Where Abu Dhabi adventure continues

For sure one of my annual highlights, the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. It’s already the forth edition and pleased to be on board again shooting the content for my next coffee table book. So excited to be part of it.

Shooting for the 4^th year doesn’t make it much easier. Yes, I’ve got good grips on logistics and race format but the challenge is to keep on delivering new and fresh content. Doing your home work is key, translating alternative images from other industries and implement them into Adventure Racing.

Six exhausting adrenaline packed days, world best adventure athletes, endless shooting opportunities and creative freedom. A great mix that resulted in 19,879 RAW images. Yes, a crazy number especially as it edits down to only 80 favorites for the next book. This year I was joined by Paul Rosenquist who’s writing the text for the book, or better recording live comments out in the field. The format will be slightly different to previously years as the book will be ‘quotations’ based. An awesome quote linked to an image together on one page. Was really great working with Paul, he’s got a unique sense of humor and a life full of his own extreme adventures. Thanks for coping with my grumpiness… Looking forward to see our book coming together.

Looking forward to take a well deserved break.

Wk.

Abu Dhabi Airport

Been commissioned to produce a selection of images for a new book about Abu Dhabi Aviation. A fun assignment as it will allow special access to the ‘other side’ of airport operation. Done similar jobs at Dubai airport where we ended up wondering around the new A380, inside the cockpit and upstairs in the control tower. This shoot was similar, once I got clearance at least. It took two trips to finally get the access pass. The first time I lost a full day, hanging around not for my pass but my camera’s passes…aahhh paperwork. Second visit was better and finally got to shoot my first frame at 10.33. I found the airport comfortably petit, but there’s a new bigger in the making of course.

I love my Canon kit but this time they gave me a scare. Few hours into the shoot I was reviewing my images on the LCD screen and noticed that the images looked really strange. Color was way off. Than suddenly the screen went white. Oops, auch. Shit. Couldn’t see anything anymore and still have a shooting list to complete. My backup camera was in the car but there was little time to run back and collect. There is little running if you have to go through five security gates… Pulled the battery out, replaced it with an other one, no success. Hoping it was only the LCD screen and not my camera that failed I decided to keep on shooting for a while. Only than I noticed how much I rely on LCD screen reviewing option. Shoot – review – adjust – shoot - review again – shoot – happy. Without the LCD screen it was like the old days, shoot and hope you got it right. To be on the safe side I bracketed the hell out of the images, used mixed exposures. Aperture or Shutter priority. After I guess and hour the LCD screen came up again, all back to normal. Was seriously relieved that all images were fine. Strange. My guess is that it’s been through the scanners to many times with the power accidentally left on. Better clues are welcome.

Lesson learned, don’t leave the back up body in the car. Just haul the extra weight with me all the time, no exception.

For now, I’m looking to share the final book artwork.

Cheers

Wk.

From Sketchbook to pdf

Got commissioned by JWT Dubai to shoot the content for the next Audi Driving Experience catalogue. No stranger to car photography or the Audi brand, I’ve been on their account for nearly five years now. This shoot was slightly different. It’s how Stephen Covey describes it in his 7 habits of highly effective people >> think with the end in mind. Know what you want to achieve and work towards these objectives. Simple.

I’ve been going back and forth to the agency discussing the creative brief for the new catalogue. 12 artistic sketches had to be turned into 12 great images. A sketch is the ideal scenario, the shooting location is reality and conditions on the day have the final saying. Finally it’s the skills of the photographer to maximize the result and manage the pool of people on site. A commercial shoot in short summary.

5am start with shot 1, making most out of sweet morning light. Moving on the shot 2 and so on. Paul a good friend who’s visiting Dubai came to the set to have a look. If only he knew that he would be driving the new R8 around the Autodrome…lucky bugger.

It was a real stretch pushing all the images through in one day but we managed, only just. Not sure how long it will take before final artwork is ready but would love to post it once ready.

Thanks for everyone involved for all their great effort.

Coming back to the 7 Habits thing and all shoots being different. I get the widest selection of creative briefs, stretching from an ad agency like JWT being very detailed to something complete different along the lines of ‘Just shoot some nice images’. Nice images….? There are 50 ways to shoot something nice, just want to make sure I match your ‘nice’. Both styles work, and the more defined the brief is the more difficult it is to match objectives. A more generalistic brief offers creative freedom but you need to make sure it’s what the client has in mind. It’s collaboration, probing and doing your homework. Every shoot is different. That is why it is called a profession.

