Posts tagged ‘singer’
Darren Criss Portrait Shoot for The New York Times
Last week I got a call from the New York Times asking me to photograph Darren Criss, the breakout star of the Fox high school musical series “Glee”, to accompany a story about his upcoming Broadway debut in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
One of the things I love about my job is the unexpected assignments I receive usually on a moment’s notice. This time my editor called around 5PM to schedule a shoot later in the evening on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at an old-school diner near Darren’s apartment. It happened to be very cold that night, so I opted to take a few pictures inside the diner so we could first warm up a bit.
I met the reporter, Patrick Healey, and soon after Darren arrived joyful with a big grin. It’s always nice to work with someone who is very upbeat and talkative. Darren, Patrick, and I had a hot tea to warm up and chatted a bit before I started shooting.
When I have celebrity shoots, I always try to arrive a bit in advance to scout the area for nice portrait locations because often I have little time with those subjects. I’m always looking for quality light sources, as I prefer to take naturally lit portraits as often as possible. I love documentary photography and I suppose shooting natural light is my way of merging the two genres of photography.
After capturing a few portraits of him enjoying a ice cream sundae at the bar in the diner, we walked outside and up the block to a bank of pay phones I’d scouted earlier. I liked the nostalgia of a pay phone, but what really drew me was the light from the adjacent Apple Store spilling directly into the booths.
I hope I cross paths Darren again in the future…until then, break a leg on Broadway!
Macaulay Culkin and Adam Green Portrait Shoot
I have to admit, it’s always fun meeting people you see on television and in the movies. I had the opportunity to photograph actor Macaulay Culkin (goes by Mack) for a New York Times article about how he and musician Adam Green had worked together to create a movie filmed entirely on an iPhone 3G.
For this assignment I wasn’t quite sure what to expect….I was to meet at Adam’s small, eccentric apartment in the afternoon and take their portrait. Green’s apartment was part of the movie’s set, so I planned to use the interior of his home as a backdrop.
After taking a handful of indoor portraits with a number of goofy, papier-mâché props from the movie, we took a short walk in the park across the street where the three of us chatted about our love of Manhattan, my touring with Bieber, and the women’s-sized, brown, leather jacket and police mug shot “Free Mack!” t-shirt Macaulay was wearing for the shoot. It certainly was an amusing conversation to say the least!
Adam and Mack were fun guys to hang around. I hope we have a chance to work together again in the future…or at least grab a drink!
More photos from the shoot in my archives:
Culkin/Green Shoot – Images by Robert Caplin
Justin Bieber LIVE on TODAY Show
This morning I covered Justin Bieber’s appearance on NBC’s TODAY Show in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
I had to arrive at the crack of dawn to wait, along with hoards of other press, while enduring the shrieks of Bieber’s diehard tween fans. I was in need of an Aspirin after this shoot. If headache is a symptom of Bieber Fever….I can certainly say I caught a case of it listening to them scream!
I quickly found that the press riser where many of the celebrity photographers lined up to shoot was not a viable option for me as I would’ve been crammed behind 40 other photographers. So I opted to shoot from the rear of the stage where nobody was shooting from. I really lucked out because I was able to pull off some nice frames shooting through the crazy fans. I like to stray from the pack and get something different….at least my photographs are unique versus everyone shooting from the riser getting the same canned shots.
I was also able to give Justin and his manager my prototype books containing the images from my all-access coverage at the Z100 JingleBall and they very much liked it, which made me quite happy. Perhaps a new project in the works!
Here’s the source of the headache:
Take a peek at a slideshow Justin Bieber’s TODAY Show concert.
Justin Bieber TODAY Show Concert – Images by Robert Caplin
American Idol’s Katherine McPhee
Last week the LA Times hired me to take some portraits of Katherine McPhee, a former American Idol contestant who’s now gone into acting on top of singing/songwriting. I was given 15 minutes with her in her dressing prior to her appearance on Live with Regis and Kelly to promote her new movie “The House Bunny.”. Typically when I shoot celebrities, I’m given anywhere from 5-15 minutes to make a pretty picture….and this was no different. Fortunately, though, Katherine is still young and new to the world of celebrity, so the session was pretty laid back and fun.
Check out the LA Times Article here.
Here are a few pics from the shoot:
This was my personal favorite from the shoot.
The shot the LA Times chose online
We did a couple white wall shots.
I liked the monochromatic feel of her dress against the wall.
I have this effect on women… 
How it ran in print.
