Posts tagged ‘ny times’
From The Archives: Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera – Images by Robert Caplin
This dive into the archives goes back 3 years when I was commissioned by the NY Times on a last-minute assignment to photograph Christina Aguilera during a listening session for her new CD due to release back in the summer of 2006. The CD she was releasing was titled “Back To Basics”.
My editor at The Times called me last minute to see if I could run to the Sony Studios where Ms. Aguilera was playing her new tracks for friends and executives inside the studio. I quickly called up my buddy Noah Gilbert to give me a hand lugging my gear and assisting during the shoot. We arrived at the studio as the listening session was underway. As it turned out, my editor at the NY Times had worked with Aguilera’s publicist, who didn’t get in touch with her manager, so they had no clue I was coming! I had to use my silver tongue to get just a few moments to take the portrait.
We couldn’t set up the portrait during the listening session because the large studio was packed with 40-50 friends and executives. Leather couches were strewn around the studio and dozens of candles burned while Christina played each track and talked about the songs. After about an hour of lounging in the back of the room by the catering table (yum), Noah and I had about five minutes to set up and two minutes to shoot, all while guests lingered. Needless to say it was a rush job. My first thought was to take advantage of the soundboard since we were in the fancy studio. Unfortunately, after getting my lights set up, the sound technician had turned off the entire sound system. Due to the limited time and other pressing issues, he couldn’t boot the system back up, so we had to go with the flow: a soundboard switched off! Strict ethical policies at the NY Times prohibits any digital alteration, so I’ve never Photoshoped the soundboard into the “ON” position.
This was one of the more difficult shoots I’ve done due to the chaos in the room and Christina’s surprise of having to sit for a NY Times portrait after a long presentation. Though we were rushed, I was able to pull off a couple nice shots of the Grammy Award winner. In just the few moments I had with Aguilera, it was obvious she knew how to work a camera. I think I could have a lot of fun shooting an extended session with Christina should the day ever come.
Christina, have your people call my people….
NY Times Article and layout:
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.
A Night Out with Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian Night Out – Images by Robert Caplin
As I mentioned in my previous post about Madeleine Albright, I’ve shot a few of these “Night Out” columns for the NY times that put a reporter and myself out for an evening chilling with a celebrity-type.
I got the assignment and was told I would be photographing Kim Kardashian….but I wasn’t exactly sure who she was. I’d heard the name on TV a few times…but since I watch all my TV on Hulu, I dont see all the reality TV that on so often. So I googled her and quickly became a little too familiar with her….
Anyhow, I met up with Kim and her sister, Chloe, the reporter and another of their friends at a hip/modern dinner spot called Delicatessen. It was a strange experience for me because I felt like I was with these celebrities who I really had no knowledge of. In fact when we left the restaurant I got scared to death by a paparazzi! Little dude scared the crap out of me! So after dinner we headed to a club called Avenue where we hung out for a spell….and that was pretty much the night….
Take a gander at the article here.
You’ll notice she was on her phone under the table twittering….this was before I really knew what the heck Twitter was….she asked my username and i didn’t even know what it was. (You can see her asking me in the third pic in the slideshow) I guess she was going to tell her fans she was hanging out with me and the reporter….I later looked at her page and saw she has over 2 million followers…dang that would have gotten some eyes on my website.
Guess what my twitter account is? @robertcaplin ….sigh
Assignment Blues… Cobalt Blues and White Sand Beaches.
Riviera Maya – Images by Robert Caplin
I’m swear I’ll get back into the swing of blogging…as for now, I thought I’d share some pics from one of my latest assignments.
I recently shot a fun assignment for the New York Times Escapes section about the Riviera Maya, the 100-mile stretch of beach that runs from Cancun south. The story is about the affordable (well at least to some) real estate in the area and to generally illustrate how beautiful the area is.
Let’s just say it wasnt a difficult assignment. 
Take a peek at the NY Times article.
And the related slideshow.
