This imagehounds blog will chronicle my experience of photographing celebrities in the Hollywood and Los Angeles metro area. Although the art of photojournalism which describes the act of collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast is quickly redefined once the camera is focused on celebrities and renamed "Paparazzi", I refuse to give into being labeled a paparazzo since my photography is not about the celebrity, but rather a documentation of my own experience and life as a photographer living in the Hollywood and Los Angeles area.
Before turning my camera towards celebrities I had been taking photographs for most of my life, but the subject matter was more personal and resembled the normal, everyday, average photographs that have been taken by just about every other person living on this planet. It lacked the thrill and fun factor of photographing a subject that was more elusive, recognizable and more sought after like a celebrity.
So on one sunny afternoon in late January I made a decision to go out and take my first photograph of a celebrity and headed into the heart of Los Angeles with no information or plan other than to sit outside one of Hollywood's official watering-holes of every celebrity, "The Ivy" on Robertson Blvd. This ritzy boulevard has been the location for many famous star sightings and it was my hope that this day would be no different. After a few hours of sitting in the hot sun I decided that it might be necessary to drive throughout the area in hopes of finding a film production on the streets that would likely have a star on the set. Jackpot!
Even though I'm terrible at face recognition it was clear to me that the hot blond in the center of the set was famous. It happened to be Lauren Conrad, the star of the hit series "The Hills" and "The O.C." The best part about being a celebrity photographer is that you don't have to be a fan of the person that you are photographing. Personally I couldn't care less who she was. I just wanted to take her picture and so began my career of photographing celebrities. Of course it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, there were unknowns such as over-protective production assistants and body guards that are always trying to either prevent or deter photographers from getting a shot of their subjects. And, not to mention other photographers who are so competitive that they will go to any means to get a picture. The only rule to photographing a person is that they have to be in a public place where privacy is not an expectation. This is covered by our first amendment of the constitution which guarantees the freedom of speech and media.
Undeterred by the production crew guarding the film set who continuously told me that photography was not allowed, I focused my camera and shot as many frames as possible of Lauren as she sat filming her scene on the public streets of Los Angeles. In all, I took over thirty-five frames of Lauren. Half of them were of her as she sat filming, and the other half were of her walking in the street after filming had ceased. By this time other photographers had joined me and the sound of shutters clicking frames of the star filled the air. It was exciting.
I came home and uploaded the images that I had captured and quickly email a photo-agency that I had previously contacted about accepting my photographs. I was surprised when the agency quickly responded and ask for every frame that I had taken. Shortly after sending them my photographs I was asked to meet with the agency to sign a contract to be paid and asked to join thier team. It was all a bit strange, since some photographers have this ambition to a part of a worldwide agency, and I had achieved this goal in only one short day. Then, what surprised me even more was the news that my photograph of Lauren Conrad had been sold to US Weekly magazine and printed in the next issue.
Before turning my camera towards celebrities I had been taking photographs for most of my life, but the subject matter was more personal and resembled the normal, everyday, average photographs that have been taken by just about every other person living on this planet. It lacked the thrill and fun factor of photographing a subject that was more elusive, recognizable and more sought after like a celebrity.
So on one sunny afternoon in late January I made a decision to go out and take my first photograph of a celebrity and headed into the heart of Los Angeles with no information or plan other than to sit outside one of Hollywood's official watering-holes of every celebrity, "The Ivy" on Robertson Blvd. This ritzy boulevard has been the location for many famous star sightings and it was my hope that this day would be no different. After a few hours of sitting in the hot sun I decided that it might be necessary to drive throughout the area in hopes of finding a film production on the streets that would likely have a star on the set. Jackpot!
Even though I'm terrible at face recognition it was clear to me that the hot blond in the center of the set was famous. It happened to be Lauren Conrad, the star of the hit series "The Hills" and "The O.C." The best part about being a celebrity photographer is that you don't have to be a fan of the person that you are photographing. Personally I couldn't care less who she was. I just wanted to take her picture and so began my career of photographing celebrities. Of course it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, there were unknowns such as over-protective production assistants and body guards that are always trying to either prevent or deter photographers from getting a shot of their subjects. And, not to mention other photographers who are so competitive that they will go to any means to get a picture. The only rule to photographing a person is that they have to be in a public place where privacy is not an expectation. This is covered by our first amendment of the constitution which guarantees the freedom of speech and media.
Undeterred by the production crew guarding the film set who continuously told me that photography was not allowed, I focused my camera and shot as many frames as possible of Lauren as she sat filming her scene on the public streets of Los Angeles. In all, I took over thirty-five frames of Lauren. Half of them were of her as she sat filming, and the other half were of her walking in the street after filming had ceased. By this time other photographers had joined me and the sound of shutters clicking frames of the star filled the air. It was exciting.
I came home and uploaded the images that I had captured and quickly email a photo-agency that I had previously contacted about accepting my photographs. I was surprised when the agency quickly responded and ask for every frame that I had taken. Shortly after sending them my photographs I was asked to meet with the agency to sign a contract to be paid and asked to join thier team. It was all a bit strange, since some photographers have this ambition to a part of a worldwide agency, and I had achieved this goal in only one short day. Then, what surprised me even more was the news that my photograph of Lauren Conrad had been sold to US Weekly magazine and printed in the next issue.
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