Best places for Female Celebrity Photo Opportunities by a Celebrity Photographer in London

 

Kirsten Dunst at a Film Premier in London from behind

Celebrity Photo Shoots Opportunities and Locations in London

Taking you on a deep dive into the world of a Celebrity Photographer in London .What are the types of photo shoots that you would be involved with in Central London concerning what I specialised in which were the female stars. Can also be used as a guide for Best places for Celebrity Photo Opportunities if you are interested in celebrities but are not a Celebrity Photographer. Bear in mind some places or events mentioned you will need the appropriate credentials to gain access but many are places that are open to the general public. This is a London focused article.

Introduction The types of photo shoots that we are talking about are more concerned with the editorial/photo journalism angle and not the more studio based advertising/commercial photography which is mainly shot indoors but not always....- depends on the campaign. That's a totally different ball game and genre which will not be covered here. With editorial/photo journalism style celebrity photography the resulting photos will normally be accompanied by some sort of text or story and are more news based/focused.

Recently produced photo gallery video over at You Tube called BEHIND EVERY SHOT: Celebrity Moments from London's Best Events gives a good insight into this over at the Frank John London You Tube Channel

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVbSGRGcAg&pp=0gcJCcUKAYcqIYzv)

Types and Locations of Celebrity Photo Shoots? So what sort of celebrity photos shoots would be available to a London Celebrity Photographer with a particular focus on the more photo journalistic hot news bias.

Many types of Celebrity photo shoots in London including

Red Carpet The first category which took up at least a third of my time and involved shooting mainly from the official event photographers pens were film premieres and awards events.

Film Premieres Film Premieres took place at various locations in Central London with the main one being Leicester Square which at the time of shooting had 4 cinemas. The Odeon in Leicester Square was the main cinema where the larger premieres took place. Other locations included the IMAX cinema located near Waterloo Station and The Curzon Cinema in Mayfair which was a smaller venue but was superb for more intimate shots of the bigger names that flew over the pond to attend.

I never shot from the pens at these events instead I shot from what I call "the absolute living hell" that is from the fan or crowd pens to get more up close and personal unique shots. I could write a book on the experiences I had there (most not great) but that is a whole seperate blog post. Lets just say I got the stars in the later years coming out of the hotel BEFORE they arrived at the premier. For my own personal sanity...... that seemed to work much better.

PHOTO; Eva Longoria at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards London

Awards Events Numerous Awards Events take place in Central London pretty much the same time of year and every year in year out. They are often held at the same locations and rarely change, so these events are your bankers as you know they will definitely be taking place and you know the ins and outs of the venue. The guest list at the bigger events can be quite extensive up to 60 or 70 with a large number of A listers in attendance. Most of the work I did in this category was pen based with a large number of other photographers. The only way to get in those pens is with photographer credentials only. No general public allowed you get rammed into a crowd pen.

Film Promo non red carpet such as Q&A These events are about as far removed from the red carpet as you can get. They are a bit more casual and laid back normally with a limited audience, normally some media types, a few photographers, the event organiser, the star or group of stars concerned normally dressed in more casual style clothing and may be some lucky few fans who have been invited or won the privilege to ask the featured star some questions. Quite a few of these took place at the Apple Store in Regent Street in Central London

PHOTO: Pixie Lott back of ITV Studios, Central London

TV/Radio Station and Recording Studio Arrival and Departures In London this was one of my staples for getting Female Celebrity Photos.They included Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4 (all in close proximity to each other) with Radio 1 being the favourite with the most current stars turning up. The ITV Studios on the South Bank (now closed at the time of writing). Normally you got the photos at the back of the studio where the cars turned up. sometimes the stars would turn up at the front of the studios which made life a lot easier and made for more scenic background.

Promo Events and Product Launches and Store Openings These events are more focused on promoting a product or service or store or anything similar. Product launches would include anything from Tech to Beauty Products or Fashion or Sports Products .... the list goes on. Store openings could include new store openings or maybe an existing store that is open already and is hosting a special event where the owner or celebrity turns up to endorse and promote that store. An example is the turning on of the Christmas lights sat the store such as one I attended in Mayfair at the Stella McCartney Store where Stella McCartney herself was in attendance. See the main website on main page over at frankjohn.com Stella is far right and next to Fearne Cotton and Charli XCX

PHOTO: Katy Perry with fan outside The Corinthia Hotel, Central London

Surveillance work including home, hotel, vehicle, restaurants, nightclubs, private members clubs, school run This is a highly specialised area normally performed by Paparazzi style Celebrity Photographers rather than the more traditional Celebrity Event Photographer that are normally shooting from a fixed position such as an official photographers pen. This style of work is more free style and free range and involves a lot of waiting sometimes for hours and maybe even days or weeks. It delves more into the personal life of a celebrity and as a result has more chance of producing that elusive "exclusive shot" which can command higher rates of money than the more traditional red carpet shot where you are competing with a large number of other photographers.

