October 2017

Working with Celebrity

One of the many unexpected perks of working as an event photographer in San Diego and Las Vegas is how many celebrities I meet and get to work with. In my experience celebrities might be movie stars, entertainers, athletes, authors, and even CEO’s. Honestly, where they come from matters little. My goal is to treat any celebrity I work with the same amount of respect and professionalism I would treat any of my clients. The difference with celebrities is to respect the demands on their time and be flexible to their needs. While many rules of photography are specific and concrete, learning to be professional and deal with celebrities is not a skill that comes with clear instructions. What makes the best event photographers successful is not just skill of the craft, but how those photographers deal with people. Event photographers are in the people business after all, and celebrities are people. So here are my thoughts on working with celebrity and some tips I have picked up along the way.

Be On Time, Better Yet, Be Early

Being on time means being early enough to make sure you have plenty of time to setup and prepare. In my experience, there are always obstacles to setting up despite how well you may know the venue or how sure you are that you have everything you need. Being early enough to setup depends on how much work you need to do to prepare. Just make sure to give yourself extra time.

Celebrities are almost never on time, but never count on that. I honestly can’t remember a time when a celebrity or politician has been on time. This is not an indictment of the person, but more about the busy schedules they keep. Celebrities are constantly delayed, so be efficient, don’t waste their time, setup early and plan for things to go wrong.

The better prepared you are, the happier your client, and your guest will be.

Be flexible When Working with Celebrities

You have probably already noticed, but there are two factors that I keep talking about, flexibility and timeliness. They work hand in hand to help you manage the time you are with the celebrity. Efficiency is a combination of these two elements. Greet them and get started. I like to introduce myself and go right into explaining the setup up, what they can expect and where we plan on starting. But while I like to get started as quickly as possible, it is important that you analyze the situation and be respectful. Don’t interrupt, be overbearing or inappropriate. Timing is everything. Celebrities may want to chat or take a moment to catch their breath and gather themselves. Others may want to get right to it, so be prepared for both.

Flexibility is important. One celebrity I worked with had her own ideas about my lighting setup. After spending several hours setting up and perfecting my lighting, she arrived, introduced herself and promptly rearranged my main light to a position she preferred. I’ll be honest, it irked me, but she wasn’t rude about it and in the end, the change did not make much of a difference either way. She left happy with the shoot and the experience and the clients who hired me were thankful that I remained flexible and professional. I earned that clients trust and was hired for several more shoots after that.

Ultimately, You Are in Charge. Control the Shoot

Celebrities are inundated with attention, good and bad, so be understanding of that. Some are nice, some are not. Celebrities can be diva’s, photographers want to be diva’s, but as a professional event photographer, you don’t get to be a diva if you want to keep your clients happy. Keeping celebrities happy will keep your clients happy. Some will take charge, others will expect you too. Listen to them, they have been through this many times before. Having said that, you are in charge. You need to use professionalism and tact to manage the shoot to the best of your ability. The kind of shoot will dictate what you can and can’t do to keep things rolling as efficiently as possible.

Greet them and get started. In my fifteen years of experience, I have never met a celebrity who arrived to a shoot and wanted to have a lengthy discussion with me about anything. What I have been asked after a smile and a handshake is “where to you want me” or “give me a few minutes to get ready”. My response to the first one is to show them their spot and to quickly explain the process in as few words as possible. The approach to the second statement is to wait until they are ready and then show them to their spot and quickly explain the process in as few words as possible. Get it?

Grip & Grins

A grip and grin, as defined by me, is a photo line where the celebrity will stand in a specific spot and one at time, shake hands and take a photo with attendees, or VIP’s designated by your client. These can be large or small groups and generally last anywhere from 10 minutes to at most an hour. One of the biggest challenges to you and your celebrities time are those people who want to talk with the talent. People get excited, some are star struck, but most are respectful and move on quickly. Some however, will monopolize as much time as they can and seem oblivious to everything but the chance to speak with someone famous. I control this situation by remaining polite and using verbal cues such as “next” and “thank you” as a way to indicate we are done and to move the guest along. You can also corral an event coordinator to help you move people along. Keep in mind that how you keep the line moving depends on the attitude of the celebrity and his or her patience and temperament.