Cheers

Wk.

Energy of 12,000 kids

Good reason for a big show; the Sultanate of Oman celebrates their 40^th National Day and the 60^th birthday of Sultan Qaboos. A great client of mine Avantgarde Brand Services has been working on this project for two years, putting on a show similar to the opening of the Olympic Games. Big, complex and massive. Central element of the show was 12,000 colorful local kids; dancing, running, singing, acting, tumbling –all under strict choreography.

I flew to Oman early Saturday morning ready for the show later that evening. Documenting their behind the scenes and the actual show. Had some difficulties clearing off the shooting permit on site, the usual blabla of higher ranked. Shame, so much time gets lost with bureau-crazy. Anyway, do you know how much noise twelve thousand kids can produce? It was quiet most morning until the school busses pitched up and volume levels rocketed. I had a slight concerned if photographing the girls would be a sensitive issue but there was no holding back for the boys or girls. Once in the ‘holding area’ (=covered area where kids had to wait) they all wanted to be on the photo, as in all and all at the same time. What an excited bunch! Some boys managed to get hold of second camera and started shooting themselves, didn’t notice at first but saw flashes being trigged and not by me…come back here chaps!

The 45 minute show was truly amazing and a mad rush to shoot. First time seeing the performance it was a wild game constantly referring back to my notes and detailed schedule. Up the stairs, across to the other side, down to the entrance, centre of stage, kids popping up from everywhere…

Found an elevated position to shoot the closing fireworks. I’ve seen a fair share of fireworks displays before but this blew everything. The stadium was shaking, crowd roaring and the sky lit in all colors. Short, sweet and mega. What a show!

Guys, it was a great task and what a brilliant delivery. Well done.

Wk.

Shooting Land Rover's in Oman

Oman is a fantastic driving destination, endless scenic roads snaking the country side, both tarmac and gravel. The Wahiba Sands offers a spectacular desert environment and the Hajar Mountains unbelievable landscapes. Simple, nothing beats shooting in Oman.

So when the opportunity came up to shoot the new Land Rover range in Oman, this editorial assignment was rapidly accepted. Bring it on! Loved all three days of it. It was intensive, long days, hours of driving, blessed with good weather and luxury bed at Desert Nights Camps in Wahiba. Pleased with the result and looking forward the see the publications coming off the press.

Thanks to Peter Gladstone and the team for driving cars hours at an end, kicking up sand when needed and not driving over me. Always a pleasure working together!

Wk.

Rookie of the Year at Race to Dubai

Spend two days side by side with European Tour’s rookie of the year, Matteo Manassero. Age17 and quote “certainly one of the brightest lights in the future of professional golf”. Certainly extreme talented, still ‘Kinder’ and will become a millionaire before he can even get his driving license. What a promising future.

I behaved better this year as I didn’t get kicked off the course because of ‘player disturbance’. Last year did some work for another client and had to be reminded not the take photo’s before the player hits the ball. Ta, nothing new, but I occasionally struggle to read the golfing moves. I love shooting golf, but at times I cannot share the fuss about this ‘delicacy of silence’. Staged pro shoots or amateur golf would be the way forward for me.

What I loved about the tournament was the skill these pro’s bring in; precision, precision, precision. Wishing Matteo best of luck with pro plans, hope to see your next with the trophy.

Wk.

Volvo Ocean Racing comes to Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is bringing worlds sailing legends together on one yacht, their own ‘Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’ team competing in the next Volvo Ocean Race. A race widely considered the 'Everest of Sailing'. Their own team, including Emirati talents and a hosted stage in Abu Dhabi in 2012. Lots of valuable publicity for an emirate that has sailing embedded in their heritage.

For years some inspiring ocean racing photography work has been created, really stunning stuff with high waves, action, drama and emotion. So a new team requires a databank of new imagery, my privileged task to bring this together. Spend an inspiring time with the team, getting to know them and hats off to what this race is about; eight months of non stop hardcover ocean racing, 24 hours a day on the water with 4 hours shifts, freeze dried meals - daily, no private space, hammering the waves, and always on high alert. Pfff that’s serious stuff.

Ended up being an ok shoot, pity we had no wind; flat, nothing, nada. Therefore didn’t really get the action shots I had in mind, shame. Otherwise got some good brand imagery, crew shots and life on board. They hauled me into the top of the mast for the ‘aerial’ shots, shooting has a different dimension at 25 metres…perhaps we had little waves but at that height everything moves like crazy.

