What Happened?

Recently, I’ve been having way too much fun going through my fashion week photo archives. Every once in a while, I’ll see a photo that totally catches me off guard in its beauty. This photo is mind blowing in a completely different way:

Taylor Momsen, on her way to Peter Som S/S ’08.

Every time I see it, I just think “WHAAAT?!?!”. It was taken in Sept. ’07, the day after I worked on a Gossip Girl cover shoot. Taylor remembered me. And was sweet enough to stop and say hello despite running late.

Little did I know when I shot this how different things would be 3 years later.

Gossip Girl Set Report: Meatpacking District

Yesterday while out shooting street style, I decided to check out the Gossip Girl film set at the Standard Hotel. Filming was up on the rooftop of the hotel, so I didn’t get a chance to get that many photos. But I did end up seeing a few of the show’s stars walking back and forth between their trailers and the set.

Right when I arrived, Penn Badgley walked past me into a waiting van. Shortly after, Blake Lively exited her trailer, but I wasn’t in a good position and only got a shot of the back of her head. At least it was cute! She was wearing her hair in a fishtail braid. I waited a little while longer (there were benches outside the standard, and I’d already walked a lot yesterday!) and then Matthew Settle and Kelly Rutherford appeared. They were nice and friendly to the waiting fans, as always.

Kelly stopped outside the hotel’s back entrance and posed for some photos with fans.

About fifteen minutes later, right before I was planning on leaving, Blake reappeared.

She had her head down, and didn’t acknowledge any of her fans. Such a striking difference between now, and the friendly girl I worked on a photo set with three years ago. I’m sure paparazzi get irritating, but when you’re on set, it’s pretty much expected.

Either way though, Blake looked cute. And I loved her Chanel bag! She quickly changed outfits, then came back out one more time before I left:

Not sure if I’ll head back to the set any time soon. It’s just not as fun as it used to be. And obviously, it’s much easier to get good photos when the filming is actually occurring outdoors. Not sure if that’s a response to the increased paparazzi presence, or what, but it (outdoor shooting) doesn’t seem to be happening as frequently as it was last summer.

Gossip Girl is Back

NYC production might not start until Thursday July 8th, but Season 4 of Gossip Girl kicked off filming in Paris today. If the photos from today’s shoot are any indication, the show’s trendsetting fashion is back with a vengeance!

Leighton’s outfit is adorable, and while I personally wouldn’t have styled Blake’s cage dress over a lacy shift, I love it.

To be honest, I stopped watching last season after the plots kept getting more and more ridiculous. I’ll still be photographing the cast on set once filming starts in New York. Love or hate the show, you can’t deny they are one of the most fashionable casts currently on television. If the styling choices continue to push boundaries and inspire me like these looks do, I might just start watching again.

Blake Lively.

Photos via ONTD: Post #1, Post #2.

The CW Upfronts 2010

On Thursday, the CW presented their fall 2010 schedule, and introduced their newest TV shows at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The presentation, called an upfront brought many of the networks newest stars and old favorites out to promote their shows.

I arrived around 9:45 am, right after most of the stars first started arriving. I decided to go to the upfronts to see Jensen Ackles (from Supernatural) who was in town earlier in the week—turns out he’d left the night before! I was bummed out, but was almost as excited to see the cast of the Vampire Diaries. I read the books back when I was 12, and it’s now one of my favorite guilty pleasure TV shows.

One of the first celebs out was Connor Paolo, of Gossip Girl:

I spotted Ian Somerhalder of the Vampire Diaries talking to press in the tents. And then Paul Wesley appeared!

Paul seemed to be in a bit more of a hurry, but was still friendly.

Shortly after, Nina Dobrev came out:

Nina looked gorgeous in person, and was by far the nicest female celeb there! She signed autographs for dozens of fan, and posed for photos with nearly everyone who asked.

When she got to me, she said “Whoa, big camera!”. I got another fan to snap a photo with us—with my much smaller and easier to handle disposable camera. (I’m now trying to use it up as fast as I can. I really want to see the photos!)

Shiri and Kerr from Life Unexpected (such a cute show!) stopped to sign some autographs:

I’ve been a fan of both since their early days on the WB on Roswell and Dawson’s Creek! Kerr was really good looking in person.