As an example, I have worked several times with a General and Secretary of State who is a pro at the grip and grin. All I have to do is tell him where to stand and then be ready to snap the shot. He pulls the guest in, tells them to smile, and sends them on their way with a firmness and warm smile that leaves everyone feeling good every time. I have also worked with a late night talk show host who is warm, he hugs, jokes, and talks with his fans so long that we end up going way over every time. But his enthusiasm and kindness are infectious and fun. I have also worked with a first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback who was nice, but awkward and I had to keep people moving along because he seemed uncomfortable doing so. The lesson here is to respect the celebrity and be flexible to how they want to handle it. Use your observations to your advantage to help keep control of the shoot. Again, the most important thing you can do is be prepared, have a backup plan for equipment failures and be flexible and professional while respecting the celebrity and your clients wishes.

Meet and Greets

The best way to describe a meet and greet is selected VIP’s will be in a room designated by your event planner or client. The celebrity will arrive and mingle with the guests for an allotted amount of time. Generally 30-45 minutes. These can be simple affairs or larger cocktail style receptions. You do not have a lot of control over this kind of celebrity event. During a meet and greet, I like to shadow the celebrity and be responsive to photo opportunities while not being creepy. I am respectful and get the shots without being pushy or obnoxious. I don’t overshoot, and try to find a balance. I anticipate and place myself at angles and in positions so that I can get the best shots quickly. It’s important to be vigilant and observant and take clues from the celebrity so as not to annoy while still getting the job done.

It is important to mention the privacy of the celebrity here as well.  Be conscious of circumstances while you shoot and avoid taking shots if the celebrity seems uncomfortable or is in a compromising position. This doesn’t have to be anything bad or obvious. Simple considerations such as don’t shoot if they are eating or otherwise not on guard. They may wave you off or frown at the presence of the camera. Be aware and respectful during these times and give the celebrity some space. As a professional event photographer, you are not paparazzi. Your job is to photograph the celebrity at their best, and in a professional and dignified manner.

Photo Shoots

Everything we have discussed applies here with the main difference being that you are in the spotlight here. I won’t go into much detail here but suffice to say these can be the most stressful shoots but most rewarding. I will share my thoughts on photo shoots in a future post.

Final Thoughts

You will almost never be hired by the celebrity themselves. You will be hired by event planners or coordinators and therefore you will be a representative of the event company who hires you as well as the company sponsoring the event. As an illustration, Major Events Inc. is an event company that is planning and organizing a sales convention for their client, Big Corporation United. They have booked super star athlete Johnny Colorado to be present for photos during a meet and greet with Big Corporations 50 top salesman. You are representing your self, Major Events and  Big Corporation and everyone wants the shoot to go perfect. With a celebrity involved, the spot light will be on you and you are ultimately responsible for the success of the shoot, regardless of any other factor. Be prepared and be flexible.

10 Tools  Event Photographers Should Have in Their Bag

Here is a list of must have items that I always carry with me when I am hired to photograph corporate events of any size.  While I always have these items with me, this is by no means an all inclusive list. And while some of the items might seem obvious, I am always surprised that many event photographers don’t include these items on their checklists.

Checklist? Maybe I should have included “checklist” on my top ten items list. As an event photographer, I find checklists invaluable to not only make sure I haven’t forgotten anything, (hey, it happens) but also to help ease my anxiety as I prepare for an event. Another trick I have learned is to keep my camera bag organized in such a way that every item has an assigned place. That way, if there are any empty spaces anywhere in the bag, I know I have forgotten something. This also helps at the end of the day to remind me if I have left something behind.

Okay, so here we go and in no particular order of importance……,

Flash Bracket

After many years and much money spent, I have finally found a flash bracket that I am happy with. I have settled on a Custom Brackets RF Pro. It’s light weight and separates the flash from the camera. More importantly, this rotating bracket gives me both horizontal and vertical flash positions. I bounce flash a lot and this helps me keep the shadows to a minimum as well as letting me adjust the flash into a plethora of angles and directions. It works in both with the camera in portrait or landscape mode. As a plus, I can also set the camera and flash down and it stays upright and easy to grab.

Tungsten and Fluorescent Gels

Without delving too deep into color temperature how’s and whys, different lights sources emit light in different colors (temperatures). Here is a great article giving a thorough explanation. Relatively speaking, Daylight is blue, tungsten or incandescent light is orange, and fluorescent is green. Flash is similar to daylight. When the light sources falling on your subject are the same, everything is fine, but if multiple light sources are hitting your subject you can get ugly and distracting colors, particularly in skin tones. This mixing of lights can be hard to correct for, even in Photoshop. This is a common problem when using flash in tungsten or fluorescent lit rooms. To make my life much easier in post, I will gel my flash to match the dominant light source in the room. I carry two different colors of gels. For tungsten, an orange gel or 1/2 to 1/4 CTO and a fluorescent (green) gel for fluorescent lit room. You can purchase 12 by 12 gel sheets at camera stores or light shops and just measure and cut to create strips. I then  just Velcro over the front of my on camera flash. In a pinch I have also taped or rubber banded the gel in place.

