A Day in the Life of the Paparazzi!
Posts tagged HenryFlores.com
Patrick Dempsey Leaving At The Perfect Time
Aug 22nd
I was about to go home that day. I was running errand all over Beverly Hills and I was feeling a bit tired. I had a very important business lunch with my business partner. We were as usual having a discussion of the global domination plans for BuzzFoto. I usually backtrack when I head home using mayor transition streets to place myself if locations highly traveled by celebrities… Let’s just say that I wanted to find someone before I actually made it home. Then there it was… Patrick Dempsey’s black and orange Porsche. It was parked in front of the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Well, I wasn’t one hundred percent certain that it was his because I have never seen him drive it in real life. I’ve only seen it in our competitors websites when they display a video of Patrick driving away. You know… You have seen those videos too…
I was heading eastbound and I made a U-turn at the nearest intersection. I found parking right away and I started to wait. And Wait… And Wait… Nothing… By this time too much time had passes and the valet decided to drive his car into the underground parking and so I lost visual on the car, but I continued to wait. And Wait… And Wait… Nothing…
After two sold hours of waiting,
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Tobey Maguire’s Spidey Senses Don’t Compare To Mine
Apr 13th
I was doing my route and usually one day after a major holiday, it is hard to find celebrities, probably because they are all hung over from all the partying that they did the night before. Well, it is kinda hard and so I had no hopes of really finding anyone. But then my spidey senses start to tingle. I was making my way towards Rodeo Drive via an alleyway between the UTA Agency and a parking structure… He was right there in front of me, SpiderMan in the flesh. I got ready and before his Spidey senses went off to tell him that I was around… I had him dead locked and centered, down the barrel of my canon.
Photo by Henry Flores/OutOfSightMedia.com
He was still smiling by the time he realized that I had a few frames under my belt. Then all of a sudden, like his BFF Leonardo DiCarpio would do, his smile disappears and he quickly turns around.
Photo by Henry Flores/OutOfSightMedia.com
All he did after that is to continue to chat the girls and then … More >
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It’s my Birthday and I am going on Vacation!
Aug 26th
My Blog, Out of Sight Media, will be on hiatus for a few days, as I am going on vacation. So, while I am enjoying my birthday and time off with my beautiful girlfriend, maybe you in the audience can pick up the slack. 
I am always glad to hear from you. Your e-mails and comments are always welcome. I love to hear what you’re thinking. Please send me your ideas, who do you want me to get, stories you’d like to see me cover, etc.?
Tell me what you think of my Paparazzi Board and what I need to change in order to make you guys go chat there? Give me your opinion on what you see out on the street.
Get the latest and most up-to-the-minute gossip in our welcoming Paparazzi message board!
Tell me what you think about MySpace and all my celebrity friends?
Check out my MySpace! Become my friend! Meet some of my friends!
Send me a picture of you, you and your friends, or you and your mystery companion so that I can one day add it to my blog under “Friends of Out Of Sight Media” or maybe one day, I can Pap you on the street!?
mail to: picture[at]outofsightmedia[dot]com
Your views and comments could be included in a future Roll-Call or Blog.
See you soon!
Henry Flores
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Saturday, August 26, 2006, 12:48 AM
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EXCLUSIVE: Happy Birthday Bro!
Aug 16th
I had to wake up early this morning to celebrate my brother’s birthday. We were going to go shoot paintballs at each other. We headed to the range about 8:00 AM out in the desert close to San Bernandino County. Yup! It was going to be our first time doing that. I figure I should be good at this since it almost requires the same techniques as being a paparazzo. You have to be covert, you have to have your eyes open for any possible target, etc. Well, my brother won, but I let him win since it was his birthday. I am a little bruised up from the paintballs. Damn! they hurt. I guess it wasn’t like being a paparazzo at all. I forgot about aiming correctly and being able to jump and roll like my brother did on occassions.
Well, I said goodbye to my bro since his girl had afternoon plans and I wanted to work a little because in two weeks I am celebrating my birthday. Yup! My bro and myself are about one year apart.
I headed back to West Hollywood. I made it home close to 2:00 PM. Funny thing that this is when I normally start my full day of work anyway. I promised Melanie that I was going to take her out one last time before she leaves for England. So, I decided to give my friend, Georgie a call to tell her that I could take her niece, Melanie, for one last ride.
