YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN-tz

Rachel Uchitel arrives at LAX with Gloria Allread

You may recognize this image. I got a call from the AP bright and early in the morning last week to rush to the airport for the arrival of Tiger Woods’ alleged mistress, Rachel Uchitel, who was coming to L.A. to have a visit with her new lawyer, Gloria Allred. Not thrilled to be taking part in paparazzi-like behavior, but not one to turn down work, I rushed over and hung out by the Virgin America baggage claim with a group of actual paparazzi and one CBS cameraman for her eventual arrival. I won’t comment regarding my opinions about Uchitel and Tiger, but this was one of my first times, other than at a red-carpet event, shooting alongside the likes of TMZ. The guys who showed up for this are an interesting crew of mostly young 20-something guys with a range of cameras, from palmcorders to D700s and Mark II’s. As the group of us stood there waiting, the person asked us who we were waiting for. I told one lady, an employee of the airport, that we were waiting for Tiger’s girlfriend. “You mean his wife, right?” “No, his girlfriend,” I assured her. “Ooooooh!,” she exclaimed, her eyes widening.”You men are soo bad!” As Uchitel exited from a long hallway that deposits all arrivals in the baggage claim area, the group swarmed in and were immediately upon her. At first I was slow on the uptake, and fell in behind the group as they met her only ten feet from the door. Somehow she was surprised to see us, despite having been photographed on her way to the JFK airport earlier in the morning. The group, with me hanging a few feet back, got right in front of her and stopped, forcing her to zig and zag as she tried to get around them. They eventually started backing up, and seeing a hole she drove forward toward the carousels. Somewhere in between she was met by an older man and a young boy of 12 or so, who appeared to be his grandson. The pair had arrived a few minutes before she did and upon seeing us and all the gear, the boy stopped in his tracks and blurted out “Whoa!” At the time, I didn’t realize they were involved and was surprised later that the man had brought the kid along for this. As the three progressed toward the carousel, photographers swarming around them, Uchitel could be heard asking that we please leave her alone, which of course, was a request not honored. I was focusing on getting a shot of the swarm around her as well as getting close-ups of her face from a slight distance. I thought the paparazzi was as much a part of the story as her arrival and thought it would be silly to shoot it as if she was the only one there. There was one guy who was literally getting his camera within inches of her face as she turned left and right to avoid him. I can’t imagine that he could have even gotten anything in focus from there and thought that maybe his tactic was to piss her off enough to incite an angry reaction, giving everyone else an opportunity to get a shot of it. Taking one for the team, maybe? Who knows? Others were calling out to her like you see if you’ve ever watched TMZ. Nothing too crazy though. “How’s Tiger?” and something about the weather in California are the only things I recall. I don’t believe she answered. At the carousel the man that greeted her instructed her to wait there with him until their ride arrived. So for the next ten minutes we all just kind of stood there, the three of them awkwardly trapped between a wall of photographers and another of glass. After a while she stopped trying to fight it and even laughed a few times. Good times. Then Gloria Allred made a grand entrance. She stopped for a moment to say that there was nothing to say and then ushered the group out to a black Towncar with a license plate that read Aloha07 that had just pulled up. On the way out the door I suddenly found myself right in front of Allred and Uchitel and was backing into a pillar when I took this shot. The group, Allred, Uchitel, the man and the boy, who I’m guessing were Allred’s husband and grandson. And like that it was over. After they got in the car a middle-aged man in a canvas safari hat who was taking pictures next to me with a somewhat professional-looking camera turned to me and asked “Who was that?” “You’re not working?” I asked. Turned out he was just a tourist and was taking pictures of the whole scene. I explained who it was and an expression of clarity came over his face. “Welcome to L.A.,” was all I could think to say. He cracked up and I turned to walk back to my car.