EXCLUSIVE: The Tyra Banks Show!

I implemented new features on the site, so I didn’t get out of the house until 2:00 PM. I was now on the road and the first thing I see is a cop headed the opposite direction. Well, I am kinda staying away from cops at the moment since I recently re-tinted my car and I am under strict rules not to lower the windows for about two days. Sunday was the first day, and today (Monday) was my second. As the cop was about to get close to me, I opened the sunroof so that light enters my car and makes my car seem less tinted. It worked! The cop kept driving off. Every time I see a cop, for some reason, I think to myself that they are about to make a U-turn and come after me, even when I am driving like a student driver. Well, with the tint, and the rules of not lowering the window, at least I can practice being stealth.

Just then I acquired the first target. I was driving eastbound on 3rd St. close to the Beverly Center. I spotted Rachel Hunter headed westbound. The streets were packed and there was traffic in both directions. She made it past Beverly Drive and the light turned red. I almost lost visual but I saw that she got caught at the second light. I was finally able to make a U-Turn close to Sushi Roku. I had to cut off access to a couple of cars, but hey, I had to do what I had to do. I was still caught at the Beverly Drive red light and I see her light turn green. I thought to myself, “There is no way that I am going to catch up to her.” So, I made another U-turn and continued my route. The people behind me must have thought that I was nuts since I just finished making a complete circle in the middle of traffic. Oh well!

It is kinda hard to see through tint, especially when you are trying to look cool by wearing sunglasses. Normally, I drive with my windows down so that I can spot better. Sometimes I get glare inside my car, and that is why I was actually wearing my sunglasses. Sometimes I am blinded by the glare and it could be dangerous. I am sure most of you have this glare problem on the front window of the car because of the slant of the window. It is an efficient way to make a car aerodynamic and to save gas, but the glare is dangerous.

I made it down to Toast Restaurant and Cafe on 3rd St. I right away spotted Michelle Trachtenberg. She was having lunch with this unidentified male companion. I was alone and this was exclusive. This was the perfect opportunity to see how stealth I can be. I have to get this New School mentality away from my skill set and I have to practice the rusty Old School techniques, so I find parking across the street. I get in the backseat of my car and I get my Canon ready. I fire the first shot and I check the shot. Yeah, it looks good! I fire a few more. That will be good for a few, so I get my video camera ready. I turned it on and pointed at her direction. I get a few segments of video of her being completely animated. She is a chatter box; I don’t think that the guy that she was with was able to get a word in that segment. I have enough material by now and all I need is the walking away shots. So I waited in my car. I was completely unnoticeable in my car, and this time I left my car on with the air conditioning running at full blast. I was across the street and with all the cars on the road, there is no way that she would know that my car is on.

After about an hour, she finally stands up, gives the guy a quick hug and starts walking to her car. Well, I guess he was just a friend since I didn’t see a kiss. What a bummer! I snap a few more shots of her walking to her car and I take off once she enters her car. She is not worth following, yet again, she is not worth waiting an hour for, although I did because it was good practice. My Old School techniques are starting to come back to me. I was happy about that.

My Pap Alert goes off. “Come to Fred Segal,” my tipster said. “There is someone here. She is sitting in the front with two other girls,” he continued. “I will be right there!,” I responded. Luckily I was already close to Crescent Heights Blvd., so all I had to do was travel northbound until I hit Melrose Ave. I hit the gas and off I go. It is nice traveling on the back streets; there is no traffic. I made it there in less than five minutes.

I came out from the back of Fred Segal and I went around the building to the alley, which faces the restaurant. I noticed three women sitting together and a paparazzo sitting down on another table without a camera bag. I didn’t recognize any of the women and I called my tipster. He said, “She went inside the restaurant.” I parked my car and headed inside. The other paparazzo was just looking at me as he drank his lemonade. He had no idea why I was there. Actually, I also had no idea why I was there. It turns out that my tipster was hallucinating because when I went inside the restaurant, he told me that she had left. “Oh well, maybe next time,” I told him. I got in my car and I took off.