We also scheduled a overnight trip from Dubai back to Abu Dhabi where skipper Ian Walker did an unexpected man overboard exercise. Chaos in pitch blackness with nine red headlights running around rescuing the dummy. Must be incredibly intimidating how this will feel like that extreme open sea – HOLD ON BOYS!!

I am looking forward to see how the team dynamic comes together and can’t wait to see the racing yacht, which is currently being custom build in Italy. Train hard and look after each other.

Wk.

Al Maha Resort

Emirates Airlines announced that they’re now the world second largest airline company. Not many people know that they also run an amazing luxury desert resort an hour drive out of Dubai.

I’ve been coming here on and off for eight years, hidden in the centre of Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve you can find peace, quietness and heards of wildlife. Generally you’re not allowed to drive in yourself but work allowed me to drive in and the moment I entered the reserve I felt the pace slow down. Weather was great, opened the windows and enjoyed the winding road leading up to the resort. It is just so nice when you can feel life’s pressure falling off. Met up my friend Matthias Hammer for lunch, Matthias runs a fantastic organization www.biosphere-expeditions.org offering worldwide conservation programs for everyone who wants to get hands on. He happened to be in town and sitting out on the balcony what a great place to share ideas and enjoy the awesome view.

Calmness and relaxation aside, work to be done. Images cover their unique desert programs they run for their guests.

Cheers

Wk.

Speaking at slidefest Dubai

Was a great honor to speak at Slidefest Dubai last week. Mohamed and the team at Gulf Photo Plus do a fantastic job in bringing the Middle East photo community together. Every few months they introduce a crowd of speakers. Some are professional, others avid amateurs, all passionate and love what they do. Presentations may only be personal work. I presented my ‘Project Endurance – chasing adventure athletes around the world’. With a short talk and a few snippets from my 52-minute movie I produced in 2008. Check out the video if you want to know more about adventure sports photography.

Enjoy

Wk.

INSPIRE | PLAY | CONNECT

Just been part of an amazing conference, or better anti conference as the organizers preferred to name it. Abraaj Capital hosted ‘Celebration of entrepreneurship’, two days filled with inspirational speakers, case studies and overdose of energy. About 1,200 entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders and creative professionals from our region in one location - to mingle and share. Loved it and keeps on reminding me to think bigger. Two key out-takes for me; firstly you’ve gotta take risks and stretch your comfort zone. Secondly don’t battle it out yourself, seek a mentor. Find a small group of knowledgeable individuals and ask for their advice, milk them. At the same time become a mentor yourself and be support for others.

Arif Naqvi and the team at Abraaj thanks so much for putting on this well organized event. Stunning!

Wrote this quote down ages ago and summarizes what we spoke about. “An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more he can chew on, hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.”

So guys get your thinking hat on, mine’s bubbling.

Cheers

Wk.

Early morning wake-up call

Red Bull organized a Friday morning 6am wake-up call, steering up the Sheikh Zayed Road neighborhood close to Burj Khalifa.

Red Bull give you wings but I’m sure the residents had different ideas. I was part of a team of three photographers shooting a PR stunt with their Red Bull F1 racing car – yeap the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circus is in town. Dubai Police closed the road allowing Driver Neel Jani to clock 297kph on the straight.

Five minutes, two laps and exit out. So noisy, so fast, so bewildering.

Cheers

Wk.

Café Nero – National Day

A great coffee brand celebrating UAE national day. Shooting an add for the next Nero UAE National Day campaign. The toughest part of the shoot was to keep my fingers off these tasty macaroons… Try them, they are free during the UAE National Day and the whole weekend.

Wk.

Camping with friends

Finally summer is clearing off and time to hit the mountains. Great friends are visiting Dubai and we’re off to Wadi Bih camping at 900 metres. Drink beer, have a BBQ and tell stories. And a proposal... Life is sweet!

Wk.

Amsterdam - Work ReCap

Wow what an opportunity sixty days Amsterdam. Took the chance to pick the brains of the European creative industry....had coffee with with creative directors of big ad agencies, and smaller funky agencies, trafficers, artbuyers, colleague photographers, reps and brand managers of Dutch lifestyle brands. The list is long and I am so grateful for their time and knowledge they shared.

