Less than two minutes...

I have been asked several times the backstory about this picture of Alan Arkin, Al Pacino and Christopher Walken, so here goes:
I was given the assignment by my Chicago Sun-Times photo desk, just the luck of the draw, I guess. The publicist said that I would have 15 minutes with the actors. Incredible, I thought to myself, this is unheard of (based on celebrity photo opportunities I have had in the past.) I arrived very early, checked in with the publicist and was told they were running late, so now I would only have 5 minutes. Surprised, was I? Not! I was led into the "photo studio" provided (small hotel bedroom, table, bed, and some seating along a window with views outside the room of brick walls from the neighboring buildings on a dreary overcast day.) No cool Chicago skyline shot as a backdrop this time.
I had brought my portable lighting kit and had some ideas about how to pose the actors, but realized there was nowhere to set the lights up and I would not have enough time to position the actors as I had envisioned, so the extra 580EX flashes stayed in the bag.
Alan Arkin walked in and acknowledged my presence by saying hello. Christopher Walken was next, walking past me and never saying a word. Al Pacino finally walked into the room, laughing and talking to everyone near him. Now I knew it was MY moment in the spotlight. These are three men who have been directed and photographed by the best of the best in Hollywood, so I felt a little challenged by the fact that it was my responsibility to direct and photograph them. Walken did not approve of the original pose I suggested, and Pacino kept turning his chair away from the direction I wanted him to keep it facing. Meanwhile, the publicist was standing behind me and saying that we had to hurry this.
After I had finished posing them, I put my camera on manual mode, aimed a flash behind me to bounce off the wall, and within less than two minutes I was finished. Al Pacino said to me as I was leaving, "We've met before, haven't we?" I suspected this was something he might say to people as a test, so I just nodded and said, "It's possible." And then again, perhaps he had me mixed up with another actor?
: )

Less than two minutes...

I have been asked several times the backstory about this picture of Alan Arkin, Al Pacino and Christopher Walken, so here goes:
I was given the assignment by my Chicago Sun-Times photo desk, just the luck of the draw, I guess. The publicist said that I would have 15 minutes with the actors. Incredible, I thought to myself, this is unheard of (based on celebrity photo opportunities I have had in the past.) I arrived very early, checked in with the publicist and was told they were running late, so now I would only have 5 minutes. Surprised, was I? Not! I was led into the "photo studio" provided (small hotel bedroom, table, bed, and some seating along a window with views outside the room of brick walls from the neighboring buildings on a dreary overcast day.) No cool Chicago skyline shot as a backdrop this time.
I had brought my portable lighting kit and had some ideas about how to pose the actors, but realized there was nowhere to set the lights up and I would not have enough time to position the actors as I had envisioned, so the extra 580EX flashes stayed in the bag.
Alan Arkin walked in and acknowledged my presence by saying hello. Christopher Walken was next, walking past me and never saying a word. Al Pacino finally walked into the room, laughing and talking to everyone near him. Now I knew it was MY moment in the spotlight. These are three men who have been directed and photographed by the best of the best in Hollywood, so I felt a little challenged by the fact that it was my responsibility to direct and photograph them. Walken did not approve of the original pose I suggested, and Pacino kept turning his chair away from the direction I wanted him to keep it facing. Meanwhile, the publicist was standing behind me and saying that we had to hurry this.
After I had finished posing them, I put my camera on manual mode, aimed a flash behind me to bounce off the wall, and within less than two minutes I was finished. Al Pacino said to me as I was leaving, "We've met before, haven't we?" I suspected this was something he might say to people as a test, so I just nodded and said, "It's possible." And then again, perhaps he had me mixed up with another actor?
: )