was careful not to divulge too much when the guard was nearby.

I did end up seeing Shia come out of the store a few times, stationed between two lines of people, being filmed running inside. I didn’t get a clear view of him for too long because the guards were intentionally blocking me. But oh, I more than made up for my first failed attempt by getting some decent shots of him here. Furthermore, I was able to see Michael Douglas when he was sitting near the window getting touched up. He even waved to us! I think my best shot came when he was inside filming the signing, sitting at a table with a stack of fake books, looking directly at me. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence – was he intentionally looking in my direction while being filmed? Or was it between takes? Could he even see me from there? I don’t know, but the angle was perfect.

Gossip Girl castmembers caught at lunch

I spent the afternoon, off-and-on, at the Gossip Girl set in TriBeCa. Of course I arrived just after they finished filming a scene on the street, and stuck around until it was apparent that they had moved indoors for the day to shoot another scene. I was about to head out when I noticed a few of the paparazzi had moved down the block to another corner and were swarming Bubby’s restaurant. A guy I’d been chatting with and I kept peering inside, expecting them to be filming a scene in there. Then we finally realized that Chace Crawford and Blake Lively were having lunch! Their backs were toward the window, but we could tell it was them when they turned their heads to the side. After snapping away for awhile, a guard finally stepped in and stood in front of them, thus blocking our view. I would have stayed to see them exit the restaurant, but I found out shortly afterward that my gmail account had been hacked into, so I had to take care of that.

I did come back later in the day, though, and caught a glimpse of Chace again as he went into the building to film with Blake. By that point it was getting dark, so I didn’t stick around for too long. I did get to talking with some fans of the show, who seemed to know an alarming amount about the cast and the shoots. One of them had been to a party with several castmembers in attendance, so she was telling us about what they were like in person. Crazy! I think surprisingly this is one of my favorite parts about this paparazzi gig – being around lots of spirited fans who come to me with questions, as if I’m an insider on the shoot.

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.

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.

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.