Working as paparazzi photographer is a highly lucrative job but is also extremely demanding. The job requires that you consistently capture professional-quality photos of celebrities in a variety of situations. Often the subject you attempt to photograph is uncooperative or even hostile to your efforts. Anyone willing and able can become paparazzi. Photographers earn money based on the photos they can sell. Understanding the business, and committing yourself to taking sought-after celebrity photos gets you a job as a paparazzi photographer.

Step 1

Develop your skills as a photographer and obtain the tools needed to do the

job. Many paparazzi favor high quality SLR cameras with an 18mm - 70mm

lens, as well as a 70 - 200mm and a 400mm telephoto lens for taking photos

from far away. A compact camera for surreptitiously capturing photos in

restricted areas comes in handy, as does a reliable flash and battery pack.

Become thoroughly familiar with all of your equipment.

Step 2

Acquaint yourself with the celebrities sought after by tabloid newspapers and

magazines. These individuals include movie stars, rap music luminaries,

politicians, super models and other prominent newsworthy figures.

Recognizing a famous face is necessary for paparazzi. Stay current with

trends in pop culture, music and sports. Consider relocating to Los Angeles

or New York, two cities that are a mecca for paparazzi.

Step 3

Identify the agencies and publications that regularly retain the services of

paparazzi. X17 Agency, Corbis and Splash News, for example, are among the

Hollywood's leading celebrity photo agencies. The National Enquirer, People

Magazine and OK! are among the top publications that regularly buy

paparazzi photos. These organizations pay a retainer to photographers who

consistently provide top quality photos. Submit your best work to

demonstrate your abilities. Full-time staff positions are very rare for

paparazzi.

Step 4

Familiarize yourself with locations that yield top quality paparazzi photos. Los

Angeles International Airport, the Studio City Farmer's Market and the Ivy

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Restaurant, for example, are popular west coast locations for celebrity

photos. Become acquainted with parking attendants and other employees

who might be willing to tip you off in exchange for compensation. Movie and

TV shoots require film permits and entertainment trade publications like

Variety or The Hollywood Reporter disclose this information.

Step 5

React quickly and professionally when the opportunity for a paparazzi photo

arises. There will likely be jostled, harassed or threatened while trying to do

your job. Stay poised and focus both your camera and your attention on the

job. Remember that getting a job as a paparazzi depends entirely on your

ability to take consistent top-quality photos that sets them apart from your

many competitors.

The Paparazzi Industry

The definition of "paparazzi" (plural) and "paparazzo" (singular):

A freelance photographer who doggedly pursues celebrities to take candid pictures for sale to magazines and newspapers. - American Heritage Dictionary

Paparazzi work alone or in teams and rarely for any one company. They make money by selling their photos and video of well-known people to publications around the world: The National Enquirer, The Globe, The Star, People, US Weekly, OK!, In Touch, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Access Hollywood, TMZ, Hollywood.TV, Splash, etc.

One photo or video clip is commonly sold repeatedly to many different publications internationally which can be very lucrative (there are over 1,200 celebrity news sites in the U.S. alone according to Hitwise). The rewards increase tremendously if the paparazzi are able to capture something unique regarding someone famous. The most unique shots of the most famous can make them millions.  But "unique" here means not just "rare" but usually something that makes the celebrity look worse: a car accident, drinking too much, tripping and falling, looking overweight, getting angry, having a bad hair day, etc. Since the payoff can be huge, paparazzi teams work 24/7 on many top celebrities hoping to strike it rich capturing that one "special" moment on film or video. One paparazzo did just that when he caught on videotape a famous actor crashing his car - he made $80,000 for eight seconds of tape. Knowledge of a celebrity's whereabouts is vital to the paparazzi and to acquire it they need contacts, preferably on the inside (like a friend or assistant to a celebrity). Paparazzi commonly have financial arrangements established with doormen, waiters, bar tenders, valet attendants, limo drivers, bouncers and others who are in a position to know the location of celebrities. (A good overview on how this aspect of the game works can be found HERE.)

As one can then imagine, paparazzi compete with each other to get the "best", most "unique" photos. Teams of paparazzi in SUVs will surround a celebrity driving down the

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street or freeway to ensure no competing paparazzi in cars can pull up and get footage. Sometimes there are 30 cars chasing a celebrity, all of them ignoring stop lights and at times driving on the wrong side of the street as they all jockey to get the best position to get a photo. Out of their cars and on foot, they push and shove while blocking walkways in shopping areas, along sidewalks and in parking lots. No one is licensed. Anyone can be a "paparazzi". It is like the gold rush or the wild West before law and order arrived.

Finally, no matter how hard they want to argue the point, paparazzi are not photo-journalists. They are not members of that old, disciplined profession that belongs to the field of journalism. A photo-journalist is just that, a journalist, who works for a legitimate news organization and takes photos of news-worthy events such as sporting events, political speeches, award shows, military conflicts, etc. They have undergone background checks and have been issued credentials. The last thing you would see one of them doing is chasing a celebrity down the street hoping to get a scandalous photo.

YESTERDAY and TODAY

In years past paparazzi would hide out in trees and bushes hoping to catch a picture of a celebrity. As the internet matured, more paparazzi entered the fray and began "hunting" celebrities. This new breed, driven by the increased value placed on celeb photos by the media, were much bolder, not hiding in bushes, but aggressively photographing celebrities as they walked down the street or went shopping.

In 2004, one newcomer to the paparazzi industry, Hollywood.tv, upped the stakes and hired paparazzi to work around the clock chasing celebrities such as Britney Spears. The owner of the company, backed by 22 investors from LA, London, Dubai and India, has stated that his goal is to make the Hollywood.tv brand worth "over a billion dollars" - value that can only be built by being the first out on the market with the most outrageous photos.  The paparazzi industry is aggressive, global and worth billions of dollars.

"CITIZEN PAPARAZZI"

But even with this recent explosion within the paparazzi ranks, the biggest change in the industry is just emerging. The paparazzi population is about to explode from hundreds or even thousands to millions. Since almost everyone today is armed with a phone able to take photos and video, the tabloid industry is trying to turn us all - tourists, club-goers, shoppers, neighbors, taxi drivers, stewardesses, nurses, gardeners, nannies, etc. - into one massive ubiquitous paparazzi mob. Media outlets are encouraging viewers to send in their celebrity photos and websites have sprung up willing to act as photo brokers.  In a recent 20/20 NEWS PIECE, US WEEKLY reported receiving 10,000-15,000 photos overnight. In the end, the media wins by getting more photos for less cost.

There is even a PAPARAZZI UNIVERSITY that teaches anyone the "skill" of being a paparazzo.  One class assignment sends 10 students led by an "instructor" out to find celebrities shopping along Rodeo Drive to then photograph.

As the "citizen paparazzi" becomes more pervasive, celebrities will have virtually no place they can be without a mob with cameras recording every moment.

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THAT'S THE PRICE OF FAME

It is basic human nature that when someone is doing something they shouldn't that they surely have their actions justified and these justifications are rampant in the paparazzi industry. They are so pervasive, most people have heard them and unknowingly repeat them:

"Well, that's the price of fame.""This celeb is of interest to our audience."

"I'm just doing my job."

"The public want it."

"The celebrities should know what they are getting into when they become famous."

"I helped make them famous - they owe me."

Similarly vacuous justifications fill court rooms every day from drug dealers, arsonists, pedophiles and not many years ago, the tobacco industry.

The brutal truth is that it is a violation of the basic human right to some sort of privacy. No one, once they put aside all their justifications, would want the same treatment to be perpetrated on their own wives or husbands, sons or daughters or even themselves.

Click here to learn of some SOLUTIONS to this pervasive problem.

Soccer is a game played by two teams on a rectangular field, with the object of driving the ball into the opponent's goal. The ball is controlled and advanced primarily by using the feet; only goalkeepers are allowed to handle the ball. All that is needed to play is an area of open space and a ball. Much of the world's soccer is played informally on patches of ground, without field marking or real goals. In many places, the game is played barefoot using rolled-up rags or newspapers as a ball. Soccer is the world's most popular sport, played by men and women of all ages, with millions of fans throughout the world. A chief reason for soccer's vast popularity is that it has proved to be among the most accessible and adaptable of the world's sports.

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Outside the United States, the game is commonly called football and officially association football. The word soccer is a slang corruption of the abbreviation “assoc.”

I would add more sentences and combine some of the other stuff. 

Playing soccer is one of my favorite hobbies because it is easy to learn, it improves your health, and it teaches sportsmanship. First,.this sport is easy because basically, all players do is try to kick the spherical, black and white ball into the opposing team's net. Second, soccer improves the health of a player because a good player has to maneuver up and down the field quickly and constantly (which requires a lot of endurance). Last, soccer, like any other team sport, teaches sportsmanship because a player has to rely on his other teammates regardless of how great or how horrible of a player he or she is. Due to the plethora of benefits this sport provides, soccer is by far my favorite hobby. Soccer is over 2,000 years old. In ancient China, soccer was called 'tsu chu', meaning "to kick the ball with the feet". The Chinese used a leather ball and had goal posts 30 feet high. The Romans called soccer 'harpastum'. In eleventh century England, two villages would play against each other; up to 500 people would be on each team. The game would begin at the mid-point between two villages. Instead of a ball, the players hit a human skull; they later used an inflated animal bladder. The game ended when a team hit the center point of the opposing village.

Today, a soccer team consists of eleven members: eight offensive and three defensive players. The offensive players are outside and inside right forward, center forward, outside and inside left forward, right halfback, left halfback, and center halfback. The defensive positions are goalie, right fullback, and left fullback. The responsilbility of the offensive players is to score goals, while the defensive players are to keep the other team from scoring any goals.