The Middle East is a market I'm steadily getting to understand. Now nearly 9 years, it's a whirlpool of multi cultural diversity with such a wide mix of clients and decision makers you've gotta be a multi brainer to keep everyone happy. As photographers we're possibly a big fish in a small pond. Work is broad and varied, keeping the spirit alive and allowing a platform for continuous personal development.

Holland Summer 2010 is a taster, a 'snuffelstage' and a stepping stone to extend my business into Europe. Jump into Amsterdam first with the other crazy capitals to follow. It's home territory but with so many nationalities working in the industry, English is the common language. Compared to Dubai the market is so different, it's a big ocean with over 6000 self acclaimed professional shooters, that's a lot of families to feed... In good times, the photography market had lot's on offer and could sustain such a supply of creatives. In current times, judging from the stories and feedback, the industry has slowed down dramatically. In a market that was trusty for big campaign shoots, today cash is tough but still around...and now with more people staring at it. Big brands are seeking alternative routes for imagery, like flikr and other online image sharing provides. The level of quality can be discussed...but when budgets are slashed - what to do. International corporations are re-structuring with big names like Nike shifting their European head office back to the US. Yes, it's tough out there.

All in all the industry spirit is still good. Long life the sinister Dutchies. Always open for new ideas and new talent. Question. How do you stand out? How do you get your foot in the door? Try hard...don't take no for an answer...be daring...be different...just walk in and sing your song. Producing my book 'Image Box & Story Tales' has certainly helped. It has a strong selection of images, nice anecdotes and most important it's a physical reference piece to leave behind. The book has a long shelf life, gets in side by side other famous magazines on the reading tables, supplies creative think-tanks and hopefully generates more web traffic (which at the end is the ultimate source of latest work) AND obviously more European assignments.

How my investment of time and marketing material will pay off...time will tell. The experience was amazing, I've made many valuable connections, got the chance to spread my message and it was well received. Key is now to keep the relationship alive!

Work aside. Living with my wife and two months old son in downtown Amsterdam was awesome. Believe we were officially spoilt!! Seeing the nation turn orange during the World Cup Footbal, enjoying classical concerts, absorbing the endless sunshine (stilll can't understand why the Dutch always moan about the weather), 'heerlijk terasjes hoppen', eat 'bitterballen' and most important spend quality time with friends and family.

Working on a repetition for 2011....

Cheer, Wouter

The Good and the Bad - STAR WARS is back

ADIDAS originals presents The 'STAR WARS' battle of the beats! Eight DJ's and two MC's playing the crowd at Alpha Club Dubai. Bookmark your agenda 20th of this month.

Two interesting characters; the bad 'Darth Vader' and good 'Luke Skywalker', true hero's in the music scene. Spend a great afternoon shooting with them.

Cheers

Wk

My view on an Ironman

Wanted to share a mail I send last week. A good buddy is contemplating running an Ironman. The longest distance triathlon that starts with a 3,8km swim followed by 180km bike ride and topped off with a marathon. Not for the faint hearted and requires some serious training.

Hey Mikael

Big plans I see!! My advise…pfff. Personally found the training commitment during the four months leading up to the Ironman tougher than the actual race. Training hard does makes the race more manageable. Do scenic routes and shorter races. Join a club with strong guys, they’ll make you train harder and faster.

I find it important that a first time Ironman athlete has done all the individual distances with a comfortable feeling. I certainly felt stronger having done the long swims, 180k's bike rides and marathons. Don’t worry about the time, yes quicker is better, but completing with a strong confidence is what I find more important. On race day it's just a matter of gelling the three disciplines together. Having that strong competent feeling at the start of the worked wonders for me. Than start the race with an open mind, put the goals and objectives in your back pocket. Enjoy the hype, I even took a few minutes before coming out of the water to observe the circus and all the excitement. Race hard but don't kill yourself on the swim or bike, drink & eat lots on the bike (study the bike course for best timings to eat, avoid eating during long climbs). Don’t get distracted and work on your own running rhythm. My mindset was simple…'it's just a long (and painful) day but I'll get through it. It’s just one step in front of the other'.

The distance is all relevant, I shoot a lot of extreme adventure races and triple Ironman competitions. These kind of races make an Ironman distance feel like a walk in the park compared to the distance and pain these guys have to go to. That helped me to digest the distance on race day. We’re done in one day. When I raced Ironman France I was off to shoot the Explore Sweden race three days later, these guys had to cover a 1,000km adventure course. See the comparison?

