Posts from the ‘photojournalism’ Category
Covering the Double Dip
Yesterday I was sent out to Times Square by The New York Times to photograph what was quickly becoming America’s double dip recession. I was assigned to take photos at the Nasdaq building in Times Square where I was told screens showed walls of red monitors displaying plummeting stock prices. My mind quickly went back to 2008 when I found myself covering the initial market crash.
I was familiar with the Nasdaq building as I’ve shot there numerous times in the past and immediately had an idea to make an artsy reflection photo showing the stock prices within the building against a reflection of the craziness of Times Square in the background. When I arrived to the scene I was bummed to find the window blinds were drawn, which put a wrench in making any sort of stock market related photo.
I called back to my editor on the photo desk and we scrambled to call the media relations team who let me inside the building to make some pictures from within. Thirty minutes later I was back in business inside the studio lined with a video-board backdrop which is essentially a TV studio used for various news services to report on the economy. While I was there a correspondent for New Delhi TV was reporting the stark financial news to India.
To my good fortune while I was shooting inside, the blinds were raised revealing the busy streets of Times Square. Excited, I exited the studio to make the pictures I was originally envisioning. Due to the time of day, the bright sun made it difficult to shoot from the Broadway-facing set of windows, so I was forced to shoot along the 43rd Street side, which was less busy, but still made some fun images.
I rushed back to my office to transmit the images to the paper. My editor called to compliment the photos and to alert me that the stocks were still tanking, so the story was big. I decided to go back out to see if the ticker in Times Square was showing news of the crisis, which it was. I made a few more photos and stopped back into the NY Times office a few blocks away to deliver them directly as deadlines were approaching.
It was a vague assignment that tasked me with making artistic and abstract photos that told the story… just the kind of assignment I enjoy!
On the set of the Gayle King Show with Lady Gaga
I recently had the opportunity to visit the set of the The Gayle King Show (Oprah’s BFF) for a profile piece in the New York Times.
Thus far in my career, I’ve found shooting on television or movie sets to be an exciting and rewarding experience. I love seeing all the work that goes into producing television and film. Learning how all the different people on and off set work together to make TV is almost magical. It’s actually pretty intense, especially on this particular set because her show is LIVE and there’s no room for mistakes!
I feel the most in my element when I’m allowed to float around a room and simply document what’s happening around me….and this assignment was just that. I obviously had to be aware of not getting in the way, but Gayle’s crew was very welcoming to me and let me float all around.
As it turned out, Gayle had some cool guests that day on the show. First was host of NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams, and second was the music and fashion sensation Lady Gaga….freshly hatched from her egg at The Grammy’s.
I’ve always enjoyed newsman Brian Williams because behind the stern anchor, he’s actually very funny….I’ve seen him on many talk shows hamming it up as well as his comical cameos on NBC’s 30 Rock.
The only time I was asked not to take photos on set was for 1 minute as Lady Gaga came out to the set. Gayle thought it would be funny to strip to her undergarments and stand on a pedestal to get a reaction out of Gaga as part of a personal joke in honor of Lady Gaga’s unclothed interview on “60 Minutes.”….and it was pretty funny, I must say….unfortunately I don’t have photos of that!
Anyhow, Gaga came out wearing 10″+ platform shoes, a shoulder-less, leather outfit (for lack of a better word) while sporting faux, pointy, alien-like shoulders with spikes on her face and a large, egg-shaped hairdo. She was quite a site….though I wasn’t surprised as the last time I ran into her she was wearing a dress made of meat at the VMAs.
So yes, it was quite an experience. Gayle was super kind and chatted with me about my photos in the Justin Bieber book, who had recently been a guest on her show.
I was impressed with Gayle’s kindness and professionalism on set. Her team all worked well together and made me feel very welcomed. It was fun to run into Gayle a week or so later at the United Nations for a movie premiere I was covering. She remembered me and reminded me to send her the Bieber book….I delivered it the next day!
See more photos of Gayle King, Lady Gaga, and Brian Williams in my archives.