In the latter years I increasingly did more hotel surveillance work especially if stars were staying in a hotel then going onto a film premier this was a far more preferable way to get photos of film premier stars and was so good (if you knew where they were staying) you would get photos of them with their red carpet attire and publish the photos before they even arrived at the premier. No screaming crowds, no massive waiting times, competing with maybe a couple of other photographers (sometimes more but certainly not 40 or more).

Stars I got at the hotels either arriving or departing include Katy Perry leaving The Corinthia, Lady Gaga leaving The Langham (two different occasions) and Amber Heard leaving Claridges via the Ballromm Entrance/Exit. That's just 3 out of a long list but the caveat and it's a huge one is YOU COULD BE WAITING FOR A LONG TIME AND COME AWAY WITH NOTHING!!!! Information and good information and having an insider view with the hotel concierge helps immensely!!!

PHOTO: Lindsay Lohan at the back of The Playhouse Theatre on opening night Central London

Theatre including Stage Door, Pre and Opening Nights star arrivals. The theatre which is distinct from Radio, TV and Film and even Music is another avenue for getting great shots of female stars in Central London. The Stage Door is a good option as that is where the stars turn up before they perform and usually the same time every evening (normally performances are in the evening). Pre performances and opening nights for a new production will also bring in celebrities to get the first viewing of this production before everybody else and offers another opportunity to get celebrity photos. If it is a highly anticipated production, then quite a large number of big names may turn up. You also get two for the price of one as you will get shots of them arriving and also get shots of them departing so two opportunities.

Airport Arrival Departures Heathrow Airport in London is one of the major sources of celebrity photos for those who are willing to put in the time, have the the right and accurate information when a star is arriving or departing. Here the arrivals are way more important than the departures in connection with stars especially arriving from over the pond as we call it as in "The States". A lot of the Trans-Atlantic flights arrive very early certainly before 7am but do arrive throughout the rest of the day so an early start is essential if you are looking to get photos of these major stars on arrival. It has it's own set of problems such as the usual rugby scrum with potentially a high number of other photographers and also dealing with security and airport regulations.

I know some London Celebrity Photographers that never went any where near a Red Carpet and managed to make a good living regardless ...and that's all they did. You will get the more candid moment style of shot here and they will be dressed more casually which has the advantage of a celebrity street style in the fashion stakes. I never once went to Heathrow, I was too busy in Central London but it certainly has produced some cracking photos for certain Celebrity photographers...some became quite well known personally by the stars concerned.

PHOTO: Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud arrives at an LFW Event in Central London

Fashion Events such as London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is part of the big four Major Global Fashion Events that are held in New York, London, Paris and Milan. They are held twice a year with the two events being called either "Spring/Summer" or "Autumn/Winter. In London the major event is called "London Fashion Week" and is held in February and September of each year and the event goes on for 4 or 5 days at various locations and prominent landmarks in the capital. It brings stars from around the UK and globally and is a fantastic place to get celebrity photos of new and up and coming stars right up to A Listers rocking their latest look as they arrive at various events. This was one of my favourite type of events and I have many photos of female stars arriving and departing from these iconic locations.

Music Events arrivals/departures and live performance

Celebrity Photographers that specialise in the music stars will be primarily focused on live music events with a similar situation as the Theatre with stars that are performing arriving or departing or performing live on stage. The big music events such as Glastonbury can be another source of getting celebrity photos although with the huge crowds it becomes a challenge in trying to get photos of them , but the live stage performances again with the right passes or a good spot in the crowd can provide another superb celebrity photo opportunity

Film sets and on location

Film Sets and On Location shooting for a new TV Show or blockbuster film can provide another opportunity to get celebrity photos that are more candid in nature. As you can imagine these are very heavily guarded by security as the producers of the Film or TV Series don't want to give anything away before the Film/TV Series is released so just turning up with a camera will not be met with a warm welcome.

It's all official passes territory. I remember way back before I even got involved with the Entertainment Industry seeing Cate Blanchett sitting on one of those old fashioned bull horn handlebar bikes with a wicker basket on the front just sitting on the bike on a side road where they were filming three blocks away from where I lived at the time in Hampstead, North London. Spoke to the director who said they were filming "Notes for a Scandal" and she was looking intensely for some time whilst I was talking to him. Never took a photo but I can still see her now. Little did I realise that 8 or 10 years later I would be taking photos of her at the Blue Jasmine premier and also at the massive Lord of the Rings Premier both in Leicester Square.

PHOTO: Cate Blanchett arrives at the Blue Jasmine Premier, Leicester Square, London

There are many other ways to get photos of celebrities as a Celebrity Photographer in London but these events and locations are a good starting ground and served me well throughout the years that I did this role.

This article originally appeared on Frank John London