Any advice on photographing celebrities ?

mikeyw

mikeyw

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Hi,

I'm taking a few pictures of Lesley Garrett this evening with some local children, it's a only a very brief shoot possibly just a couple of minutes as her schedule is typically tight.

Any advice for working with celebs ?

1st time for me so a little apprehensive :|

Thanks in advance,
Mike.
 
From someone who has photographed many celebs, If you are a fan prepared to be dissappionted ;)

They should be used to having their pic taken, just tell them what to do, take control of the situation and don't let them dictate to you. Most are OK and you should get a good pic of her.

Don't try and over complicate the shoot, client will probably just want bright clean pics of her with the children, as I was always told, get one for the client/market and then, if time, one for yourself.
 
Thanks Ed - i'm sure it will be a very basic few shots with her surrounded by the children. I'd love to do a real shallow dof shot of her at the front with the children behind her for my own purposes but doubt we'll have time
 
Yeah, often celebs are in fact the easiest people to photograph, theyve done it a 100 times, can smile on request, and know they are there to be pictured.
Its when the ego's come out you get problems :lol:
 
I've done a few in my time. Bob Monkhouse was the best - total professional and a pleasure to do.

The majority of celebs I've done shoots with are fine and went without any problems. Just don't suck up to them.

I've had a few difficult shoots too - like with the two Radio One DJ's, who were hideously rude and unpleasant, a well known food critic - despite being paid a fortune to do a PR job covered his face with a clipboard when I tried to photograph him, a very drunk classical musician who was so drunk he had to be 'shown' to his piano (but played beautifully), a known agony aunt who wasn't very sympathetic to me or the people paying her for a PA, or the egotistical sportsman who insisted we all sat down and watched videos of him before the shoot, and the drunk sitcom actor who was rude to my assistant because she wouldn't give him one of her ciggies. She then gave said actor the Bol*ocking of his life. Hilarious!
 
She will know what the score is, stand wth the kids to make herself look good so shouldn't mess you about as long as you are quick, polite and not too demanding to get what you need you wont have any problems.

If its a charity or company sponsored event make sure you get their logo in the shot if you can, always the chance of getting them to pay for a copy or licence then.
 
mikeyw said:
Hi,

I'm taking a few pictures of Lesley Garrett this evening with some local children, it's a only a very brief shoot possibly just a couple of minutes as her schedule is typically tight.

Any advice for working with celebs ?

1st time for me so a little apprehensive :|

Thanks in advance,
Mike.
Click to expand...

No different to working with other people.
 
POAH said:
No different to working with other people.
Click to expand...

Disagree i'm afraid - naturally you feel a bit more pressure / anticipation, however the best bit is they are FAR easier to work with than other people.

She's obviously done this sort of thing 1000's of times before and put me at ease with her lovely manner, she also knew how to pose and suggested some of the shots we might try.

The location itself was tricky with a small area to work in with a patterned coloured ceiling only to bounce off.

Technically the images weren't brilliant but the person who asked me to take them is very happy with the outcome.
 
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