Top 5 Celebrity Photographers

These are my Top 5 (living) celebrity photographers at the moment..

Some of you may not may not agree.. And to you I say..

Start your own blog! Better yet.. let's argue it out in the comment box below =)

I'm only going to do bios of them for now. .. so I can blog about each one in more detail later..

He's been called the modern day Warhol,  Which is no surprise considering Warhol gave him his first professional job as a photographer for Interview Magazine.
His colorful images have been described, as weird, shocking, surreal, sexualized, slightly disturbing, and a bit of an acid trip. He's published 4 books.

With his use of unconventional props, and extraordinary backdrops, He makes the list at number....5

-David LaChapelle

He started off  photo journalist for the Thousand Oaks News Chronicle

in 1986, He has won over one hundred national and international awards from American Photography,

His pictures has been published in Vanity Fair, GQ, Esquire, Details and Rolling Stone.

In 2003 he won a 1st place World Press Photo award.

He's photographed Bono, President Obama, The Dalai Lama, Leonardo Dicaprio and Johnny Depp just to name a few.

4-Dan Winters

He's a Los Angeles based celebrity photographer and well known Hollywood Photographer who has a distinct ability to make an image "pop", and he's incredible at bringing someones personality to life in a photograph.

In 2009 his book Faces of Sunset won first place and tied with Annie Leibovitz's 'At Work' for the prestigious SCIBA Book Award. He funds his personal projects by shooting advertising campaigns for popular television shows such as Glee and 90210, and blockbuster films like The Expendables. His clients include DreamWorks, Paramount, Lionsgate, Showtime, Warner Bros, FOX and others. He is also a contributing photographer to Vanity Fair. He's photographed top celebrities such as Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Shia LaBeouf, Alec Baldwin, Jack Black and many many more..

His use of lighting in a photograph is impeccable.

3-Patrick Ecclsine

She started as a staff photographer for Rolling Stones magazine in the 70's, where she quickly moved up to chief photographer and shot over 170 covers.

In 1983 she worked for Vanity Fair Magazine and in 1998 joined forces with Vouge Magazine.

In addition to her magazine work, she also has done ads for American Express, Gap, Disney, and Louis Voitton.

With 6 books under her belt, and the worlds most iconic images of John Lennon, Demi Moore, and Queen Elizabeth just to name a few.

2-Annie Leibovitz 

Another LA based photographer,

He started his career as a sports photographer shooting everything from surfing, to football players, to boxers,and then he found himself drawn to fashion and portraiture. But he seems to be amazing at whatever it is he shoots.

He's done ad campaigns for Speedo, Kodak, Boost Mobile,

He's shoot countless amounts of TV and movie ads ranging from from Iron Man (1 and 2), Spiderman 3, The A-team, Fantastic 4, Nip Tuck, The Entourage, 24, The X Files,

1. Michael Muller

1-Michael Muller

Top 8 Photographers

So in my research.. and opinon.. this is MY top 8 (if you dont like it start your own blog.. no no no....better yet.. argue it out in the comment box).

Originally a skateboarder who caught the eye of legendary photographer Herb Ritts, and.later became Ritt's assistant..Yet influenced by Ritts he has defineatly found his own unique style.

His photography is very distinct, natural, fun, and sexy.

#8. Brian Bowen Smith

While modeling for Marlboro, Banana Republic, Burberry and Mens Health magazine, He discovered he had a love and talent for photography, and inevitably found his place behind the camera. He's shot LA's hottest stars from Salma Heyak to Steve Carell, to Keifer Sutherland.

Hes won the prestigious award of haasleblad master..

#7. Jack Guy

I think a lot of people will disagree with me on this, and feel that he deserves to be higher up on the list. Its just a matter of (my) taste people..( if you dont like it start your own blog.. no no no better yet.. argue it out in the comment box).

