Local Photographer Struts on Harry Potter Red Carpet

Christopher Elston, who, with his wife Jennifer, owns  in Emmaus, experienced two unique aspects of the New York premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” this week.

On Sunday, Chris and his wife . Then, on Monday night he was behind a video camera on the red carpet, working with a team of videographers and news reporters as the movie’s stars and other celebrities arrived for the film’s opening.

Emmaus Patch had the opportunity to talk to Christopher Elston about the red carpet experience. Here’s what he had to say:

How'd you wind up on the red carpet?

"I've worked for the company that does press junkets for several years. This was the first year that they asked me to do the red carpet event."

What was your job?

"I was part of a 10 camera man (and 10 audio person) crew that was assigned to different reporters that didn't have their own camera or sound people. I had two reporters, one from YNN Network in upstate New York and one from KMAX-TV from Sacramento. They had to share a microphone, so they took turns asking questions and I had to frame the shot so the other reporter wasn't in the shot."

Name some of the famous people you saw.

• Jay Manuel “Mister Jay”
• Michael Chiklis
• Matthew Broderick and his wife Sarah Jessica Parker
• Seth Green
• Joey Fatone
• America Ferrera
• Sarah Hyland
• Melissa Joan Hart

Plus the actors from the movie: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis

What thing will you remember most about the experience?

"It was a really goofy experience. I had fun talking to my two reporters and figuring out which celebrities we wanted to get on tape and which ones we could let walk past us."

What most surprised you about being on the red carpet?

"I thought that there would be more celebrities. There were a lot of studio people and handlers walking around on the carpet and not too many stars. There seemed like a lot of times where I could put my camera down and wait."

Would you want to do it again?

“Yes. It was hot and I was using an ancient camera that they gave me that weighed a ton, so my shoulder was sore by the end of it. The main reason that I freelance in video and own my own photography company is that I like to do different things all the time. A red carpet premiere for the final movie in the highest grossing film franchise of all time is different.” 

Editor's Note: You can visit Christoper Elston’s blog to learn more about his time on the red carpet and see more photos from his Harry Potter experience. You can also read about some of the other press junkets that he has been involved with.