Gayle King Show – Blog – Images by Robert Caplin
On the Road with Justin Bieber
What a ride I’ve been on. Literally.
Many of you may have noticed my lack of blogging in the past two months. If you haven’t been keeping up with me on Facebook or Twitter, it’ll come as a surprise that I’ve been on tour with the one and only Justin Bieber documenting every facet of his life on his first headlining North American tour.
If you recall, last December I had my first encounter with Justin while shooting an assignment for the New York Times. It was at that point I realized I had documented something pretty special as he played Madison Square Garden for the first time.
Long story short, after the assignment, I put together a prototype book with the help of my fabulous designer Laia Prats, and proposed a Justin Bieber documentary to his management (at the TODAY Show) and a number of publishing houses. After a few months of hustle and luck, I was told to meet up with Justin and company in Nassau, Bahamas where he was performing at the Atlantis Resort. That was in mid-June….and I’ve been on the road with him ever since.
The bus tour has taken me all across America from the east coast to the west and as far north as Minnesota and as far south as Texas. Soon we’ll be traversing Canada, Justin’s homeland, eh?
So what’s happening with my pictures? Many things!
First and foremost, Harper-Collins is publishing an illustrated book with about 150 of my photos along with text written by Justin himself talking about his transition from a normal kid to international social media celebrity and touring music sensation. The book is hitting the presses very soon and will be on bookshelves worldwide beginning in October.
Beyond the book, I’m creating an exclusive archive of Justin at every one of his 80+ North American shows both on-stage and off. Those photos will be released in some new and exciting ways to his fans and media. More to come soon on all that!
I’ll be on tour until at least the end of his North American tour, which ends in early January 2011. Rumor has it a world tour is in the works! Until then, the best way to keep up with me is through Facebook and Twitter.
I hope to continue blogging from the road, so if you all have any questions or blogging requests, please let me know and I’ll try to answer them as the tour goes on.
Thanks for all your support! I’m really excited to see what comes of all this.
One Day In Haiti
About a week ago I was surfing the web on my laptop, as I regularly do before I hit the sack, and came across a N.Y.Times video regarding a relief organization called Corporate Aviation Responding in Emergencies (C.A.R.E.). They are a group of volunteers from the business aviation community that coordinate flights for critical transport during major disasters such as the Haitian earthquake. It was mentioned in the video how they wished there was more media attention for private relief efforts like theirs because they can be far more effective getting to the outlying areas.
Haiti For Blog – Images by Robert Caplin
I immediately shot an email to the president of C.A.R.E. letting her know I’d be in Florida for a week visiting my grandparents, as well as shooting a travel assignment for The N.Y. Times, and I’d be more than happy to volunteer to fly a mission with them to help document their humanitarian effort and give a hand in any way I could. Much to my surprise, there was a response in my inbox when I woke up saying they’d love to have me!
I woke up at 4 AM this past Tuesday morning, left my grandparent’s home in Naples, and drove to the Fort Lauderdale Executive airport where I met Sueanne Campion of C.A.R.E., who had arranged for me to fly with pilot Rich Pickett. Rich had flown in from San Diego and has been flying back and forth from Fort Lauderdale and Haiti transporting relief supplies, medical personal, injured Haitians, and newly-adopted orphans.
Most of the seats had been removed from the Pilatus PC-12 in order to accommodate the relief supplies we would be transporting (ranging from generators, tents, food, walkers, and penicillin). Once all the supplies were loaded, we took off heading straight into the rising sun and over the Bahamas – it was quite a view. As I sat in the co-pilot’s seat and Rich, who is an aviation instructor, gave me some flight lessons. He even let me fly the plane for about ten minutes! (He was sitting right next to me, and for all I know it was on auto-pilot, but it sure felt like I was flying the plane!)
Soon enough we descended into Port-au-Prince. Rich circled the city once for me to take a few aerial photographs before landing. Once we landed, Haitians at the airport quickly off-loaded the supplies and numerous relief workers on the ground gathered them up.
