The boyfriend syndrome when photographing Female Celebrities as a Celebrity Photographer. Getting direct eye contact?

 Bit of an unusual one and a highly specialised topic and that is "the boyfriend syndrome" in celebrity photography but this is only with female celebrities. It can apply to celebrity events, red carpet events, paparazzi moments, london fashion week anything to do with celebrity photography but in a editorial or more photo journalistic capacity. Not something you are going to see in commercial or advertsing photography as there is normally just one photographer and everything is staged anyway.

Featured Photo: Little Mix at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards, Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London. Leigh Ann Pinnock on the left just kept looking in my direction even after half a dozen shots. The "boyfriend syndrome" in action. The other three looked all over the place but two settled on me and Jade Thirlwall far right couldn't make her mind up. Total number of photographers in the pen about a dozen.

What is the Boyfriend Syndrome you will come up against as a Celebrity Photographer.?

You can be in a scrum of 15 or 20 paparazzi, you can be in a photographers pen at a celebrity event with a large number of other photographers, even shooting from the crowds you can experience the same thing. It's what is rather unglamorously called in the trade "the eyeball shot". That is where the female star concerned is looking at you and only you and ignoring every other photographer, even the screaming fans. It's a full on sort of thing, sometimes you will be the only one to get "the look" other times she will share it out to maybe half a dozen other photographers.

It's happened to myself on more than one occasion, I would say many times but it has also happened in reverse where the female star concerned is fixated on another photographer and everybody is shouting to the left and to the right and she will just continue "giving the eye" to that one photographer and will not budge. The boyfriend syndrome again.

It happens more times than not, makes for what I call an "electric" or the "connection" type of shot combined with all the other elements coming together such as background, lighting and composition.

PHOTO: Rose Byrne. Eyes down!

An early photo of Rose Byrne shot from the crowds at a Film Premier in Leicester Square. She is smiling BUT eyes down, no connection, pitch black background. Never did get a decent shot. A FAIL but nice try. So close you could smell her perfume!

The Early days? In the early days when I didn't have a clue about celebrity photography and had to start learning from the ground up and just take the rejections, the eyes down or even worse the eyes down and smiling at the same time, the running in the other direction or the hostile looks like "who are you and what are you doing here". I think a lot of celebrity photographers pack in during those early days but eventually you get a breakthrough with some new experimental technique or just by watching and learning other experienced photographers or you just get lucky. Then it's just rinse and repeat and keep refining the technique and coming up with different variations to suit different situations, different female stars and different events. BUT it takes time.

PHOTO: Nicola Benedetti. She is there but not for my camera!

Nicola Benedetti Classic Music Awards, Royal Albert Hall London Nice arty photo but not interested in my camera, hand in the frame and sort of a 45 degree angle piggy backing off somebodies elses shot thing going on.

Do these direct eye contact shots sell more than others? Yes and No is the complicated answer. Yes if you can get that direct full on look then it's great and could be classed as "the money shot" and the female stars know this, but many other factors come into play to make a photo a seller such as mentioned before lighting, composition, background, angle, is it in focus is probably the most important. A lot of photos you see published of the star especially female stars are maybe one to the left or right of the photographer that is receiving the full on treatment or what is called "the money shot" but it's not always the case. One to the left or right is a slightly less intense look which the media may prefer in quite a few different situations such as Myleene below.

PHOTO: .Myleene Klass. All happening but eye contact slightly elsewhere?

Myleene Klass at an Awards Event in Mayfair, London. Not direct eye contact for me althought it looks like it is, she is instead directly looking at the photographer to my left. Still good from where I am standing and an example of a photo that will still sell.

So what is the "boyfriend syndrome" in Celebrity Photography? It's where a star turns up at an event, or is in front of a swarm of paparazzi and singles out just one photographer, stares smiles and poses in what seems like a lifetime for just that one photographer, ignoring all the others and then just walks off and leaves the other photographers just picking up the scraps. That's the boyfriend syndrome. It's a fantastic experience if you can get it and the odds especially in a major international city like London where there are hundreds of celebrity photographers, are always at the very least a 1 in 10 to 1 in 20 chance of that happening.

PHOTO: Nicola Benedetti: . Full on!

Nicola Benedetti, Classic Music Awards, Royal Albert Hall, London. Taken a couple of years later. Same venue, same person but this time we have full on attention. Taken again from the crowds. Which photo is better is debatable but we have a connection here which is better than none.

How do you achieve the "boyfriend syndronme" with a female star?

