The Way You Make Me Feel…

 

 

Just sit for a minute and think about what makes you the most happy in your life…? Everyone has different experiences, different hobbies and different pleasures. But no matter what it is that makes your world go ’round, we all can relate to that universal feeling of pure, unbridled joy. The kind of joy you latched onto in your childhood memories. The kind of joy you feel through your body when you hear one of your favorite songs. The kind of joy you get from embracing someone you deeply care for, and being embraced in return, when your joy and theirs become one in the same. The kind of joy you get when you celebrate life with your family and closest friends. The kind of joy we all strive to feel as often as possible. It was at a recent Private Paparazzi event that I had the chance to stand back and witness this joy from an outsiders perspective:

Being as we live in sunny San Diego, a perfect cloudless afternoon is not hard to come by in mid-July. It’s the kind of afternoon where you can feel the sun in your pores, and you can’t help but notice that ultra violet warmth start some where in your soul and creep it’s way up to the corners of your mouth. It was just one of these fortunate afternoons that Private Paparazzi was shooting an event in Seaport Village. The client rented out an amazing sailboat that docks at the harbor for a milestone birthday party. They invited upwards of 70 of their closest family and friends, and for 4 hours, the hosts and their special guests enjoyed an evening of music, laughter, dancing and celebration, and a perfect weekend evening sail in the San Diego Bay. Private Paparazzi was hired to shoot the guests as they were arriving at the boat “paparazzi style” and remained on the cruise throughout the entire party to document the evening. 

As usual, our Private Paparazzi staff showed up with our custom backdrop, red carpet, a bag of assembly tools and 3 of our talented, hard working photographers in tow. At the time of our arrival, the crew of the boat and the “You’re not on time unless your 15 minutes early” school of guests were already aboard the boat, or scattered in small conversational huddles on the dock below…but for the most part, the majority of the guests had not arrived, including the guest of honor who was planning to make her grand entrance upon the ship 10 minutes before the boat was scheduled to set sail, escorted by a famous pirate and our paparazzi swarming around her.

Even at this time before the party was in effect, that referenced “joy” was already beginning to take place. The crew and early guests were all smiles dressed in their most apropos sailing gear, the ice in the cocktail glasses was already starting to clank and the band on board the boat was cranking out our favorite standards with a steel drum percussion that echoed through every corner of the yacht-laden dock. All this amidst the beauty of the day and the spectacular Seaport Village background was the start of a magical evening.

Once the backdrop and red carpet were in place, the staff sat back and let the professional photographers go to work as the battalion of deck shoes, espadrilles and linen pants started to trickle in. Not only were these guests filled with “joy” at the sight of their party destination, but they knew they were there to celebrate a special night with someone they love. The backdrop and red carpet runner were placed in front of the boat entrance, so every guest had to stop and get their picture taken before boarding. With photographers placed at the backdrop and on the boat, the barrage of flashes provided an extra excitement and surprise for the already exuberant guests. The most introverted face morphed into a first rate ham the moment they stepped in front of the Hollywood style backdrop and posed for the paparazzi! This elation was all caught on camera by the Private Paparazzi photographers, who were a prime addition to an extravaganza such as this.                                     

                      As this commotion was occurring, I was able to stand back and relax for a moment and take in the scene before me. Personally, the hours preceding this party had made for the start of a somewhat stressful Saturday, but once I was enveloped in this crowd, all those feelings melted away, and I felt lucky to be a witness to the “joy” that was in front of me. Watching these happy party-goers arrive, and grab for the friends around them to pose for our professional San Diego photographers, I was happy to be apart of a company that was sustaining the memories of that night forever. This group of people will always have these wonderful photos to look back on and recall a very special moment in time. It made me think of my own family and friends, and how many significant events, as well as random memories I wish I had a tangible piece of to laugh about and share. Without a picture to reflect on, so many memories are a “you had to be there” moment as the words of a story just don’t do it justice.   My feelings were expressed and solidified by not only myself, but other bystanders in the area, as neighboring yacht owners came out to their decks to watch and laugh with me as the good times began to roll. Even from the mouths of outsiders looking on, I kept hearing, “This is so much fun.”

 

Finally, the time came for the birthday girls “grand entrance” upon her party guests; a moment she had explicitly envisioned and portrayed to Private Paparazzi at the time of our hire. Our photographers were to meet her outside the docking area, and surround her as she walked the length of the Seaport Village boardwalk, down the lengthy dock to the staircase entrance of the boat. In true paparazzi fashion, our photographers did just that, constantly running a few quick steps ahead of her snapping pictures like lightning to capture every moment of her glory. With a pirate on her arm, and obtrusive hat upon her head, she soaked in her moment in front of the cameras. Every tourist and native San Diegan alike were watching the charade trying to figure out just who this woman was…? When she made it down to the dock approaching the boat, the music and her guests got louder in cheers as she waved and paraded for her final few steps. She too stopped at the Private Paparazzi backdrop for short photo session and made her way onto the boat to greet her guests with laughter and hugs. These few minutes truly embodied one of Private Paparazzi’s signature slogans, “Photography with an experience.” 

