Celebrities And Their Cameras - 2

By popular demand, I am extending last year's photo collection: "Celebrities and their cameras" with a new set of celebrities shot with their cameras "on hand."  When I posted it last year, I did not realize that a lot of people would be interested in seeing their favorite celebrities being photographers themselves-- apparently we number in the thousands.

 

So here is an additional collection.  Consider it my way of thanking all of you, for your continued patronage :-)  Enjoy!

 

The Master (Picasso) captures light with a Leica

 

Frank Sinatra does it his way with a classic Nikon F 

 

Tony Stark (Robert Downey) always brings his Canon

 

Lady Gaga is a Nikon user

 

Eric Clapton trying to find his way around a Leica

 

An SLR on the yacht for Jackie (Kennedy) Onassis

 

A "fashionista" like Anne Hathaway always carries a compact

 

Jimi Hendrix prefers a Canon Super 8 to capture Purple Haze

 

Bon Jovi exudes style and quality by using a Canon with an L lens

 

Beyonce and her Canon EOS 50D 

Celebrities And Their Cameras

Celebrities are normally found in front of the camera.  But in this collection of celebrity photographs I collected from the internet, we see them behind the camera-- being photographers themselves.  I thought it would be interesting to put these pictures together in one exhibit.  There seems to be a personality fit in their choice of camera formats and brands.  What do you think?

 

Large Format for Angelina Jolie 

 

Canon DSLR for Madonna

 

Classic Nikon for Kristen Stewart 

 

Avril Lavigne likes Canon

 

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck horsing around with a Hasselblad

James Dean and his Rollei TLR 

Denzel Washington using a classic 8mm movie camera

 

Julia Roberts uses film in her Leica

 

Brad Pitt likes using a classic Leica

Rock Photographer Jim Marshall

The master at work

Influences to our own photography comes from a wide variety of sources depending on our inclinations.  I count Jim Marshall as one of my main influences, not only because of my interest in 'Rock/Music Photography' as a specific specialization, but also because he was such a terrific master Portraitist.  Like the best portrait painters (and photographers), he captured the essence of his subjects superficially as well as subliminally.  His iconic portraits of 'Rock' legends graced album covers and the covers of music magazines, and are now highly prized as collectibles by music fans worldwide.

Inconspicuously present with his Leicas, shooting in 'available light,' he created a trademark look that are at once candid and vulnerable.  My favorite photos are the unguarded moments-- onstage, backstage and offstage, when Jim revealed the larger-than-life existence of these musical legends.  Intimacy was the key ingredient to his Art.

Jim with his Leicas

Jim Marshall was born in Chicago on February 3, 1936, but he grew up in San Francisco.  He had a Kodak Brownie camera when he was a kid, but only became serious with photography in Junior High.  He was working as an Insurance Claims Adjuster in 1960 when John Coltrane (Jazz icon) approached him in Berkeley by chance and asked him for some directions to a club.  Jim offered him a ride in exchange for a picture.

Chuck Berry rockin and rollin

Jim Marshall's photographs are some of the most wide known portraits of legendary Rock, Jazz and Blues superstars. Two of his most famous ones are the photos of Jimi Hendrix with his guitar aflame from the Monterey International Pop Festival in1967 and Janis Joplin lying on a couch backstage nursing a bottle of Southern Comfort Bourbon.

Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar on stage

Wolfgang Live - Concert Photography

Work and play can definitely coincide side by side... that is what I learned after covering the recent "Wolfgang" concert last May 15 in Manila.

Anne interviewed the band for Sandbox Productions (Smart Cellular Phone Data) and I took concert photographs. It was my first official 'concert assignment' and I was hyped to the max. The concert was broadcasted online to 22 countries and since the band seldom performs live, ever since Basti Artadi (the singer) transferred to San Francisco, it was a concert no fan wanted to miss. I have been a Rock fan for a long time and I just recently took up the guitar (electric) as a hobby. Marrying my photography with my love of Rock Music was a treat I just could not pass up.

I have taken pictures with show/stage lights before, so I knew that I was well covered -- light wise. I used my 7D, mainly because of its higher light sensitivity (as opposed to my current 1Ds). Anticipating a rowdy crowd, I decided to leave my L primes and zooms at home and opted for my APS-C Sigmas (EX f/2.8 10-20mm and 18-50mm). Not wanting to leave without a telephoto, I also brought my Canon F/4 L 70-200mm.

Here are some shots from that concert: