Gift for Gaga

As many know, I’m a huge Lady Gaga fan :)  I don’t remember the last time I really got into a pop star like I have Gaga.  She’s got the talent, the brains, the moves, the style, the attitude, the maturity.  Her music moves me and a lot of people, and her creative freedom inspires people all over the world.  This year I had the privilege of photographing one of her performances in Las Vegas at the iHeartRadio Music Festival.  It was definitely one of the most fun and exciting times I’ve had as a professional photographer in the years I’ve been doing it.  So when I learned that I’d have the opportunity to photograph another performance of hers at Z100′s Jingle Ball in NY, I thought I’d make her a book of some of the images I shot in Vegas (particularly the details photos of her stage, and her rare duet with Sting) with hopes I could actually give it to her in person.

With the support of Jim Collins, Debra Gerson, and everyone at Pictage, I created an 11×14″ leather  album with metallic prints and brought it with me to Madison Square Garden.  I got permission to give it to Gaga after her VIP meet and greet, prior to her performance. I was assigned to shoot this meet and greet so the circumstances were perfect.

I have to say, I wasn’t that nervous!!!!  Gaga walked in the room and of course I just stared at her!  She was extremely nice and graciously met a few lucky fans for some photos and autographs.  At one point a young girl came in, tears streaming down her cheeks, and asked “is it really you Gaga?”  Once I finished up those photos, I calmly walked up to her and presented her with the album (the amount of security she had was pretty impressive).  She turned through each page and commented on all the photos.  She loved the pictures I took of her motorcycle keyboard the most!!!  She also loved the photo of her and Sting looking at one another with adoring eyes.  I put a little message in there from me as a fan, and included the reflection photo I took in her bike’s mirror.  She loved it and hugged the book and said “I’ll absolutely cherish this!”  Then she said “lets take a photo” – so I handed my camera off to someone in the room and got my photo with her!  The whole experience was surreal and my sincere hope is that I touched her in some way…

(A huge thank you to Darren and Anna at ClearChannel for supporting me in this; they helped the artist and fan in me see a dream come true.)