He's been called the modern day Warhol, His colorful images have been described as weird, slightly disturbing, and a bit of an acid trip, with his use of unconventional props,and extraordinary backdrops he makes the list at number

#4. Michael Muller
 

He's Los Angeles based photographer who has a distinct ability to make an image "pop", and he's incredible at bringing someones personality to life in a photograph. In 2009 his book Faces of Sunset tied with Annie Liebovitz's 'At Work' for the prestigious SCIBA Book Award. He funds his personal projects by shooting advertising campaigns for popular television shows such as Glee and 90210, and blockbuster films like The Expendables. His clients include DreamWorks, Paramount, Lionsgate, Showtime, Warner Bros, FOX and others. He is also a contributing photographer to Vanity Fair - Patrick Ecclesine.

# 3. Patrick Ecclesine

She started as a staff photographer for Rolling Stones magazine in the 70's, where she quickly moved up to chief photographer and shot over 170 covers. In 1983 she worked for Vanity Fair Magazine

and in 1998 joined forces with Vouge Magazine. In addition to her magazine work, she also has done ads for American Express, Gap, Disney, and Louis Vitton.

With 6 books under her belt, and the worlds most iconic images of John Lennon, Demi Moore, and Queen Elizabeth just to name a few.

2. Annie Leibovitz

Another LA based photographer, He started his career as a sports photographer shooting everything from surfing, to football players, to boxers,and then he found himself drawn to fashion and portraiture. But he seems to be amazing at whatever it is he shoots. He's done ad campaigns for Speedo, Kodak, Boost Mobile,

He's shoot countless amounts of TV and movie ads ranging from from Iron Man (1 and 2), Spiderman 3, The A-team, Fantastic 4, Nip Tuck, The Entourage, 24, The X Files, 
 

1. Michael Muller

Is Annie Leibovitz Overrated?

When you tell someone you're a photographer, or aspiring to be one, usually Annie Leibovitz's name will come up...not because she's the most influential, but because she's the most famous. People who know very little to nothing about photography, for some reason or another know who Leibovitz is.

There aren't too many well known photographers out there..
Annie (yes, I will call her by her first name, as if I know her personally) is the most well known photographer I can think of besides David Lachappell and Patrick Ecclesine, but they are a whole other blog post.

When I first discovered a passion/love for photography I looked at who the best of the best were, and in searches.. Annie's name always came up. I found her fascinating, worked for Rolling Stones (something I really wanted to do), Works for Vanity Fair (How cool was she?), and some of the most memorable photographs I've seen (like John and Yoko) she took!! This girl already lived the life, I wanted to live! Well at least professionally she did.

Then I heard some not so great things about her.. like that shes hard to work for, and not the nicest person on the planet. And while you try not to let that affect your opinion of a person too much..it does.

When her book 'Woman' came out  I got to learn a little more about her life, but i wasn't too impressed with the book. Kind of felt like you're looking through someone else's well organized scrapbook or photo album. Almost felt invasive.

Fast forward to 2007... The gap ads came out.. And I fell in love with her work all over again.. She made you  want to buy clothes from black and white portraits.. That's talent! And I still have yet to see John Mayer look so good!

After Gap came the Disney Dream portraits, and the woman impressed me yet again. The woman had me, a 30-something year old single woman, with NO kids.. want to go to Disneyland. Until I realised Disneyland isn't as majestic as the photos are.

About 3 months ago, I met a photographer in Santa Fe. He said he use to live in the Los Angeles area, and that he shot a few celebrities. Of coarse.. Annie Leibovitz's name came up, and he said something that really resonated with me. He said.. "Annie's NOT a great photographer, have you seen her Nature book? And all her commercial stuff, she has someone else light!... but what she is... is a marketing genius. Whoopie Goldberg in a tub with milk.. that's whats brilliant."

I had to think about that for a while.. am I wasting my time studying photography? When really all I needed was marketing degree?
Then.. I thought about it some more.. Annie Leibovitz is old school!  She was a photographer before it was easy to be a photographer.  She did not just point and shoot (and as you can tell from my last post.. I obviously have issues with those kind of photographers), but  going through older pictures of hers, before digital cameras, I decided.. She's more amazing than I thought she was..She IS an amazing photographer as well as a creative genius. and that's what separates her from other photographers. So her nature stuff isn't all that great, and most photographers these days have people light for them... She's still amazing at portrait photography! Who cares if shes "Barbara Streisand with a camera".. She's kinda earned her diva status.. If she wasn't the best at what she does, These companies would hire someone else who was less temper mental for a lot less money.