I headed over to Santa Monica to pick her up. When I got there, I went into Auntie Georgie’s office and saw that her belly was huge, that baby of her’s in going to be big. She was looking radiant.
I said hello and Melanie quickly gets her stuff together. “I wonder if we can still catch up to the filming of Tyra Banks with Nicole Richie,” I thought in my head. Melanie says goodbye to Auntie Georgie and off we go. From my previous experience with Melanie, I had no luck checking out the scene in Santa Monica. So we decided to head straight to the source of the celebs…West Hollywood.
I was on my route heading southbound on Robertson Blvd. and I was spotting paparazzi left and right. “There goes another paparazzo,” I told Melanie. Once in front of The Ivy, I spotted Mary-Kate Olsen heading northbound with no security entourage. I made a U-turn in the middle of the intersection between Robertson Blvd. and Alden Drive in front of a bus. I was a few cars behind and so I had to play catch-up. We both made it past the light on Robertson Blvd. and Beverly Blvd. After passing a few cars, I was finally one car behind her. I was in the perfect spot for her not to notice me. The funny thing is that there was a paparazzo in front of Mary-Kate who did not notice her.
Once we got to Melrose Ave., the other paparazzo makes a left, Mary-Kate makes a right, headed straight into the paparazzi den. I thought that she was going to be discovered by others, but she wasn’t. She makes a right onto a little street and parks in a driveway. I give the video camera to Melanie so that she can participate and I parked across the street.
I told Melanie that we are going to be stealth. She understood what I was talking about because she reads my blog. I jumped in the back seat and she stays in the passenger seat. Mary-Kate finally gets out of her car and I get a couple of shots through the tint. Wow! I was surprised. Mary-Kate must have spotted me. After she came out, she looked at my car and started covering her face. Maybe my limo-tint is not as limo-tinted as I ordered it? I have to check on that tomorrow.
Actually, it wasn’t the tint. It was that Mary-Kate recognized my car. I have photographed her so many times that she is starting to know how to recognize me. 
That is why some paparazzi use rental cars and change them every once in a while.
We follow three rules: 1) if the celeb sees you, they will not do what they were intending to do, therefore, you would miss photographing a more interesting story; 2) if the celeb sees you, then they can recognize you another time, making it harder to photograph them in the future; and 3) if the celeb sees you, they could get angry and possibly cause a scene (e.g., bodily harm, calling cops and wasting taxpayers money, etc.), of which you don’t want to be part of.
I follow these three rules because I want to avoid celebs like Mary-Kate being able to recognize my car and then covering her face not giving me any shots. Well, she went into the house. A few minutes later, her security detail shows up. “Well, it is time for us to leave,” I told Melanie. “Why?”, Melanie asked. I told her that the Olsen security detail are ex-cops that think they have the right to bully people around and I don’t want to put you in any danger. I heard from the paparazzi network that the Olsen security even placed a paparazzo in a headlock. I don’t know who that paparazzo was, but that is a little too crazy for me. We were off to find another adventure.
It was close to 6:00 PM and everything was slowing down. I knew that it was time to take Melanie home. So I told her that we were going to drive along Sunset Blvd. towards Santa Monica. Obviously, I was going to check a few spots along the way. I pulled into the Cafe Med parking lot and I spotted Max Weinberg walking towards Cafe Med. I remembered that last time I was with Melanie, I asked Mark McGrath to pose up with Melanie, so why not ask again. I rolled down my window and I asked Max if he would mind taking a picture with Melanie. He said, “Sure! Those are big cameras you have!” I told him that I was a paparazzo and that I was showing Melanie, who is here on vacation from England, around. “Have you got anybody good,” he asks me. I said, “No, not really.”
I stepped out of my car and Melanie followed. She gets right next to him and bam, I take a few shots and said thanks to Max.
Even though Max was really cool with me, I have to comment on his socks. Why does he get to wear them like that? My girlfriend always gets mad at me when I am dressed like Max.
Henry Flores
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Wednesday, August 16, 2006, 3:00 AM
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EXCLUSIVE: The Tyra Banks Show!