Luck plays an important part, they just like the look of you and you are the 2-3 second boyfriend of choice then they are off. They may remember you from a past shoot, they may know you period or you may have been in the game for some time and are a recognised photographer and they know something major is going to happen with that photo and you will get the full on treatment. The longer you are in the game the more of these encounters you will get. It gets easier as well.

PHOTO: Gemma Chan. Full On.

Gemma Chan Glamour Women of the Year Awards, Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London Doesn't get anymore direct than this. Went on for some time. Why? I just said her name. No other photographer did!

Camera down? Most photographers have their camera glued to their face and you become this person with no face. If you are standing there with your camera down at say neck level surveying the scene, you can get some eye contact and rapport going, it picques a womans curiosity, maybe say a few words then quick as lightning capture that look before it is gone. But you have to be quick.

Sweet talking the female stars. Basically mild flirtation and using their name, a lot of the photographers didn't know who they were shooting half the time. A female stars name is a powerful attention grabber especially with the smaller and lesser known stars less so with the huge A-Listers who everybody knows. Makes things more up close and personal.

PHOTO: Charli XCX. Full On

Charli XCX Julien Macdonald Event, LFW, London. 

No other celebritiy photographers were in this area where the stars arrived. One of the few shots with direct eye contact when she had her shades up. What did I say. "You're looking amazing can I take a photo" That's it! She stopped dead in her tracks for couple of seconds. Terrible background and a photo bomber but that's the way it goes. Half a dozen Paparazzi turned up seconds later and she stuck her tongue out at them. Boyfriend syndrome again.

Sometimes firing off a couple of pre shots with your flash in machine gun mode when everybody else is waiting for the posed shot can catch a star out, get their attention and hey presto you have full on eye contact in a pen of 30 photographers, you could even call it an exclusive?. Also the shot will be different from the 29 others. Doesn't always work but it works more often than not.

Sometimes just being right in the middle of the throng of photographers and they know to get that middle position you are either one of the more respected photographers or you elbowed your way in their and the other photogs got out of the way. They know the situation and you may get the eye contact purely by your dominant position...but again it's not always the case.

You are the only Celebrity Photographer there! in the whole of Central London when you sight a celebrity , no competition, full on attention what they call an exclusive. In all the years of photographing celebrities this happened just a handful of times. One I remember seeing walking down the road I think it was the Aldwych a female star, no other photographers around took a photo of her posing and smiling with Greggs yes Greggs in the background. Absolute classic. On a hard drive somewhere with thousands of others. Exclusives in a major city especially in the days of social media are very few and far between but when you get them they are like nothing else. An autograph hunter I used to have dealings with for info met Britney Spears in Leicester Square, no paparaazi anywhere, Didn't believe him but he showed me the video footage from his phone as proof of her signing an autograph. Think he did a Selfie as well. General public completely oblivious that Britney Spears was in their midst. Again another absolute classic.

Ladies Man: Finally women regardless whether celebrity or not always know a "ladies man" and will respond accordingly. They are thin on the ground. You either have it or you don't. Helps tremendously, but again when you are up against 20 or more other photographers it's tricky, but one on one and close up and intimate and 9 times out of 10 you will come up with a winner. That's the way my celebrity photography went in the end, within hugging distance but making it an enjoyable experience.

FAQ

Is it essential to get full on eye contact with female stars in order for the photos to sell? Look on social media, check the press photo agency sites, check the media - digital and hard copy and a lot of the time they are not looking directly at the camera but just slightly off, so the answer I would say it is not essential.

Which sort of photo did I go for the slightly off look or the full on look? I went for the full on look everytime if I could get it. You are really connecting and getting into the psyche of these female stars whereas a shot that is looking slightly at an angle it's like you are an outsider looking in through a window at a party. Full on eye contact - she has opened the door and invited you in! If you don't get full on eye contact then you have second best as an option - but why settle for second best in the first place?

How long did it take to regularly get eye contact from the female stars I would say around a year with the break through coming after say a few months when I stopped shouting and screaming like a fan and chilling out a bit and sounding more professional. then they took notice, They could probably sense I was a newbie in the early days as well.

What was the break through moment I think it was at a film premier when instead of shouting and shooting the stars 20m away I just waited until they got closer within whispering range and said their name in a calm manner mixed in with some pro lingo and they started posing up with the full on treatment more often than not. It's like learning to drive a car once you pass your test you never forget.

This article originally appeared on Frank John London