Dinah’s ’09 Talent: Robin’s Up Close & Personal with Uh Huh Her, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry

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img_9853Although I didn’t personally have the pleasure of spending the first week of April hanging out poolside with all the celesbians in Palm Springs, I have had the pleasure of photographing many of the artists who rocked the Dinah Shore Crowd this year and I thought I’d share some with you!

When I photographed Katy Perry it was right before the release of her CD “One of the Boys” and of her chart topper lesbionic tune, “I Kissed a Girl” (I liked it too, Katy … clearly).  Unfortunately, at the time, Katy had never really kissed a girl. In fact, her real name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson and she got her start as a Christian singer.  (notice any clues on her wrist?)  Although she isn’t now and has never been any kind of gay, she sure does like to sing about it.

Here she is flirting it up, amidst a sea of gay imagery:

Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Katy and her Jesus tattoo

Katy and her Jesus tattoo


I met Lady Gaga at MTV before I’d heard her music.  She’s one of those artists who seems like she’s always in character — always ON. Gaga doesn’t need coaching to enable interesting and unique imagery; point a camera at this girl and she just … well — does this:

Lady Gaga

The Camera Loves Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga gettin funky

Lady Gaga gettin' funky

I recently was able to see Lady Gaga perform live and was not disappointed — and clearly neither was A;ex when she caught the Lady at Dinah Shore last week. Lady GaGa and her gay boy dancers put on a fabulous show.

Lady Gaga live

Lady Gaga live

How many masked gays does it take to lift little Gaga?

How many masked gays does it take to lift little Gaga?

Still posing.. I love her robotic moves!

Still posing.. I love her robotic moves!

Look at all those cameras down there.. I think my VIP spot upstairs was the best location to see this show!

Look at all those cameras down there.. I think my VIP spot upstairs was the best location to see this show!

A great performance... can't wait to see her again!

A great performance... can't wait to see her again!


Uh Huh … Her. Well, what can I say about Leisha Hailey and Camila Gray that hasn’t already been said here?  They’re all you’d expect — very funny, super down-to earth — and although Leisha does find it a little bizarre when people shout “Alice!” during her shows, I’ve gotta say I noticed straight away that she’s just as charming and adorable as Alice Piesecki herself. Camilla’s so wonderful too. When asked about the L Word fans who flock to UHH shows, she expresses nothing but gratitude and appreciation.

Camila and Leisha

Camila and Leisha

No matter how many times a band poses for "serious" shots... there's always a moment like this. Love it!

No matter how many times a band poses for "serious" shots... there's always a moment like this. Love it!

Uh Huh Her

Uh Huh Her

How adorable.

How adorable.

I loved Leisha's bowler hat.

I loved Leisha's bowler hat.

I love editing images differently just to see what happens.

I love editing images differently just to see what happens.

Live at Dinah Shore (last year)

Live at Dinah Shore (2008)

Crazy hair!

Crazy hair!

Uh Huh Her rocking out

Uh Huh Her rocking out

I was sitting closer to Leisha (on the stage actually) so I snagged some closer ones of her.

I was sitting closer to Leisha (on the stage actually) so I snagged some close ones of her.

Well, there you have it.  A photographic round-up of the artists who were at Dinah this year.  You can see more of these artists and more on my website and blog.  Feel free to send me an autostraddley message/comment too!

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Robin

Robin specializes in entertainment, lifestyle and portrait photography. She's also a Creative Producer, Director of Photography and co-owner of Scheme Machine Studios LLC, her production company based in Los Angeles. Robin loves shooting for TV and film and has worked with media companies like Legendary Pictures and Viacom. She shot and directed the Pride campaign for Google called #ThisIsFamily. Robin has had the pleasure of working on national campaigns for companies like Dove and Levis, and had the unique opportunity to shoot for non-profits and initiatives such as The Black List, Save the Children, Move to End Violence, Have a Hart Day, and The Clinton Global Initiative. She is most proud of the work she has done with organizations such as The Ad Council and RAINN working on national impact campaigns. Her celebrity roster includes Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, The B-52s, Keri Hilson, JB Smoove, Tegan and Sara, Margaret Cho, The B-52’s, Andreja Pejic, and many more. She was there for Autostraddle’s birth and proudly served as A-Camp co-director for many years.

Robin has written 82 articles for us.

12 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing these. Lady G and UHH are so much my faves, so this is like gold. I always feel like Camilla is under-repped in UHH context, standing in the shadow of ‘Alice’ – I want to do a big post on her some day. Thanks again. Auto ‘S’ is also under-repped, but I’m trying to help spread the word. Best, B.

  2. Robin, your photography never ceases to amaze me.
    You are such a creative genius and I wished I lived closer to NY so I could hang with you :)

  3. ah to be in the front row of a Gaga concert with a zoom camera. i can only imagine the pics i would click from beneath her…

  4. once again, miss robin, beautiful shots. i love it. and i loooooove leisha…and ms. gaga and katy!

    thank you!

  5. I feel like that photo of Katy smiling at the camera is possibly the most honest photo I’ve ever seen of her. Once agin, miss robin, yay!

    • For these musician shoots my average time I get with them is 5 minutes. No joke. So any light set-up/metering has to be done really quickly and I only take about 30-40 images, and 3-4 different poses/set-ups. So all of them pretty much have to be usable, but I throw out blinks, etc and just pick a few where they have nice facial expressions.

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