Aug 15th
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
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Tuesday, August 15, 2006, 1:21 AM
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What Happened to Slow Friday’s?!
Aug 13th
I called The Ninja at about 10:00 AM to see how his trek to Vegas is going. I’m about half way, The Ninja responds. The Ninja’s on a secret mission. I hope he does well.
Today I’m working solo. Normally Friday’s are my slowest days. There was a time when I only got one set of a D celeb, and I was happy to get that. On Friday’s, it seems as if celebs are home preparing for either their planned trips/vacations or are just taking the day off and relaxing at home. However, this Friday kicked my ass! I couldn’t stop spotting celebs. As I was on one celeb I would spot another and had to make fast decisions based on Hollywood’s pecking order. For example, as I was following Halle Berry southbound on Doheny Blvd., I spotted Michelle Trachtenberg heading northbound; as I was shooting Nicole Richie having lunch with her new boyfriend I spotted Harry Morton (aka Lindsay’s beau); and I also spotted another celeb driving away from the valet parking across the street from the restaurant Nicole was at. Ok, so on to my day!
I was driving around my normal route as I spotted Nicole Richie. She was sitting with her boyfriend having lunch at La Conversation. As I pulled up, Nicole grabbed her boyfriend’s hat and placed it on her head. Then she checked herself out in the window’s reflection. Luckily, I had my long lens ready. I don’t think the cars behind me minded that I was taking pictures of Nicole since they only honked once. I got the money shot.
Just then, I noticed that I wasn’t alone. Well, I thought I had the money shot. Just like that, my money shot went down to pennies. There was another paparazzo doing it Old School style. He was on the median divider on Doheny Blvd. facing southbound, stopping traffic there also. Well, at least we spotted her at the same time.
I then circled around and strategically parked in front of the fire hydrant, right next to her table. I turned off my car and jumped in the backseat. All of a sudden, I could feel the heat quickly take over the cool car, and I felt the sweat start to roll off my face. I should have left the car on with the air conditioning.
I must have taken over 100 pictures of Nicole sitting at the table when all of a sudden this paparazzo decides to go New School. He gets in front of my car and shoots her from about five feet away. So much for stealth. Nicole got so upset at that paparazzo that she stood up and went inside the restaurant messing up the shots for the rest of us because of his New School way.
I had no choice but to go New School too. I went to find a better parking spot. I got my gear and headed back to the restaurant to wait with the other paparazzi that were trickling in little-by-little because we had been exposed. Nicole is inside by now. To complete the story, I need to get the shots of her leaving the restaurant. Not many paparazzi showed up as typically would because the majority of them were working on Britney Spears, who was also in town.
As we were waiting, Harry Morton rolls by, which, at least, gives us all something to talk about. After about an hour, Nicole comes out of the restaurant and I finished my story. No one followed her and she drove off into the jungle that is LA traffic.
I was once again on my normal route. I headed eastbound just a little past Crescent Heights Blvd. on Sunset Blvd. I made a left into the Coffee Bean parking lot and to my surprise, I spotted Jeremy Piven chatting up this lovely young lady. I took about six shots of him and drove off. I actually like Jeremy Piven’s acting. Well, let me rephrase, I liked Jeremy Piven’s acting when he played the supporting role in “A Family Man” with Nicolas Cage and Tia Leoni. I haven’t seen any episodes of “Entourage” so don’t be saying that I don’t know anything…cause in regards to that show, you would be right, I don’t know anything. 
Awhile later, I was on the same part of the route heading eastbound on Sunset Blvd. when I spotted Halle Berry driving the opposite direction. Luckly there was no traffic that I could make a nice, easy, legal U-turn. I didn’t even have to drive on the median divider and I didn’t even run the late yellow light to make a left on Doheny Drive to catch up with her. She did not have a clue that I was there.
I am going back to the Old School ways because I am tired of being in their face, and I am tired of all the non-exclusive shots with 20 to 30 guys after the same person. Not only that, I have thousands of dollars on precision long range lens’ that are collecting dust. I want to start using them again. I want to feel like a secret agent. I want to be stealth. I want the thrill to know that I got the money shot and that the celeb did not have a clue that I was there. Yes! Those are the good ole Old School days!