While briefly on the ground at the Port-au-Prince airport, I met another photographer named Stacy Bourne, who originally came to Haiti as a journalist but has since stayed as a relief worker. We spoke for a bit and she told me about her plan to start a photography program for the teenagers near where she is staying. I thought it was a great idea, so I’m trying to help get the ball moving on my end. Here’s a video I shot of Stacy talking about this program.
If anyone is interested in volunteering their time to come to Haiti and help – or if you have any old digital camera gear laying around collecting dust – please shoot me an email and I’ll help get it to Stacy on the ground. I, myself, plan to go back for a spell to help her get the program started.
After no more than 30 minutes on the ground, Rich and I hopped back onto the jet and headed to another nearby town called Jacmel. We again looped around the city so I could shoot a few photos, then landed on the beat-up runway of the Jacmel Airport which was under the control of the Canadian Army.
The mission in Jacmel was to medevac four children with severe injuries: two girls with amputated left legs, a boy with a badly broken leg, and a 17-month-old child with cardiac issues.
The first thing I noticed when I hopped off the plane was an IMAX crew filming us. I’d never seen an actual IMAX camera before and it was obvious it’s quite a setup, requiring a crew of about six.
I headed into the airport where the children were waiting for us and met Dr. Katie Gollotto who lit up the room with her amazing smile and personality. She introduced me to the children and their parents and I began documenting the process of loading them onto the plane.
Again the turnaround was quick and as soon as we had them in the plane we rushed back into the air because we had to not only beat a storm cell that was headed for Florida, but we also were meeting another private jet that would be transporting the children to Philadelphia for medical treatment.
The flight back to the U.S. with the group of Haitians was truly a wonderful experience. Obviously it was most everyone’s first plane ride of their lives, so for about 3 hours they forgot about their injuries and were simply normal kids again, laughing and squealing watching the clouds roll by. At one point they all started singing.
On our decent into Ft. Lauderdale, Rich announced that he had called ahead to have four McDonald’s Happy Meals ready for the kids when we landed. Welcome to the USA!
Beyond a little turbulence we safely landed at Fort Lauderdale where we met the connecting flight (the Philadelphia Eagle’s private jet)…and the kids were on their way to Philly for treatment.
I can’t express how taken I was by the amazing people who work day-in and day-out to bring relief supplies and support to the people of Haiti. Major props to C.A.R.E. International’s Operation Haiti which has conducted over 500 flights with 2400 passengers and 700,000 pounds of critical supplies. Over 85 aircraft have been activated for the program, flying more than $4,000,000 worth of flight hours.
To all the volunteers I met and worked with during my brief stint with you, thank you for this incredible opportunity. I truly hope it is the beginning of a long relationship working together!
Here’s some video clips I took:
From The Archives: Director Jason Reitman; Juno
Jason Reitman – Images by Robert Caplin
Another dip into the photo vault finds the hot film director, Jason Reitman, currently in the news for his latest movie, Up in the Air, starring George Clooney. Check out this cool interview with Jason Reitman I caught on my NPR podcast.
When I was commissioned by the Los Angeles Times in Feb 2008 to take his portrait, it was for a critical essay by Dennis Lim discussing the ways in which the new crop of Oscar-nominated best directors are emblematic of the direction cinema is moving. I’d link the story, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere online!
Jason’s publicist squeezed the shoot into his schedule at The London, a fancy hotel in New York. I showed up about 20 minutes early in order to find the hotel room and set up a few different poses prior to his arrival.
The highlight was when I used one of my awesome jokes to try and get a smile from the director… ”So a neutron walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender sets the beer down and says, “For you, no charge!”…
…but I only got pity.
Hey Jason, if you’re looking for a production photographer for your next flick…you know where to find me!
Justin Bieber: All-Access
Normally, following around a 15-year-old boy for an evening wouldn’t be that exciting – unless the young man is the newest overnight pop sensation, Justin Bieber, playing his first concert at the “World’s Most Famous Arena”, Madison Square Garden.
When I got the call to photograph Bieber, I didn’t have a clue who the young man was. My editor told me that he was a star born and discovered through the magic of YouTube and subsequently R&B artist Usher took Bieber under his wing – so began his transformation into a star.
