Shooting For the Stars:
Celebrity Photographer Fernando Escovar

By Bianca Garilli

What do Carmen Electra, Traci Bingham, Lisa Guerrero, Brooke Burke, Eva Mendes, Pamela Anderson, Eva Longoria, Tom Green, George Lopez, and David Beckham all have in common? They’ve all been shot by Fernando Escovar – with his camera, that is.

Born in Los Angeles of Colombian descent, Fernando is probably one of the most engaging, friendly and creatively inspired people you’ll ever meet.

Growing up with a photographer for a father, it’s easy to imagine that a career in photography was Fernando’s destiny – his genetic fate as some might say. But photography wasn’t exactly what Fernando had in mind when he headed to the esteemed Otis-Parsons College of Art and Design in Los Angeles to major in fashion design. It wasn’t long after arriving, in his first year at school in fact, that Fernando’s future began to reveal itself.

Career Move from Design to Janet Jackson

He laughs at the memory of how terrible he was at his chosen major, “ I sucked at it! I was horrible at everything about fashion design!” Except the taking-photos part. That’s where Fernando showed his true colors; excelling at any project consisting of picture taking, picture developing, and marketing of the final product.

Nonetheless, he pushed forward in his fashion design schooling until the day a visiting instructor, attempting to convince him he was in the wrong field, asked Fernando to shoot her fashion line. The result inspired him to believe that maybe photography was the way to go. From that job he landed another, and another, until his part-time work as a freelance photographer began to develop into a full time career. With encouragement from family, friends and college instructors, Fernando made the decision to leave school and turn his full attention to photography. He hasn’t looked back since.

With plenty of work coming in from the automobile and swimwear industry, he was soon branching out into other arenas. Have you seen the Janet Jackson movie video, When I Think of You? You know that dark shadow of a guy holding her hand and performing some very cool roller-blade stunt sequences? Yep, you guessed it, that’s Fernando!

Fernando has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. There have been quite a few instances where Fernando was hired to perform roller-blading jobs in a music video until the producer found out he was a photographer as well. Fernando would find himself behind a camera on the same set where minutes before he had been performing gravity-defying movements on skates!

Kidding Around with David Beckham

Fernando loves life and his infectious, go get’em, happy-go-lucky attitude affects all who have the opportunity to be around him. I guess you could describe Fernando as a grown up kid. Ironically, that’s the way Fernando describes David Beckham as well.

“ I think that’s why we got along so well,” Fernando recalls as he tells of the time last year when he traveled to Spain to do a photoshoot of David, one of the most famous athletes in the world. “David’s like the Michael Jordon of Europe, or the world!”

Fernando says David was probably the biggest photoshoot of his life. Making things even more interesting, David overrode his publicist by baring his arms and torso, revealing his coveted tattoos for Fernando’s camera. You haven’t seen them? Don’t worry, check out the cover of “Hola” or “Hello” magazine, soon to appear all over Europe––the picture of David in his tattooed glory, snapped by Fernando, will be coming out shortly. A preview snapshot is available at Fernando’s Internet website, www.fotographer.com.

When I asked about his work with hot Hollywood models like Carmen Electra and Eva Mendes, he laughed and recalled the paradox of the whole thing. “You know, when I was in school for fashion design, one of the main problems my instructors had with my photography was that I made the girls too sexy.” I’m guessing that the Hollywood gals standing in front of Fernando’s camera today aren’t too worried about that!

Fernando loves working with people who like to have a good time and work hard. He puts a lot of stock into having fun with his photoshoots and making sure everyone around him is enjoying themselves as much as he is. On assignments, Fernando is known to have pulled quite a few practical jokes, usually on himself, to lighten the mood and get everyone ready for a long, hard day’s work. “The photoshoot always goes better when people are getting along and having fun. We get better shots that way,” he adds.

Tom Green? Well, it’s hard to even hold a camera long enough to get his pictures, Fernando admits. “He’s hilarious!”

Fashion Predictions for 2010

As Fernando busily gets things in order to head out for a trip to Miami in four hours, I ask him about the latest trends emerging for 2006. After all, he’s the man to ask, working with the crème of the crop in a field of models, celebrities and fashion gurus.

“ Hmmm, well, girls in boots will always be in style. Every year it’s almost the same thing, cool looking skirts, boots and of course, jeans. Jeans are always in style. I know it’s not a great prediction but it just is what it is.”