A few moments later, I was driving northbound on Doheny Drive and I notice that they were filming at Norms (a 24-hour local LA restaurant similar to Denny’s). There was a horse in the parking lot. I got a little curious so I pulled over and I started looking around. “What are they filming?,” I thought to myself. Just then I spotted Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara pretending to be golfers. I snapped a few and I was on my way. If they sell, then that would have to be the money shot. They were filming “Entourage.” These guys in the show are not worth sticking around for, so I took off looking for another adventure.

I was on my route and I get a call from a private number. Initially I thought that someone wanted to sell me something, but I was a little bored so I answered the call. “Hello, this is [so-and-so], executive producer for the Tyra Banks Show.” The first thing that came to my mind was, “How did they get my number?” “We are doing a segment with Nicole Richie and I would like to talk to you about appearing on the show to give your perspective about celeb vs. paparazzi,” he said.

“The segment is going to be recorded tomorrow and we, from the Tyra Banks Show, would like you be a part of it. What do you think of Nicole Richie? Have you ever had an altercation with her? Have you had any negative experiences with her? Do you like Nicole? What do other paparazzi think of Nicole?,” he questioned.

I actually answered all of those questions. I started with that I never had a problem with Nicole. She has always been really cool with me, but then again, I keep my distance whenever possible. In my opinion, Nicole is really good at keeping herself in the media’s eye. She goes to places where she knows that she is going to get her picture taken, places like Fred Segal and shops/restuarants along Robertson Blvd.

“What about the fact that celebrities say that they want to have the right to go to those places and not be bothered,” he asks. “There is a working relationship between the celeb and the paparazzi and the celeb is well aware of that relationship,” I told him. “For a celeb to say that they want their peace in a paparazzi-hotspot is to wish to have your cake-and-eat-it-too. For example, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. When they want to be in the media they are, and when they want their privacy, you never hear from them.”

I feel that every job has its price that one must pay. No matter what job one has, there’s always going to be elements of it that one wishes they could change. For instance, my girlfriend is an auditor, and part of her job requires her to travel frequently, sometimes with very little notice, which forces her to put her personal life on hold because she isn’t always sure when she’ll have to travel next. She dislikes having her job encompass so much of her life as it makes it difficult to make plans with family, friends, and me, or for even handling simple matters such as making a doctor’s appointment. However, she realizes that that’s the price she has to pay for the occupation she went into.

As a paparazzo, I hate the fact that my pictures are constantly stolen and used in many blogs without my permission, which results in a loss of income to me. But hey, this is my price.

We could talk about any job anyone has and there is always going to be something that someone will hate. Being a celebrity is a job, a job that just happens to be exposed to millions of people around the world, making them a role model/idol to their fans. If they don’t want that responsibility, there’s an easy solution…don’t be a celeb. They can’t have their cake-and-eat-it-too. It’s the high-cost of fame, which is understood by everyone before they enter that world. Also remember, that it’s not the paparazzi that makes a celeb famous, it’s the high demand from the public to see and know what the celeb does in their day-to-day life. The paparazzi just deliver that information to the media. Essentially, we’re just giving the public what they’re demanding. If the celeb wants the paparazzi to stop, then the celeb needs to ask the public to stop wanting/reading/viewing information about them.

As a side note: Why is it ok for a fan to intrude on the celeb? The fan gets their autograph, they take their picture, they disturb them while eating, they hug them and kiss them without their consent, etc.

Coincidentally, I photographed Tyra Banks and Nick Cannon last year on October 14, 2005. I was meeting my girlfriend and her friends at the Lucky Strike Bowling Alley in Hollywood. At the last lane of the bowling alley, I spotted Tyra Banks and Nick Cannon sitting at a table. They were watching some of their friends bowl and also having a conversation with each other. I went to the car to get my camera and I waited outside. When they came out, Tyra and Nick where so cool with me that they even posed for me just before they got into the elevator. The Tyra Banks Show took off shortly after this date, and Nick Cannon also started his own show on MTV called “Wild ‘N Out”.

This is the working relationship that a celeb has with a paparazzi. They help each other achive their goals.

Henry Flores
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http://www.henryflores.com

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Tuesday, August 15, 2006, 1:21 AM

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