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!!!!