 

Keep in mind, moments like this don’t need to come with Cristal or an 80 foot sail boat. You can manufacture this “joy” in whatever makes you happy. It is probably safe to say your happiest times are spent in the company of others, doing and celebrating things that you love. Our goal at Private Paparazzi is to be apart of the “joy” as explained above, and hope we can help create it for our clients.

FINAL THOUGHT: Think of all those black and white pictures you have in a box of the family members that are no longer with you, but were the beginnings of what you are today. I can’t tell you how many times I have sat down with my grandparents and looked at pictures of their childhood, their parents and their parents parents, listening to stories about those individuals that I never met, but feel so connected to. Without those pictures, I would have no visual reference to those memories shared with me. I know that Private Paparazzi is providing something to our clients that will contribute to their personal legacies forever, and that is apart of our “joy” as a company.  

Cheers!!!!

 

www.privatepaparazzi.com

Got Paparazzi?

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The question today is this: why should you hire the paparazzi (Private Paparazzi) instead of seeking out a freelance photographer(s) on your own? We can equate the answer to many everyday brokerage processes we all go through to get what we need…for example, if you are throwing a party, would you hire a catering company for your culinary needs, or would you attempt the task of hiring a chef and each individual serving and bar staff member? If you need milk for your cereal in the morning, are you going to go to the nearest grocery store and buy a gallon of 2%? Or would you find a farm, milk a cow, and then process and bottle the milk yourself? OK, so maybe the last example was a stretch, but the underlying theme I am trying to surface is the beauty of a ONE STOP SHOP. 

Private Paparazzi is the convenient store of the photography industry…where the hard stuff has already been done, and as a customer, all you have to do is choose what you want from the aisles of endless possibilities. We have all the tools in place to make your event one of your most cherished memories, while the leg work remains in our hands. 

Let’s break it down: 

Say you are throwing a large surprise 50th Wedding Anniversary party for your parents. Literally everyone who has been apart of their lives is going to be at the party; people they have not seen in years. Their reaction to the party alone will be priceless, let alone the look on their faces when they see all the friends and family who have been such an integral part of their journey together…their neighbors from the street they raised their families on…your dads best friend from college…your moms favorite student. Everyone has new babies and new stories to share…you are not going to want to miss one minute of this evening, and you need to hire a photographer to make sure the memories are adequately captured. You not only want a photographer to mingle around the party getting great shots, but you want someone to set up an area for posed shots as well. You have 200 plus in attendance, so you are going to need more than 1 photographer…what do you do?

You could spend days on the internet looking for professional photographers…once you take the time to look through all the individual portfolio’s, you find a few that you like. You make phone calls to the small handful of photographers that caught your eye. Chances are it will go something like this: one of them is already booked the day of your party. One of them does not return your phone call. One of their rates is way over your budget. One of them is available and within your price range, but their conversation skills are sub par, and you don’t feel you can trust them to capture this evening that is so important to you and your family. 

Here is where Private Paparazzi comes in:

The ONE STOP SHOP…our staff of photographers are professional and versed in all areas of photography. An array of images from our events are posted on our site in one portfolio, so your viewing does not have to go beyond one webpage. Everything you need to know about Private Paparazzi is contained within our site, www.privatepaparazzi.com. From this page, you are able to view packages, pricing and images from other events, as well as book your event immediately with the ease of a phone call or e-mail.

AVAILABILITY: You will never find Private Paparazzi overbooked. We have alloted for a high volume of clients, and maintain a well rounded staff of on-call photographers for all our clients photography needs. 

PRICE POINT: Private Paparazzi was created to cater to the average consumer and beyond. All our pricing is set below the regular professional photography rates, so as to ensure everyone has access to quality professional photography. We remain extremely competitive within the industry, and we are committed to find a package that will fit within your budget.  

A BUSINESS FIRST: The Private Paparazzi staff consists of creative and professional individuals with a strong background in customer service. It is this staff that will handle all arrangements for your events from start to finish, so as to ensure every detail is calculated. While professional photographers are extremely talented in their field, many of them are not business oriented. This is why Private Paparazzi has become the middle man handling everything in between the initial call to the event itself. We take pride in the Private Paparazzi brand, and hope our reliability and company atmosphere give our clients comfort in knowing their important occasions are in the competent hands of a staff who cares. We know how special your memories are, and we handle events with the same diligence and energy we would for our own families. 