Two Remote Flash Triggers and a Commander

My triggers of choice are Pocket Wizards, though I have heard that less expensive brands are also available and just as reliable.  Having radio transmitters used to be critical before I upgraded to Speedlites with wireless communication and control, but I still find them valuable in certain situations. One of my favorite tricks is to place a second camera with a wide angle, mounted on a tripod, close to the stage and armed with a Pocket Wizard. I carry a second trigger in my pocket and use this to fire remotely for some great close up stage shots without me have to actually be stage side. I can then focus on other shots from different locations throughout the venue.

Step Ladder

I know a photographer who carries one of these where ever she goes. I used to think it was too much, but every time we worked together, I would end up borrowing it. I finally caved and started bringing one myself and while I don’t always use it, when I need it, I need it. Getting elevated can really help crowded room shots and gives a slightly different perspective. It also works great as a work bench or a make shift place to rest your feet if you find you have a few seconds. It’s easy enough to leave this item in the trunk if you don’t think you will need it but I always have one available.

Circular Polarizer

The one filter that Lightroom doesn’t emulate very well, I use a polarizer for outdoor shots to add pop to colors, remove glare and reflections and capture beautiful blue skies and clouds when possible. More importantly, a polarizer can give me an added four stops which is really helpful when you are using fill flash in bright outdoor situations. Golf tournament group shots come to mind. Being able to slow the shutter down by 4 stops often times gets my shutter speed into a safe, flash sync number that I need it to be for outdoor flash. Handy tool to have.

USB Flash Drive

Small, portable, I always carry a few of these for  delivering images on the fly, transferring to others, slide show presentations, and well, you know what they are used for.

SD-CF Card Reader

Most laptops and computers have built in SD card readers but only a few have CF card readers. Since I shoot dual cards, RAW files on my CF cards and jpegs on my SD, if for some reason I need to transfer files to a computer other than my own, lets say to a marketing rep, then I have learned to have both options available.

Portable Light Stands With Umbrellas

Depending on the situation, I may leave these in the trunk, but I always have them nearby just in case. Impromptu headshots, speaker shots, even magazine cover shots are possible if you have a ” light stand and umbrella kit” handy. My kit consists of 2 Manfrotto 6 foot stands similar to this one, and two 60″ Westcott Satin umbrellas with adaptors so that I can mount Speedlights. I store my kit in a Manfrotto lightstand bag which neatly holds the stands and umbrellas and is small enough so that I can easily throw the whole thing over my shoulder.  This kit is also handy in situations where maybe a small stage or presentation is not lit. Five minutes setup and my images improve 100%.

Monopod & Tripod

These are must haves. I use a monopod regularly for shooting keynotes and large rooms with my Mark IV and 70-200.  See my article hear for details on this combo.I Use a tripod for low light levels, mounting a second camera as mentioned, and for shooting booths and large crowed rooms. Tripods open up a whole world of possibilities that are just not available hand holding.

Laptop

Believe it or not, I didn’t always carry a laptop. But as digital has evolved, and with the popularity of social media, many times our clients just expect to have images available on the fly. While I currently shoot large RAW files and smaller jpegs that I can just download to them, sometimes I still need to adjust or resize and a laptop becomes a necessity. I have a small enough laptop that I fit it in the front of my camera bag and have it with me just in case.

Comfortable Shoes

One of the best investments you can make. However, this is not a easy as it seems. I can easily spend 12 hours on my feet for large events and have walked upwards of 12-15 miles a day photographing major conventions. Comfortable shoes that also look good and are outfit appropriate depending on the setting  clients you are working in should not be overlooked.  I’m a tennis shoe and hiking boot kind of guy and while both qualify as comfortable, they are not always appropriate. Over the years, finding the perfect shoes for each and every event has been an ongoing mission. When I have found shoes that I like, I will often times purchase 2 or three pairs to be able to switch out during the day and to make sure I have an extra pair should they discontinue the line. It can be rejuvenating to switch to clean socks and fresh shoes in the middle of a long day or right after a long day is about to become a late night. Comfortable shoes, a must have.

Well there you have it. A small list of top items that I always carry with me when photographing an event of any size in Las Vegas or San Diego. I am sure you can think of at least 20 more items to add to this list and I welcome your suggestions and thoughts.  Until next time……