When the photographer's attorney later noted that Silva and a second paparazzo hadn't scaled the walls of the facility or tried to sneak inside, the actor shrugged.
"They didn't shoot any flaming arrows either," he said, drawing a laugh from the jury.
Silva's testimony gave jurors a glimpse into the world of the paparazzi. He said he was filled with nervous excitement when he saw Reeves enter what he wrongly assumed was a private residence.
"I was hoping he would come out with a girlfriend," he said.
Explaining why he had positioned himself in front of Reeves' car, Silva pointed to a photo he had taken of the actor shielding his face.
"That's not salable," he told jurors. "You need a face photo."
He added that Reeves was considered a "shark" -- a paparazzo's term for a big star who rarely ventures out and whose photos therefore bring a high price.
Silva said he had no illusions about his talent. When a lawyer beamed one of his photos from that evening -- a blurry picture of Reeves hunched over his steering wheel -- the paparazzo shook his head in disgust.
"It's really bad," he said. "I'm not a photographer that went to school for photography."
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harriet.ryan@latimes.com