Nigel Barker and Jay Manuel briefly appeared, representing America’s Next Top Model:

Nigel had quite a few women in a the crowd in a tizzy.


Love Jay’s pink outfit!

Next was this incredibly nice and friendly fellow. And I had no clue who he was Robert Buckley, from One Tree Hill:

He’s not included in the AP’s photos from the event, so if anyone knows, please let me know! And I feel awful for not being able to find out his name. One Tree Hill is one of the only CW/former WB shows I’ve never really watched, so I didn’t even realize that’s where he was from! Thank you readers for IDing him! He was really great to all the fans wanting his autograph.

When Ashley Tisdale walked out of the tent, the crowd went wild!

Ashley got just as excited, after spotting a friend:

She was another celeb who signed for almost everybody.

Aly Michalka, who will be starring in the new show Hellcats with Ashley Tisdale greeted some fans, but didn’t stay very long:

Her dress, which I’m assuming is Herve Leger, was crazy tight:

Chace Crawford walked by, but didn’t stop:

Lame! He actually got booed.

Lyndsy Fonesca of Nikita and the movie Kick Ass:

Maggie Q, who plays the title role in Nikita:

Shane West is also starring in Nikita. He was another star who interacted quite a bit with his fans. Shane was very personable! When I asked him for a photo he volunteered to take it, then wound my camera for me before handing it back.

Someone in the crowd asked him where Mandy Moore was! Haha.

Last but not least was Tom Welling, of Smallville. He’d spent so long talking to reporters that he had only minutes left to dash into the venue before the presentation started. But he promised fans he’d be back after.

I was going to head home once the green carpet arrivals had ended. It was hot, and starting to feel like my skin was burning it was so sunny! I started talking to some girls I’d met at another event last year, and before I knew it the hour had passed and the celebs started pouring out the doors and heading to their SUV’s.

People started screaming when Zuzanna Szadkowski, Dorota on Gossip Girl came out!

Zuzanna was another total sweetheart. I think she’s my favorite Gossip Girl character.

Annalynne McCord was in a bit of a rush, but stopped for a few photos:

She’ll always be the crazy girl from Nip/Tuck to me.

Paul Wesley:

Who says all vampires don’t sparkle?

Nina greeted everyone she had missed earlier:

Ian went wild when fans started screaming his name:

He ended up kissing quite a few girls on the cheek. Ian really has both the looks AND the personality!

Tristan Wilds, who plays Dixon on 90210:

Another crazy friendly dude. He was pretty funny too. I like him, even though I gave up on 90210 after the first season.

Hot Teacher on 90210:

Ryan Eggold

Kristoffer Polaha:

The “Hot Dad” Baze on Life Unexpected.

Aly & AJ:

They didn’t even bother stopping.

Kerr Smith, looking dreamy:

Shiri Appleby:

I told her I was a huge Roswell fan, and she smiled.

The gorgeous Tom Welling:

He seriously deserves some kind of award for his dedication to his fans. He signed autographs and posed for photos for over twenty minutes before leaving. When we took a photo together, he volunteered to take it because he “had longer arms”. Hahah.

I’ll have to make another post once I get the photos back from my disposable camera. I had so much fun, and almost everyone I met was friendly and great with their fans. I’m still sad I missed out on seeing Jensen, but the great experience at the upfronts pretty much makes up for it. Upfronts are only once a year, but I definitely recommend going next summer if you want an easy way to meet some of your favorite TV stars. <3

Getting Into the Spirit of Fashion Week

The insanity officially starts tomorrow! I shoot my first show at 5pm. At least as long as the weather cooperates. Still trying to get everything prepared and feeling twice as rushed with the upcoming snow, but I thought I’d post some of my favorite photos from last season to get into the spirit!

Rachel Antonoff.

Emma Stone and Jessica Szohr at the Anna Sui for Target launch party.

Lauren Conrad at Nanette Lepore.

Phillip Lim.

Abbey Lee at Milly.

Sasha Pivovarova at Anna Sui.

Anna Wintour at Bloomingdales for FNO.