Check out the NY Times Article here.
The concert at The Garden was actually a music festival put on by the NYC radio station Z100 called “Jingle Ball 2009” in which numerous artists, mostly those with the fan base of 12-16 year old girls, performed. Artists included Taylor Swift, John Mayer, Usher, Justin Bieber, Pitbull, Kris Allen, Jay Sean, The Frey, and Ke$ha.
I was tasked to follow along and document the evening with Bieber and his entourage, which consisted of managers, his mother, another young friend, myself, Usher, and a bodyguard. To my astonishment Justin was one of the biggest stars at the venue, with young girls screaming and squealing at any glimpse they were able to steal.
Because of the number of performers at this concert, there were numerous dressing rooms for the artists. As I walked down the hallway and passed the other artists’ rooms, it was obvious that Justin’s was the one that all the backstage pass holders wanted to be around, clogging the hallway around the door. I even ran into Harvey Weinstein who brought about 5 young girls backstage to meet Bieber and Usher.
I also ran into Trey Anastasio backstage, lead singer and guitarist for Phish. Though he’s played the venue a number of times, this time he was here with his young daughters in order for them to meet their teen idols. Since I’ve been to nearly a dozen Phish shows, I couldn’t help but strike up a conversation with Trey and snap a photo of us together. (Trey actually lives in my neighborhood and I see him walking his big, white dog from time to time.)
As Justin’s set neared, his management cleared the dressing room so that he and Usher could start warming their voices. I, too, was kicked out, but managed to talk my way back inside because he and Usher’s relationship is exactly what I wanted to share with NY Times readers. They first started dueting Usher’s song “U Got It Bad”, which they were going to perform together later on stage.
Afterward they started warming their voices using traditional vocal exercises, which was also pretty fun to witness. I’d never realized the extent in which pro artists had to warm their voices prior to performing. Being there shooting stills, I wanted to capture what I was witnessing, so I took some video mainly as a way to listen back to the audio. But after watching all the clips I took, my editors at the NY Times thought it’d be fun to share the video with readers.
The walk from the dressing room to the stage was a significant trek that had us passing numerous other artists’ dressing rooms, crew, and fans with backstage passes in the hall trying to steal a glimpse of the stars. Moving quickly and flanked by his entourage and security escorts, it was hard to even notice Justin in the middle as we swooped through the winding hallways. But as we passed, everyone – especially the young girls – took notice and swooned for him calling his name and asking for autographs.
Once truly backstage on the floor of The Garden, Justin and his crew met up for a quick pow-wow and before I knew it John Mayer was coming off the main stage and was shaking hands with Bieber.
As Justin went onstage, I ran to the front and shot from the pit (the area between the stage and the first row). With young girls screaming in my ear and clawing at my back to get to Justin, I continued shooting as Usher came out and performed his song, “You Got It Bad”, together with Bieber.
Before I knew it his set was over and I rushed back around and caught my favorite moment of the evening – when Justin and Usher came off stage together. There was a true moment happening in front of me as Justin looked up at his mentor while walking off stage at his first show in Madison Square Garden.
After Justin’s set, I broke off from his crew and decided to watch and photograph Taylor Swift who closed the festival.
It was an unlikely concert for me to attend, but it proved to be quite an experience!
Congrats Justin on your accomplishments!
Click HERE to see all 141 photos from the concert!
Here are some select stills from the show:
Justin Bieber Blog – Images by Robert Caplin
Happy Holidays To All!
Happy Holidays Everyone!
I thought it’d be a good time to share some photos from my walk through Central Park during the blizzard last weekend in NYC.
Snow – Blog – Images by Robert Caplin
High Flyin’ with Vincent Laforet
Last week I received a fun instant message from my pal Vincent Laforet (who until 6 months ago was my neighbor on the UWS of Manhattan) letting me know he was on a plane cross-country back to JFK for one of his infamous helicopter shoots over NYC. He asked if I wanted to fly along. I accepted….it was a no-brainer.
