Join me at Imaging USA 2019 in Atlanta on January 20, 2019 for ‘Portraits of the Famous and Infamous’. Hear the stories behind many of my favorite celebrity portrait shoots and what I learned as a result.

Portraits of the Famous and Infamous

Session Time: 8:00am – 9:30am January 20, 2019
Location: GWCC, A302, Building A, Level 3

What do Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, burlesque dancers and nudist golfers have in common? They’ve all been photographed by Miami celebrity portrait photographer Brian Smith. In this talk, Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Smith as he shares the stories behind his photos of the rich and famous and lessons learned in 30 years of photographing celebrities. He’ll talk about ways he connects with people in all walks of life and share his tricks on how to get billionaires to do exactly what you want and convince them it was their idea to do so.

Sponsored by Sony

CHECK OUT IMAGING USA 2019

Our latest celebrity portrait shoot for the cover of Haute Living Magazine features Philippe Starck & Sam Nazarian photographed at SLS Brickell Hotel in downtown Miami. With all due respect to Apple’s Jony Ive, Starck is THE God of Design. The last time I photographed Starck, was on a beach in Puerto Vallarta. This time, it was opening night at the SLS Brickell

Like many celebrity photo shoots, time is at a premium. We’d have 30 minutes to shoot three portraits. A cover shot of Philippe & Sam together, a full page opener of Philippe alone and a full page portrait of Sam. When faced with little time to shoot. You show up early. Scout the Place. And pick your spots.

When you’ve got lots of set-up time and a short time to shoot, there’s a tendency to “over-think” the location and keep changing right up the the shoot. Often you’re better off to stick with the first thing that catches your eye.

The spot in the hotel that jumped out at me was Jean Philippe Hazard’s art piece “Purse”. I decided it was the background for Starck. Rather than removing the velvet rope encircling the piece during final prep for the party, I decided to keep the velvet robe so Starck would appear to be on display.

Philippe Starck photographed at SLS Brickell in Miami for Haute Living Magazine. (Click to Enlarge)
Sony a7RII camera + Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA Lens | 1/125 sec | f/13 | ISO 100

Next, for a totally different look, we moved down the hall to photograph Sam Nazarian in the hallway against the vertical stripe wallpaper.

Sam Nazarian photographed at SLS Brickell in Miami for Haute Living Magazine. (Click to Enlarge)
Sony a7RII camera + Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA Lens | 1/125 sec | f/16 | ISO 100

We headed down to shoot the cover shot in the lobby and everything’s going smoothly…until the elevator I was riding in with Haute Living CEO and Publisher Kamal Hotchandani dropped a floor and came to a crashing stop. I guess even elevators get opening night jitters…Always expect the unexpected whenever you’re on a celebrity photo shoot!

Philippe Starck & Sam Nazarian photographed at SLS Brickell for Haute Living Miami. (Click to Enlarge)
Sony a7RII camera + Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA Lens | 1/125 sec | f/13 | ISO 100

The original plan was to shoot the cover on seamless, but I’ll take a textured wall over background paper any day. HUGE THANKS to Hadley, my wonderful editor at Haute Living, and to our team for another great cover shoot! Cheers!!! Click here to check out the Cover Story at Haute Living

GEAR LIST:

Camera: Sony a7RII camera
Lens: Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA Lens
Lens: Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA Lens
Lighting: Profoto Air Remote TTL-S for Sony
Lighting: Profoto B1 500 AirTTL Battery-Powered Flash
Lighting: Profoto Acute2 2400 Pack + Profoto Acute2 Head
Modifier: Profoto Softlight Reflector White
Modifier: Elinchrom Octabank (modified to Profoto)
Grip: Avenger 9.8′ Baby Alu Stand 30 with Leveling Leg
Grip: Kupo 40″ Hex Grip Arm with Big Handle
Grip: Oben CT-3581 Carbon Fiber Tripod with BE-126T Ball Head

See More Celebrity Portraits

Sony Square NYC Presents: Brian Smith ‘Heads & Tales’

Location: 25 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10AM – 7PM
Sunday 11AM – 6PM
Closed on major holidays
212-833-8800

Portrait photography is a window to the soul. Regardless of whether the subject is famous, infamous or un-famous and no matter if it was shot in a studio or on location, a successful portrait reveals insight into the personality of a person in front of the lens.

This exhibit features the work by Sony Artisan and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith. During his career he has told Bill Gates what to do for an entire hour, appeared on The X Factor, exhibited at the Library of Congress, dined with the President, written an Amazon Best Seller, shared cupcakes with Anne Hathaway, gotten drunk with George Clooney and married the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on… For the past 30 years, Brian Smith’s iconic portraits of Hollywood’s A-List and Fortune’s 50 have graced the covers and pages of hundreds of magazines including Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Time, People, Forbes, Billboard, Elle and GQ.

All photographs were taken with Sony cameras and lenses.

Sony Square NYC

Sony Square NYC is a showplace for the latest in Sony entertainment and technology. Located in the company’s New York City headquarters at 25 Madison Avenue, the facility offers visitors the chance to check out select new Sony technologies and products, some of which are still in the prototype stage. Additionally, the intimate space will be used for events, such as photography classes with world-renowned photographers, exclusive movie screenings, and invitation-only performances by Sony Music artists.

While the primary goal of Sony Square NYC is to allow visitors to engage with the brand, approximately 200 of Sony’s most popular products will be available for purchase. They may not all be on display, however if visitors ask for assistance, an employee can arrange for them to make a purchase. In addition, if a visitor wants to purchase something that is not in stock, employees can arrange for that product to be purchased and shipped.

Visit the Sony Square NYC website for more information about products on display and upcoming events and connect with them on Twitter and Instagram: @SonySquareNYC

Huge Thanks to Sony Artisan Tony Gale for these photos!

The latest issue of Draft Magazine features my celebrity portrait cover shoot of funny and fabulous actor Ty Burrell of ‘Modern Family’ photographed at his Beer Bar in Salt Lake City. Huge thanks as always to Draft Magazine Art Director Kevin Robie for another great looking cover!

Sony a7RII | Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM | 1/125 | F10 | ISO 100 | (View Larger)

Sony a7RII | Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM | 1/125 | F8 | ISO 100 | (View Larger)

Sony a7RII | Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM | 1/125 | F9 | ISO 100 | (View Larger)

GEAR LIST:

Camera: Sony a7RII
Lens: Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
Lighting: Profoto Acute 2R 2400
Lighting: Profoto Acute 2-D4 Flash Heads
Modifier: Elinchrom Octabank (modified for Profoto)
Grip: Avenger 11.5′ Baby Alu Stand 35 with Leveling Leg

Jimmy Smits photographed at Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Camera: Sony a900
Lens: Sony 24-70mm F2.8 ZA Lens
Lighting: (2) Profoto Acute 2 2400 Packs
(2) Profoto Acute 2 Heads
Profoto Softlight Reflector White
Profoto Honeycomb Grid for Softlight Reflector
Elinchrom Octabank 74″

See More Hollywood Portraits