Cause/effect paragraphs generally follow basic paragraph format. That is, they begin with a topic sentence and this sentence is followed by specific supporting details.   (Click here if you wish to review Lesson 1, "Basic Paragraph Structure.")   For example, if the topic sentence introduces an effect, the supporting sentences all describe causes. Here is an example:

      In recent decades, cities have grown so large that now about 50% of the Earth's population lives in urban areas. There are several reasons for this occurrence. First, the increasing industrialization of the nineteenth century resulted in the creation of many factory jobs, which tended to be located in cities. These jobs, with their promise of a better material life, attracted many people from rural areas. Second, there were many schools established to educate the children of the new factory laborers. The promise of a better education persuaded many families to leave farming communities and move to the cities. Finally, as the cities grew, people established places of leisure, entertainment, and culture, such as sports stadiums, theaters, and museums. For many people, these facilities made city life appear more interesting than life on the farm, and therefore drew them away from rural communities.

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Notice how each supporting sentence is a cause that explains the effect mentioned in the topic sentence. In the chart below are the main ideas of the above paragraph, to help you understand the relationships better:

EFFECT(Topic Sentence)

CAUSES(Supporting Sentences)

Cities have grown very large.[There are several reasons for this.]

   Factory jobs attracted people.

(Cities have grown very large.)   Better schools attracted families to move    to the city.

(Cities have grown very large.)   Places of leisure, entertainment, and culture    made city life appear more interesting.

Notice also how the topic sentence is followed by the "focusing" or "prediction" sentence, There are several reasons for this. Such sentences help the reader anticipate the organization of the paragraph or essay.

Cause and Effect Conjunctions

Here are some common conjunctions that can be used to express cause and effect:

since as a result because of + noun phrase

because therefore due to + noun phrase

consequently for this reason so

There are two things you must be careful of when using these conjunctions. First, you must order the cause and the effect corerctly. For example, in the sentence

Sally closed the window because the weather outside was cold.

the CAUSE is the fact that the room was cold, and the EFFECT is Sally's closing the window. The conjunction because is placed in the correct position here, which is right before the cause. Similarly, in the sentence

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Below is an example of a 5-paragraph  “Cause Essay”.  Your

first Causeor Effects Essay Quiz” is on 30th of January.

 

A “Cause Essay”

 

Topic: “The causes of poor grades  or marks for some students at SCT”

 

Thesis Statement:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________

 

 

Underline the topic sentences in each of the next 5 paragraphs.

 

 

                Some days ago, I met an 80 year-old Omani.  The man had never

gone to school but he had learnt many things.  He could write in Arabic and

read the Koran.  He had learnt to be a carpenter and a mason.  Later, after

he was older, he learnt to drive and then drove trucks and taxis.  I asked

him why he thought many of my students at SCT don’t seem to learn or do

not want to try and learn English very well.  The older man said that there

are many reasons why young Omani’s do not study or like to learn many

things as people in his generation had to do.

 

          First of all, the older man said that too many young Omanis get too

much given to them from their parents. The old Omani explained that, for

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example, if a young boy wants a car, the father often gives it to him. Later,

in college, this may mean that when the same young man asks for help on

his homework, too, that he believes that someone should simply give it to

him, i.e. without him really studying or learning to study.

 

          Second, the 80 year-old said that young people often don’t have the

patience that many in his generation had learnt. For example, when he was

young and he needed money, he learnt step-by-step to work as a carpenter

and later as a mason.  First, he watched the others work.  Next, he tried it

and asked for help. It took time. The man had to learn to work with simple

tools and simple designs before he tried more difficult ones.  As a truck

driver, too, he first learnt to drive slow and safely before he later drove

many kilometers to Abu Dhabi, to Qatar, and to Kuwait. However,

nowadays, students and young drivers are looking to go too fast and take

dangerous shortcuts.   In education this often means cheating or paying

someone else to study or to help them. Others get a friend in class to do

work for them rather than listening to teacher in class and asking questions.

 

          Finally, some young people simply do not know what is important or

don’t know what they want. They are disorganized with their lives. Until the

student knows why he studies or what he wants when he studies, the

student will not be organized.  The student will waste time on this or that

instead of taking time to do what he really needs to do. Perhaps, if young

people work in groups or have better advice from others,  they will be able

to organize their lives and make better decisions.

 

          In conclusion, the 80 year-old Omani from Dahariz believes that

young people have basically three problems when learning.  First,

sometimes, they are given too much and because of this, they don’t learn to

try hard enough on their own. Second, some people are trying to go too fast

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without learning the patience to do things step-by-step  (or slowly-but-

surely). Third, some people need ask for advice and direction from others

about how to organize their time, study habits and lives better. I think this

is all great advice for Omani students and youth.

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