I raced competitive but not extremely hard. I could have knocked off 30 min or so by staying more focused. But for what, who or why? I enjoyed my racing day from start to finish, had my hard moments but that's part of the mental mind game. Dig deep and keep on going. 'Mind over matter' as they say. Race with a smile.

Key experiences I took out of the race; All the energy! Everyone competes for his or her own reasons and everyone wants to cross the arch at the end. The starting line is the unique, the SILENCE among the athletes, race nerves kicking in, intimidated, and the DJ playing his tunes. And finally crossing the finish line, WOW. You have to cross it to feel it. Still get goosebumps thinking about it.

Man go for it. Train you guts off. Be proud of yourself en kick some arse along the way!!

Cheers Wouter

If you are thinking about doing one, go for it. It’s a serious gig with a serious amount of training but worth every mile. Get a tri coach or seek help online. Remember it’s all in your mind – pull the trigger and get cracking.

Enjoy the journey.

Wk.

creativity

'Good Artists Copy...Great Artists steal.' according to Pablo Picasso

I know it's a common practice within the creative industry and at the same time it's a non disclosed topic. Open book here. I've been collecting visual art for many years. I've even got a folder on my laptop called 'creative by others' which is a collection centre for great artwork, daring design and awesome imagery. Specially during travels with a fair bit of down time I source the web, catch up on industry blogs, collect international mag's (and scan the nice visuals) or just walk the streets to take it all in. Creativity is all around us. My need for creativity always changes, what I looked at 10 years ago is different than what I collect now and will be different again in two years, following market trends and exploring personal likes.

For me it's important to put the best a folder because otherwise I'm afraid I will forget. At times I flick through the collection either when I'm stuck pulling together a creative shooting list, or at times I just love to absorb the energy from our creative industry. It get's me moving again.

With the Canon large format printer in the office we now have the opportunity to print anything in XXL. I recently designed three mood boards from the creative folder and printed it cinema poster size, stuck it to my working board. Simply on thin 90 gsm paper, nothing too fancy as I'll write on it, mark things off, scribble and might take it on location. When it's trashed we'll just update and print a new one...

From Paul Arden's book 'Whatever your think, think the opposite'

I used to commission a lot of photography.

Consequently people were keen to show me their work.

99 per cent of the portfolios I saw were of a high standard.

But 98 per cent of them contained pictures I had seen before.

Obviously not the same subject or composition, but I had the

general impression that I was not seeing anything new.

They didn't have a point of view. If they did, it was the viewer

of their pictures (me) should like their work.

Very occasionally, I saw the work of someone who did have a

point of view, whose work was like no one else's.

These were often difficult people, almost unemployable because

you couldn't tell them what to do.

Sometimes it went wrong.

Sometimes it didn't.

When I didn't go wrong, it more than made up for the times it did.

-end-

New idea's are always a spinoff from existing creative work. Something that triggers and inspires. I love to get inspired by great work but at the same time set my own direction with a distinctive style and my own brand. Be fresh in your delivery!

Wk

Project Endurance - recap

My 'Project Endurance' Movie nights were a great success, touching an audience of over 1,000 adventure minded enthusiasts since it's first screening in 2008. Again shows that Dubai has a crowd for these kinds of inspirational gatherings. I will put together a summary video with evening highlights (once I can get Final Cut Studio to work again). Below are some mood pics of the evenings. Thanks to the sponsors for making it happen, appreciate your support!

The ultimate goal is to get a unique website up and running (project-endurance.com) with imagery and racing stories from around the globe. Not competing with community sites like sleepmonsters.com or checkpointzero.com. Just my collection of work, that in time will lead to a global coffee table book supplemented with a worldly exhibition tour. Yes, big plans. Just need time to execute and find business partners to fund. Idea's anyone?

What kind of footprint will you leave?

As simple as a note on a Timberland shoe box.

How will we change today? The opportunity to make it better is everywhere if we choose to act. Better is seeing a void and filling it. Hearing a call for help and answering it. It is as small as making boots, shoes and great or as big as changing the world. Better is giving employee time to serve.

Better is a call to action. A rallying cry. Fearless. Determined. Passionate. And connected. It is searching within. Reaching out. Heading into the eye of the storm. Adventuring out to the middle of nowhere. And doing so with purpose. So when the sun sets and we think about what tomorrow will bring, we understand that better is not what we do. It is who we are.

Timberland.com