So, back to Halle. She drove deep into paparazzi territory which gave me more reason to be stealth. She makes a left on Melrose Ave. Darn!, I thought. She is heading straight to Robertson Blvd. Then all of a sudden, she makes a left on this little street called North Almont Drive and she parked at a parking meter. For a second there, I did not know what to do since I didn’t want her to spot me. So, I quickly parked my car on the opposite side of the street. Unfortunately for me, I was parked on a red zone facing the same direction as she did. I was just hoping that she wouldn’t notice me.
She comes out of her car and heads straight to the parking meter. Since I was parked behind her, I could not see her do that and then she starts heading in my direction on her side of the street. She looked at my car but didn’t seem to mind since she could not see me inside the car. My plan worked and I hosed her down through the window tint. I was able to capture a few shots and then she walks into this little home and garden store on the corner of Melrose Ave. and North Almont Drive.
A few minutes later, she walks back to her car and then she heads to another location in Beverly Hills. Well, to conclude this story, I ended up with three exclusive sets of Halle and it was all done without her knowledge.
By the way, I really don’t think that she is pregnant. I think that because she was wearing this tight dress and she looked great. She wasn’t hiding her belly and I even have the side profile shot that shows her flat stomach.
It was now about 7:00 PM when I finished my day with Halle. I was now headed home with over four hundred shots to work on. It was going to be a long night!
At about 10:00 PM the Pap Alert goes off. It was a text message that I didn’t check since I was a little busy with all the editing I had to do. One minute later, the Pap Alert goes off again, this time it was a call. It must be important I thought. It was The Ninja; he was in Vegas still trying to get his shots. I answered the phone and he says to me, “I got a tip for you. Jessica Simpson is at the Factory.” “Thanks!,” I told him. Then I checked my text message, “Jessica Simpson is at the Factory FYI,” from a new friend. Ok! Ok! I get it!
I got my night gear ready and I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to go. She said, “Sure, I’ll go!” I knew that she was going just to be by my side. This is one of the many reasons why she is a keeper; she always wants to be there for me.
So we head off to The Factory Night Club on La Peer Dr., which is one street away from where I was earlier that day with Halle’s story. I get there and I see a few Paps already on high alert. Well, that is good, I thought. That means that Jessica still hasn’t arrived. There was no parking anywhere so my girlfriend dropped me off so that I could go take care of business.
Well, to make a long story short, three hours later, The Factory Night Club Security and the MTV film crew decided to give us some shots. They set up a little barrier next to the entrance of the club where we could get some shots of Jessica as she comes out of her limo.
The Factory Night Club Security and the MTV Crew, thanks for the shots. You guys where real pros. I haven’t seen such cooperation in a long time.
Well, it was now close to 2:00 AM early Saturday morning and I was going home to finish all my edits and hopefully(!), get some shuteye before having to photograph my friend’s wedding at noon!
Henry Flores
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Sunday, August 13, 2006, 2:58 AM
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Today was a horrible day!
Aug 11th
Wow! I missed so many stories today. It all started kinda late again at around 11:00 AM. I was parked on the Thursday side of the street and I would get a parking ticket if I didn’t move my car by 12:00 PM since the street sweeper was going to pass by my house. My hair was all messed up; I was completely not ready when I rolled out of bed. I put on my pants, my shirt and my socks. Now where did I put those shoes? After a few minutes I finally made it out of my house and I moved my car to the Friday side. I went back into the house and I warmed up my coffee that my beautiful girlfriend makes for me every morning. I turned on my computer and my Pap Alert goes off. ‘Eva Longoria is at the Chateau Marmont. Can you check it out?’ “Sure,” I said.
I took off my clothes and I jumped in the shower. Twelve minutes later, I come out and I get ready with clean clothes. I finish off my coffee and I checked my e-mail. Finally, I was ready for Eva.
I headed to the Chateau Marmont. When I get there, to my surprise, there were a few paparazzi waiting outside the hotel. I wasn’t going to deal with all the chaos. I didn’t stick on Eva.
I started my route. Soon after, I get a call from The Ninja; he told me that he was on the chase. Darn! He beat me to the first spot again. Now that is two days in a row. The Ninja is on fire. He was on Gwen Stefani. ‘She is headed to the studio,’ The Ninja said. The Ninja told me that he has her covered and that I should look for another story.
