Paparazzi Stalk L.A. for Oscar Money Shot

March 5, 2006 — -- While the stars enjoy their big night at the Academy Awards and the after-parties, some of the hardest working people in Hollywood will, well, be working very hard.

Many paparazzi will be working all night, hoping to snap the equivalent of last year's photo of Oscar-winner Hillary Swank eating a veggie burger at In 'n' Out Burger in her navy Guy Laroche gown.

"We're not expecting a big scoop or a new couple," said Frank Rohmer, owner of X17, a celebrity photo agency, which sells its pictures to all the big entertainment and gossip magazines. "We're trying to get good shots that no one else gets."

X17, which is sending out all 40 of its photographers to work, won't assign any to the majestic red carpet outside Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held, because this agency focuses solely on candid paparazzi-type shots.

"The shots we're looking for are the real ones," Rohmer said, "where you can see the happiness or the sadness."

Photographers from X17 are stationed outside in various spots in Los Angeles, such as outside the "Vanity Fair" after-party and around The Four Seasons, The Bel-Air and Chateau Marmont.

"Our guys tend to work in groups or teams," said Kelly Davis, vice president of X17. "The more people you have, the more chance you have getting the shot. They can get different angles and cover different exits."

So what's the dream shot from Oscars Night 2006?

"Reese Witherspoon with the Oscar at the end of the night, coming home," Rohmer said.

Rohmer didn't want a picture of a perfect-looking Witherspoon at 8 p.m., because the goal is to capture "the real Reese Witherspoon."

"Our job is to get the people with no makeup or as little makeup as possible, at night, tired but happy," he said. "The greatest shots from the Oscars are people late at night or the next morning."

Frank Griffin, who co-owns the photo agency Bauer-Griffin, says that magazines are more interested in photos from the red carpet than paparazzi shots when it comes to Oscar night. He even goes so far as to call it "not a big night."