I met Vincent and his right-hand man, Mike Isler, at the 30th St. Heliport on the West side of Manhattan after being told only to dress warm. I had nothing to do other than observe, so I brought along my cameras and documented the fly-along taking mostly video of the shoot with my 5D2‘s.
The photo shoot was to take a portrait – while hovering from the helicopter – of a couple in the crow’s nest of a NYFD fireboat with the Manhattan skyline lingering in the background for New York Magazine’s year-end issue. (This couple met on the flight that crashed into the Hudson River last year.)
I really had no idea the planning and preparation that went into one of these shoots. Vincent and Mike have the aerial photo-shoot down to a science. They work with only a handful of first-class pilots and have all the proper safety and photo gear necessary to get the best possible shot.
Click here to see NY Mag’s video!
I was to the left of the pilot strapped-in with a four-point seatbelt (waist and both shoulders) into the front seat of the AStar AS350 B2 facing forward, which, due to my restraints, made it a bit difficult for me to see all the action that was happening in the backseat behind me.
Vince and Mike worked as a team in the customized rear of the cabin in which the door and backseat was removed in order for Vincent to sit, ass-on-floor, with his hands and legs hanging out the side. Harnessed in with a full body harness, Vince would shoot out the side of the aircraft while behind him Mike would pass forward requested gear and swap lenses. Mike worked out of a secured Think Tank roller bag containing the equipment. Vincent also had an assistant on a chartered NYC Water Taxi vessel with ProFoto strobes firing remotely with Pocket Wizards, so as dusk came he could light the subjects.
On top of that, they had to tune out Air Traffic Control and helicopter-to-helicopter chatter, while communicating not only with each other and BOTH vessels, but also directing the talent in the crow’s nest freezing their butts off!
God knows I certainly enjoyed myself!
Big thanks, as always, to Laia Prats for her help editing the video!
Some snapshots I took while flying:
High Flyin’ With Vincent Laforet – Blog – Images by Robert Caplin
James Spader on Broadway
James Spader – Blog – Images by Robert Caplin
Last week I received a New York Times assignment to shoot a portrait of James Spader for an article about his role on Broadway in a new David Mamet play called “Race”. The brief shoot took place at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in mid-town and was another one of those “set-up in advance and bang out a handful of frames with the talent” quickies.
I knew James Spader primarily from his Boston Legal television show in which he starred opposite William Shatner, but I’ve also seen a few movies where he plays eccentric characters, so I had no idea what he’d be like in real life. I found him to be one of the kindest and most willing celebrities to shoot with. I did have trouble trying to get much expression from him, but never the less I feel we had a very successful shoot.
For this particular shoot I met up with the play’s publicist who showed me around the theater, back rooms, basement, dressing rooms and I decided to choose the basement and a stairwell as the locations. With the help of my good pal and assistant, Noah Gilbert, I took some lighting tests and waited for Mr. Spader to arrive.
Once James arrived for the shoot it was very obvious he was going to be very easy to work with. When I shoot these celebrity assignments, I often bring a handful of lighting set-ups to get a variety of portrait options for my editor. I decided to bang out a few ring-light portraits while I had him near a brick wall…the first flash surprised him because of the brightness of the ring-light. At first I thought he was upset, but he quickly laughed it off and said, “It’s ok, I can handle the first act tonight seeing rings of light….anything for a good picture.”
Also, during the shoot another actor in the play came and pulled James away for a few minutes. Afterward James apologized explaining that he insists the entire cast gets weekly B-12 vitamin shots administered by his doctor to keep the cast healthy, and that was what the interruption was about. Smart idea considering the winter season and all the germs the playgoers must bring in each night. You have to be healthy to perform on Broadway.
Interesting fact I learned from James. As we were walking down to the basement to take a few more portraits, we passed an old poster for a play from nearly a half-century ago. On it was the profile of a woman and he mentioned how uncanny the resemblance was to Drew Barrymore. It took me a moment to put together that the woman in the poster was actually Ethel Barrymore, Drew Barrymore’s great-aunt, for whom the theater was named. Fancy that!
Here’s a quick snap I took with James in my basements set-up:
See the entire shoot by clicking here.