The funny thing about the Gwen story is, it looks like the Paps that were on it had an interesting time getting shots.
It looks like another “Good Samaritan” was feeling good about helping both Gwen and the Paps lose money.
Remember that Gwen is promoting her new clothing line and that Gwen is wearing it, and more than likely, she wanted a picture taken of her wearing her clothing. If a picture is not taken of her wearing her new clothing line, than it is not going to be in the tabloids, and therefore, will not get the additional advertisement; advertising is what helps get a product/service sold.
The paparazzi like Gwen because she has always been really cool with us. Remember ‘Good Samaritans,’ let us do our job.
I was feeling a little left out. By now it was close to 3:30 PM and I still haven’t used my camera; this was very unlikely for me, I always find someone. Then I get my break; I was on 3rd St. heading eastbound from Crescent Heights Blvd. I spotted Heath Ledger. He was driving this mystery car (I need to say that since I don’t want to give out any details that would help any competition ). He was driving like a racecar driver. I could barely keep up with him! I called The Ninja for help. Fortunately for me, The Ninja was close to the area.
Heath did not know that we were following him. We were doing him Old School Style. He takes us miles away and finally turns into this underground parking. We couldn’t get any shots. The Ninja and I set up for the second follow. I took the front entrance and The Ninja covered the back alley. We fully covered all exits.
I was parked across the street from the front entrance and I have a full view of the underground parking structure. Heath has always been really hard to work on. If he spots you following, he will go out of his way so that you cannot get any shots. Finally, after waiting there for about two hours, Heath comes out. Well, to make a long story a little bit shorter, he makes a right onto a busy intersection, he barely makes the yellow and we get caught behind a few cars. Fortunately for us, he never saw us. Heath has always been good at recognizing Paps. Since he didn’t see us, that means that he doesn’t know our cars and that means that we could work on him the next time we find him.
Well, I was still feeling like I was missing something. At around 6:45 PM I was about to call it a day. I decided to make one last stop by Fred Segal. I was talking to my girlfriend; I was telling her about my horrible day. ‘Babe, I got to go,’ I said to her. This is my call to her to tell her that I have found a story. I found Tia Carrere and her husband, Simon Wakelin, hanging out. Tia and her husband have also been real nice to paparazzi.
She told me about her husband’s show that I need to mention called “The Greg Behrendt Show” which premiers on September 12. There! Now I did my job. She also told me (actually, she was talking into my video camera) that she is starting on the OC on Monday and that we should all watch. She also mentioned that I was the first one to know.
Look, there I am in the shadow.
Do you guys now see how the celeb and paparazzi relationship works? The paparazzi can help celebs promote themselves.
Yes! I knew it. I do have a job.
Henry Flores
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Friday, August 11, 2006, 3:16 AM
(This Blog has been modified from the original and is now in its fourth edition. I apologize for my indiscretions for comments that may or may not have offended some readers. Please accept my apology in this matter.)
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EXCLUSIVE: Misunderstood Paparazzi!
Aug 10th
Today I had to wake up early since The Ninja and I had to meet with our picture distribution company. We had a meeting with an old friend who is now the main photo editor. He took us out to lunch at a restaurant on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice.
We talked about how happy we are with the sales of our pictures and all this happy stuff. Then, before we realized it, it was about 3:30 PM. I joked to our photo editor that The Ninja and myself are still going to go out and get a few sets.
Well, guess what? We did!
We headed northbound on Main St. until we got to Montana Ave. We finally were in route for the first time in the day. On Montana Ave. we headed eastbound and I checked a couple of the hangouts with no luck. The Ninja went to San Vicente Blvd. to check out the runners that run around the Brentwood Hills Golf Course. Soon, I get the Pap Alert. The Ninja has beat me to the first spot. He spotted Jessica Biel walking her dog with a friend.
Luckily I was already on San Vicente Blvd. since Montana Ave. was dead. We followed Jessica to this little restaurant called Pizzicotto.
Jessica Biel decided that she wanted to eat outside on a nice little table on the sidewalk. She was real nice by giving us the shots, even though she had no clue that The Ninja and myself were there. The Ninja parked across the street. I found a parking spot next to the table where she was eating.
