Saturday, April 14, 2012

Celebrities Are People, too




by Jon Wason copyright 2012
As a photographer I enjoy taking pictures of lighthouses, pansies and covered bridges, but photographing people is a whole different challenge. When a lighthouse or a covered bridge is my subject I don’t say “Oh, I have to take another one because you blinked.”
Last night I was the official photographer at a fundraising event featuring Bob Ley of ESPN and Robin Roberts of Good Morning America and I had a great time interacting with these notable figures. Robin Roberts was very tall and photogenic. She was also very patient with people that asked a question or wanted to pose for a photo. When she arrived at the cocktail hour, before the main event, swarms of people surrounded her. My job was to get a nice photo to preserve this special moment. Several challenges confronted me. The room’s lighting was dreadful because it is a small "black box theater" at Fairfield University, lit by a series of red lights. Yuck.    Additionally, the walls and ceiling were painted flat black. This is where light goes to die.
In a nice calm setting, it would have been easier to set up small groups of people for my shots, but this was a Friday-evening, wine-sipping group of excited people. Add to that the thrill of meeting a figure seen on TV on a regular basis and you have a chaotic atmosphere. The room was also rather loud so it was not easy to ask someone to tilt there head a bit to right or to brush their bangs out of their eyes. Getting a good shot meant I had act fast and use my sign language skills. But I got many great shots. It was fun.
The great thing about the experience was catching the spirit of the enthusiastic participants. Some of the men were so thrilled to pose for a photograph with Bob Ley of ESPN that they were beaming with pride. In the back of their mind they were probably preparing a list of friends and relatives they can impress with the photo.
Josh Elliott of ESPN was not officially scheduled to be part of the event but he showed up and mingled with the crowd. The tall, handsome broadcaster was at ease with women of all ages. What a charmer!