NATIONWIDE: Private Paparazzi is everywhere you go…we have a staff of photographers throughout the country ready to cater to all your photography needs. You can even take us on vacation with you! Don’t want to miss out on all the photo opportunities a vacation offers? Call Private Paparazzi to meet you in…(fill in the blank). A Private Paparazzi photographer will be there with camera in hand. 

Why not put your trust into a business that values the importance of the snapshots of your life? Call Private Paparazzi today…

Let me start by clarifying a few things….

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Hello Blog World,

Welcome to my very first blog after three years in business now. I can’t believe it has gone by so fast. It was just yesterday when I started with a simple idea, grew it into a comprehensive business plan, and now to what has become a productive and viable business. I have definitly taken some lumps along the way, some deserving and some not, but I think it is now time for me to get a few things off my chest. That’s right y’all – it is my time to be heard and I’m going to let it fly. Let me start by clarifying a few things that may be a little misunderstood among the general public.

 #1 – Private Paparazzi was NOT created to simply be your source for faux paparazzi, nor was it ever intended for people who wanted to pretend to be something they were not!  Let me explain how the concept initially started. At the height of the MySpace craze (or at least when I was made aware of how much Myspace had become an integral part of people lives), I would cruise my friends’ and other people’s pages and  saw pictures from every Friday or Saturday night plastered on their pages. Nine times out of ten it was the typical picture of one guy or girl’s arm holding their Sony Pocket Cam as far away from their body as possible, hoping to fit all 15 friends and the scene in the frame!

As you can see from the above image, I was also guilty of this (this picture was taken straight from my  MySpace page). Yes, you get a photo, and Yes, it looks like we were having a good time, but where were we? Who else was there? Why do they look so white? (J/K)  All questions that I don’t know the answer to.  So one night after coming home from the second best time of my life out at a club or bar, I started thinking – what if i could pay someone to come out and cover my night for me? Not just anyone though, a professional…Someone who will get me great pictures of me and my friends. Some would be totally candid, others would be posed, but hey – I would have the option to start remembering my nights out with friends! LOL. Ladies and Gentleman…that right there was the birth of my baby, Private Paparazzi.

Ok so I had an idea (one I thought was pretty good at the time), but it got even better! I started my research into this for a few days. That few days turned into a whole year of  just exploring the options of the who, what ,where, when, how, and how much. In a nutshell, I found out there wasn’t a service out there offering professional photographic services to consumers in the nightlife arena, but then I thought some more. What about about the new Mom having a baby shower, or the Dad who never just gets to watch his son play his basketball game because he’s literally searching for the perfect shot. The options of where the service would fit in and how it could be used were endless.  It would not be up to me to determine it’s uses but to create that company. In the words of the great basbeall movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it they will come”!

I wanted to clarify this for people like Andrew “Garbage Day” Miller. Who is that you may ask? I’ll answer that with a quick and easy NOBODY! Mr. Miller simply wrote an article without doing an ounce of reasearch on the company or the owner. Although I appreciate the media attention from Mr. Miller I would hope in the future he wouldn’t just make up information but seek out facts!

#2 – I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the copycats who have now attached the word Paparazzi to everything they do, but there will only be 1 Private Paparazzi! We often get mentioned in articles like the one in TIME Magazine (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704698,00.html) with copycats like Celeb-4-A-Day. I will admit I missed my opportunity to be featured in this article and therefore separate from such companies. Jeninne Lee-St. John from TIME Magazine contacted me in late December/early January. She left a voicemail asking about the company and saying she was from TIME magazine. Well, for those who don’t know, I am quite a prankster and actually assumed that someone was trying to get me back! It was not until she left a second voicemail and two days before the article went to print that I called her back. Private Paparazzi would have equally been featured in this article, and I would have been able to clarify. So I will do so now…. We are NOT at all like Celeb-4-A-Day, nor do we want to be. Yes we created Personal Paparazzi and The Paparazzi Experience, but you will never ever see us offering a service for $800 dollars where you get to hang out in a car in L.A with a real Paparazzo and look for stars to take pics of. Sorry if you were hoping for that, but we will leave that up to the copycats! I really had to get this off my chest because it was the reason I was so rudely attacked on Seattle’s Rock radio station 107.7 the end.  You can hear the radio interview here!

So there it is. I have cleared the air for now.  Ahhh man I feel so much better now. Now this is true therapy.  I’ll be back soon with more info on this business journey that I now call my life! Please comment, share your thoughts, and visit www.privatepaparazzi.com.