Gwen Stefani at Fashion’s Night Out.

Outside the L.A.M.B. Show.

So excited to see what this season brings!!

Tonight’s The Night: GAGA NIGHT

Don’t forget Lady Gaga is on Gossip Girl Tonight! (And the threesome fallout.)

<3

GagaXGossip Girl Redeux

The first on set photo of Lady Gaga’s GG appearance has leaked. So far, this looks awesome. In the usual “awesomely bad” gossip girl way.

Check out those pasties. Maybe Lohan (for Ungaro) was just ahead of her time…Just kidding.

She’s said to be wearing a dress with a THIRTY FOOT train during the performance.

o.m.g.

Just in case you missed it, my visit to the set on the day of Gaga’s filming is here.

Info/Photo: The Cut via Nitrolicious.

I’m Your Biggest Fan, I’ll Follow You Until You Love Me: Gossip Girl Set Report # 5

So, my GagaXGossip Girl post is a little late. I ended up grabbing lunch with a friend from back in PRE-SCHOOL which turned into banana pudding at Magnolia, to tea at another friends, to margaritas, to empanadas to go. It’s been a crazy 24hours. But now I am back, and full of set report goodness.

Yesterday, I traveled down to the LES filming location of Gossip Girl after hearing rumors of Lady Gaga finally filming her guest appearance on the show. Leighton Meester confirmed the rumor while guesting on the Ryan Seacrest show.  So there were twice as many fans lurking about as the last time I went to the set since the cold weather arrived. (I never made a post, but I went to the Tribeca set last week to see the cast filming at Brandy Library. By far the worst set experience I’ve had. It was a total waste of time. I saw Chace Crawford and his mom for 2.5 seconds, then nothing. No photos. No info.)

I ended up waiting hours in the cold, so long I could barely feel my feet after. But throughout the afternoon and evening I saw Hilary Duff, Penn Badgley, Jessica Szohr, Leighton Meester, and also on set for about 5 minutes total–Taylor Momsen. It was starting to get dark shortly after I first arrived on set. Once the cast actually emerged to leave and/or take a break, it was dark and dingy out. I hadn’t planned on staying so long, so I unfortunately did not have my flash. So here are the (few) good photos from Tuesday’s set.

Hilary Duff heading to her trailer for a break from filming.

Leighton heading home.

The cast was filming what looked to be a concert or night club scene at a LES arts center. The inside was lit with bright blue and green lights, and covered in sparkly backdrops. Very similar to what you’d expect at an “under the sea” themed dance. According to the crew, this episode is # 3×10, entitled “The Last Days of Disco Stick”, and will air on November 16th.

Jessica, hidden.

After a short period of not seeing any cast members emerge, the crew began tearing down the set. Shortly after, security brought luggage out to Gaga’s car, and began to “secure the perimeter”. After waiting for hours, Gaga finally emerged around 10:30pm. She stopped to sign a few autographs and pose for photos with 2 fans, then drove away. It was short and sweet, but despite the cold, worth the long wait. Here is my view of Gaga leaving the scene:

It’s amazing how fast this video has made it’s way around the internet!

I spent more time waiting around on set than I ever have previously. But I met some of the nicest fans yet. So many people spent time chatting about the show. And I even learned some tips from a few fellow photographers. Thank You everyone who made the wait go by even faster! If you were there, please comment and share your story!

As always: On Location Vacations is THE BEST and most accurate site on the internet for location info. There are a lot of impostors popping up, but they usually just steal their info! I check OLV and twitter daily for the latest updates.  If you’d like to catch Gossip Girl this Friday, head to 55th st and 2nd ave via the filming info here.

All photos and video ®2009 RS/The Greyest Ghost

Coming Soon: GaGa Does Gossip Girl

Check back Wednesday AM for set photos, and VIDEO!

Video stills ®2009 RS/The Greyest Ghost

Gossip Girl Sneak Peak: Tyra Banks

Tyra’s upcoming Gossip Girl appearance looks downright hilarious.

I can’t tell is she’s playing a bad actress, or actually is one in real life. Based on her top model stunts, I’m going with #2.

See another sneak peak here.