Posts tagged ‘actress’
NBC’s Smash – On Location in Times Square
I got a call form the New York Times photo desk late in the afternoon a few months back asking if I could run down to Times Square late that same evening and photograph a new tv show called Smash being filmed on location. I was told the show was NBC’s answer to FOX’s Glee, but was more of an adult-themed drama/musical about the making of a hit Broadway play.
So I jumped on my scooter and headed south from my pad on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to Times Square around 11PM for the shoot. When I arrived, I was immediately confused because the crew was apparently on a break and all I could see were tons of tourists hanging out in Times Square…the usual. Moments later as I saw the camera crews start to move around, it dawned on me that I was actually standing in the midst of hundreds of extras who were only acting like tourists for the production! Clearly they were doing a great job as they even fooled a New Yorker like myself!
I met with the show’s publicist, who pointed out all the important folks like the director, producers, and eventually led me over to the actors appearing in the scene, Megan Hilty and Katherine McPhee. I was happy to see Katherine because previously I’d taken her portrait in the dressing room of “Live! with Regis and Kelly” for the Los Angeles Times years back. This was after she had been a top contestant on American Idol. I was pleased to find out she remembered the shoot before I could even mention it. It’s always good to know that my brief encounters with portrait subjects are remembered positively.
Pretty quickly the filming began and I was roaming the “set” taking pictures of a scene where Katherine and Megan’s character are walking through Times Square and suddenly break out singing with the accompaniment or a random trio of street musicians who coincidently are playing nearby.
The mood of the set was unlike most sets I’ve been on due to the uncontrolled atmosphere of Times Square. It was hard to even tell there was a major production filming because of all the extras. I was walking with and taking pictures of Katherine and Megan as they crossed 7th Ave to begin a scene. Behind me a real tourist says to her daughter, “hey, I think something is being filmed, do you see any celebrities?”
Only in NYC can you walk down a street and never realize you’re right in the middle of a huge production!
From The Archives – Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman – Images by Robert Caplin
Due to some Facebook requests, I’m going to bring out my Uma Thurman shoot.
This session was another press junket type situation at the Regency Avenue on Park Ave (Same as Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and for this junket she was making her rounds for her upcoming movie “Accidental Husband”, though I wasn’t shooting her for for that particular movie. As it turned out, I was scheduled directly after the entire day of interviews and photo-shoots for Uma, so she was dead-tired when her day was over and her publicists told her she has just one more shoot with me for the LA Times.
One of the thing’s I’ve learned about shooting celebrities is that time is VERY limited. Often less than 5 minutes and you’re done….this shoot was no exception. For beginners, I was given a hotel room what was literally turned upside-down with couches pushed vertically into the corners and a big round table littered with empty bottles of water and soda. I started with her out in the hallway of the hotel, directly outside the room I was given to photograph. Inside the room, I also had two more portrait situations set up so I could throw Uma in on the fly, if she gave me the time.
Right when Uma was arriving, I could just tell she was worn out and didn’t want to have to have anymore pictures taken. Oh boy…. I literally took a few frames in the hallway and she said:
“Ok, you got it, that’s enough, right?” and started to walk away.
“Actually, we have just a few more set up inside the room!” I interrupted in an excited tone.
I was able to persuade her to continue and enter the discombobulated room I was provided. At this point her hair/makeup stylist, a flamboyant fellow of about 5’5”, kept asking me to show him the photos on the back of my camera. Normally I decline because that leads the actor and the publicists to want to see and approve, but this time I obliged because I wanted the shoot to continue smoothly past 5 frames! It actually turned out to be a benefit because the stylist really liked the photos and he was extremely vocal about it, which cheered Uma up considerably!.
From there I snapped a few I’d prepared earlier at the window and in the corner of the room. I’ve found that getting to the shoot extra early helps me figure out a number of portrait scenarios so I have more than one set-up to choose from in the end. It also gives me time to have lighting in place and ready so the talent only has to step onto the mark.
Here’s a video I took the day of the shoot….it was originally for my grandmother back in Ohio…so excuse the nonsense talk. I cut most of it out! Tiffany Clark was assisting me the day of that shoot:
Uma was happy I only took a matter of minutes to complete her portrait session and took a snap with me!