Once I parked, I placed the front window shade so that no light goes into my car. Note that my car is completely limo-tinted, but there is still a chance of light entering the car, so I hope that she doesn’t see me. I was parked on a metered section, so I had to get out of my car to place coins on the meter. I can’t stand getting parking tickets. I get too many already.
So, since I just finished parking, I get a bunch of coins and I get out to walk to the meter wearing my shades. The whole time I was zoned in on feeding the meter. Then I walked away from my car and headed to this newsstand a few feet away. By now, Jessica has me out of her mind and I head back to my car. I was now in my car with all the windows up and it is hot outside! I was really starting to cook inside the car.
So there I am getting the nice exclusive eating shots, the dog feeding shots, the cell talking shots, the fan disturbing her shots, the Jessica showing me her thong when she bent over to take a bite shots, etc.
The Ninja was taking a shitload of shots from across the street. I later counted his shots. He took about 375 shots! Damn! I have to do the editing tonight. That is a whole bunch of shots, so I questioned him about it. He said, “Yeah! I was sweating it for her.” Apparently he was also baking in the car across the street.
OK, let’s talk about the disturbing fan. Jessica is having a nice lunch when all of a sudden, this fan comes up to her and starts disturbing her. He wants to chat with her and she keeps pretending to listen. Huh! And people think that paparazzi are invasive. Let’s face it; Jessica never knew that we were there. The fan comes up and disturbs her.
Jessica is going to be looking at the tabloids within the next few days and wonder where The Ninja and I were hiding. We were totally stealth; totally Old School.
So why am I a misunderstood paparazzi? Well, I don’t hate Nicole Richie as some of you believe. Maybe I sounded a little harsh with my word selection on the few previous blogs. It is just that I see her all the time, even when I attempt to avoid her. I have photographed her so many times that it is becoming a boring subject for me. Kinda like all of your jobs for you, the same repetitious, carpel-tunnel causing, and constantly nagging subject. Even though sometimes I don’t like to work on the same subject over and over again, I still like this job.
Well, I like it better than my so-called-real-job that I used to have. Yes! I do have my degree from an accredited university. Yes! I used to work long hours as an Electronics Design Engineer. Yes! I quit that real job because there was no potential for growth. Yes! I do own my own company now and my office is outside with the sun and the birds and the trees and all that stuff that I never got to see from my cubicle in the middle of a warehouse for an office.
How beautiful it is waking up when you want because you own your company! You should try it sometime. It just happens to be that I am a paparazzi enjoying life.
The creative photos are courtesy of The Ninja (www.inhousephoto.com).
Henry Flores
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Thusrday, August 8, 2006, 3:33 AM
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I am into Money!
Aug 8th
I was driving down Melrose Ave. heading westbound just passing Urth Cafe when I spotted Mila Kunis driving eastbound, so I made a U-Turn. Luckly there weren’t that many cars on the road. I called The Ninja to see if he was interested in helping me out. She made a left on a street not too far away from where we were. Darn! She is going home, I thought. I called The Ninja since he was on his way and told him not to bother.
A few minutes later, we were on Canon Drive when I spotted Samantha Ronson having a smoke just outside La Scala Restaurant. I knew right away that Nicole Richie must be eating inside. I pulled over to the side of the street in plain view of the restaurant. I give The Ninja a call and told him about Nicole. He then told me that he was already in position across the street. I guess he had the same idea that I had.
Soon Nicole comes out with Samantha Ronson and another female friend. They all cross the street and Nicole goes directly to this ugly dude (aka Alex “Orbi” Orbison) and gives him a hug. Right then I realized that this might be Nicole’s new man?
So much for her ex-fiance Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM. Has Nicole found herself a real diamond-in-the-ruff? You can tell from his mustache and his “Girls Gone Wild” T-shirt.
I would have to give him props for wearing sunglasses that match Nicole’s; maybe this is how Nicole got attracted to him?
You never know with celebs.
Henry Flores
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Tuesday, August 8, 2006, 9:40 PM
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The Movie Set!
Aug 8th
The Pap Alert goes off at 10:00 AM this morning. “Hello!,” I answered the phone in a sleepy voice. Normally I get up at around 10:00 AM since most celebs aren’t out-and-about until sometime after that time anyway. Yeah! We have the easy life. “Do you want to do a movie set today?,” the other side of the phone asks me. “Well, it depends on what it is,” I replied. “You have a choice to either do Tom Hanks or Entourage”, the other voice told me. Can you figure out which one I decided on?
