Graying and grizzled, E.L. Woody still had the legs to stake out Arnold Schwarzenegger during the ex-governor's recent love child scandal. But all's not well in the 31-year reign of the self-described "King of the Paparazzi."
Loathed by some A-list artists and loved by audiences for his revelations about celebrities, Woody, 65, has long been one of Hollywood's most controversial players in the high-stakes business of fame.
Like most everyone else in mass communication, though -- from studios to newspapers to networks -- he and other paparazzi are not immune to the world's media revolution.
On the front lines or back alleys of celebrity photography since 1980, Edward L. Woody is a study in the changing fortunes of fame.
The goateed paparazzo with a Texas twang has been such a steady fixture in Hollywood that he has even portrayed himself on a couple of episodes of "Entourage," a popular cable TV series about a group of young men negotiating life in showbiz's fast lane.
Daring, combative and savvy to how stars and "paps" need each other, Woody possesses the ability to be confrontational yet sympathetic, particularly with celebrities looking for a break.
"They have to have the photogs. It feeds the ego. Every flash, every click feeds their careers," he says. "It feeds the supernova of fame."
He declares he's an old-school news photographer whose subjects happen to be celebs, but such newsman status hasn't kept him out of face-offs or fisticuffs. He has an "attack reel" featuring Sylvester Stallone, Tommy Lee, Drew Barrymore, Snoop Dog and Leonardo DiCaprio expressing antagonism or toward him or his two protégés.
"We're the sleazy paparazzi," Woody said mockingly. "We're the people that don't get invited (by celebrities), but we're the people that they depend on."
Times have been difficult for his small shop, where he employs two other shooters who do a lot of late-night club and street work.
While the digital age has brought a nearly insatiable demand for entertainment news, that hasn't translated into a bonanza for paparazzi, Woody says.
Major media companies are increasingly involved in the celebrity news business, building up their own paparazzi outfits, buying up smaller ones or paying less for independent images. The market is also flooded with amateurs with cameras -- including, Woody says, illegal immigrants -- who sell their work at near giveaway prices.
California has imposed a series of controversial laws restricting aggressive paparazzi, which some legal analysts say impinges on the First Amendment. Meanwhile, celebrities such as Kim Kardashian broker their own exclusive deals with media outlets -- cutting out paparazzi like Woody.
"The Kardashians, they got over $18 million for the exclusive rights to their wedding package," Woody said, referring to Kim Kardashian's recent marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries, which landed in divorce court after 72 days.
"That's where all the big money is."
The era of six-figure or even million-dollar moments -- such as when Sarah Ferguson, then-Duchess of York, was photographed topless with her toes being sucked by American financial adviser John Bryan in the 1990s -- is bygone, he said.
"Those prices don't exist any more," Woody said. "I haven't had a $10,000 sale for a still since Shia LeBeouf's wreck (three) years ago."
Woody's finances have also been stressed by a battle with colon cancer in 2008 and a subsequent infection. His Los Angeles house, which doubles as his office, is facing foreclosure, and he is considering downsizing to a smaller residence.
"It's a tough racket, and it becomes a tougher racket with people dumping photos at such low prices. The paydays are getting smaller and smaller and smaller," he said.
Woody also resents what he calls "the encroachment of the networks on celebrity news."
"They are supposed to be doing real news. There's plenty of stuff out there that's important to the public, but they are filling up programs with news about Lindsay Lohan."
Changing public standards are driving such vagaries of fame, said media psychologist Stuart Fischoff.
"When The New York Times is covering the same story as the National Enquirer and the tabloids are covering, then you know that things have changed," said Fischoff, senior editor of the online Journal of Media Psychology and a retired psychology professor at California State University at Los Angeles.
"The rules have changed and the sensibility has changed, and the standard of taste has changed. It's kind of a moral anarchy," he said. "[The paparazzi] have to worry about that because they made their living being the source of information about the underbelly of society and the deviations that were taking place.
"Now, all of sudden, what was a deviation is normative, and what was the underbelly is now the face of whatever the celebrity wants to do. The dark side becomes the light side, the shadow becomes the persona," Fischoff said. "It's that kind of reversal of fortunes which is problematic for the paparazzi."