So there I go getting out of bed to get ready for the long ride down to a city with no name (Note: I can’t mention the location of the movie set, because I don’t want to give any hints to my competitors). I take a shower and I read my morning e-mail, I also checked my blog for spammers. I am finally ready by 11:00 AM and I am off.
I get to the movie set at around 12:00 PM, just in time to note that there was no movement on the lot. Well, I don’t want to bore you with this tale, so here’s the conclusion…it was a bust, no Tom Hanks.
So I am headed back to West Hollywood. I feel like I have wasted part of my day with the movie set. I finally made it into West Hollywood around 2:30 PM. I am now cruising Robertson Blvd. headed northbound getting closer to The Ivy. I figured that would be a great place to start the day, but no luck. I continue my route northbound. Once I get to Melrose Ave., I spotted Nicole Richie’s car pulling into Maxfield’s Clothing Bouique. I quickly parked my car and head to the alley way. I spotted other photographers across the street from the store. New School doesn’t know about the alley. I climbed a fence of the neighboring building so that I could stand on the flat concrete surface and get the perfect view.
Soon, Nicole steps out with Samantha Ronson, who by the way is celebrating her birthday by spending it with Nicole. Now why would anyone do that? I don’t know. 
I jumped down from the fence and ran to my car. I decide to follow Nicole to her next destination. I became aware that the other paparazzi also had the same idea. The Ninja by now has joined the chase and we followed her to Fred Segal on Melrose Ave. While waiting, we get a surprise visit from Janice Dickinson – The First Supermodel and her daughters. Well, I give her credit that she has always been nice to the paparazzi.
Nicole comes out of the restaurant and wants to sit outside. I initially thought that she wanted to give us some shots by sitting outside. After all, we were all there by now. Nope! She calls the security guard and tells him to move us from the public alley where we were waiting. The security says, “Well, I can’t do that since they are all standing in public property.” At least someone understands the law. Nicole responds, “Oh!” So now she gets her food and goes into Fred Segal to eat UpStairs. UpStairs is another store located at Fred Segal; it just happens to be upstairs.
She finally comes out and we hosed her. She even had a hard time getting to her car because of all the paparazzi. We all pretty much don’t care for her. I don’t even understand why she is famous. She hasn’t done anything to establish herself as either a singer or an actress. She has no reason to be famous. But as a paparazzi, we have to shoot her because of public demand…she sells. Go figure! There are so many talented actors/actresses in the world that don’t have any recognition because all the recognition is given to pseudo-celebs.
Anyway, later on, I was checking out Melrose Place, since that is where I had spotted Rachel Bilson’s car. I couldn’t find her though. I walked the streets and looked into every store. Just as I was headed to my car, my Pap Alert goes off. “Lionel Richie is at Le Petit Four on Sunset Blvd.,” The Ninja tells me. I get into my car and off I go. I respect Lionel a lot. He is a great artist and musician. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing for Nicole Richie.
Lionel was attempting to make it hard for any photog to spot him by sitting in the corner in the back of the restaurant. The Ninja and myself decided to do drive by shootings. He gets into my car and we continue to circle the street in front of the restaurant and back through the parking lot. Once we come out of the parking lot, we wait for the red light and we let a few cars pass, attempting to estimate the distance so that we come to a stop in front of the restaurant waiting for the green. Then back into the parking lot we go and start over. We did this about six times. Everybody in the restaurant had a clue what we were doing but Lionel. We had enough pictures and we went into the parking lot to position ourselves for the shots of Lionel walking out of the restaurant, which would complete the set.
He finally comes out of the restaurant and starts to laugh since he finally realized what the restaurant people where talking about. Lionel is one of the best in dealing with paparazzi. I wish him luck with his new single, “I Call It Love”. It’s actually a nice love song.
Henry Flores
Please Visit My Official Henry Flores Website:
http://www.henryflores.com
Also Visit My Global Distribution Agency To Buy My Photos:
http://www.buzzfoto.com
Tuesday, August 8, 2006, 2:40 AM
