Aerial Racing

This is my forth year to shoot the Red Bull Air Race in Abu Dhabi. Compared to the previous years this was my toughest race to shoot. Gusting winds really kicked up a huge sand storm and temperatures recorded a mad 38 degrees. Funny two weeks ago I shot at same location doing all the aerial photography for the Ironman and during the race I sort of felt that I missed the buzz on the ground...

Despite the summer temperatures the crowd still came out in big numbers and was great to catch the atmosphere and speak to the pilots.

No Lada's

Just came back from a couple of days Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. That's an interesting place for sure. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century oil was the main income of the economy (with lot's of it), currently the city is going through his second boom, a true building site.

Content of my visit, an editorial job for a coffee table book project. Brief was short. 'No Lada's...need to show off modern Baku.' They certainly have big plans with this place. So on our shopping list we had the luxury fashion brands, 5 star hotels and new architecture. Unfortunately lot's is still under construction but can imagine this place in a few years. It's gonna look nice. Real shame that both our flights were at night so I missed the views to the Causcaus Mountains, another great reason to head back in explore the nature trails. Thanks to our Azeri fixers for the tradition Peaty Soup and keeping us out of trouble.

Dubai Quattro Cup

The great thing about shooting amateur golf vs professional tournaments is access and more importantly freedom to take the shot. Can remember shooting the Pro's at Dubai World Championship Golf at the new Jumeirah Golf Estate last year. Was working on a different assignment and got a press pass for the last day. Was trailing Lee Westwood on the 8th putting green where he was setting up his shot and I accidentally triggered the camera BEFORE he hit the ball (was slightly confused if he was or wasn't going to hit the ball). A real No No in the Pro world. All well at the end with Lee taking the title home and for me a good lesson on patience...

The Quattro Cup at the Four Season golf course was another great day outdoors with some amazing golf and a very co-operative audience. Thanks guys!

3D at home

Samsung is gearing up for the football world champs mania, extended with 3D vision. A localised shoot with regional talent, 5 star hotel suite and lot's of good fun. Mohammed the little boy just couldn't get enough of the camera, sharing his break dancing tricks in the break. Keep it going Mohammed!

fly higher! fly higher!

These are the exceptional job request. Are you around to do the aerial photography for the inaugural Abu Dhabi triathlon? Done quite a few aerial assignments before and it's one of these things you can never get enough off.

The gruelling Ironman course was slightly adjusted to a 3k swim, 200k bike and half marathon at the end. Still long, still very hard. Lot's of international favourites flew to Abu Dhabi to hopefully cash in the price money and a big crowd of local athletes testing their abilities for all sorts of other reasons. For me getting involved was a way to relive the my Ironman experience when I completed the Ironman in France last summer. Regardless of how much training you put in...it's gonna be a long day, with many highs and lows, pain, but the remembrance of crossing the finish line still gives me goose bumps.

The past mornings had been very foggy, till 9ish when the sun comes up and burns it away. Helicopter flights and fog don't go well together and we where hoping for clear skies so we could be airbourne for the 7am start. Race day, I left the house at 3am to be on site for 5am, arrived with an amazing clear horizon. Off we go, ready to fly!

One thing I always find when strapped into a harness and hanging out of a helicopter, is that this is not the place to change lenses... With assignments like this, I will shoot angels ranging from ultra wide 16m to mega long 400m. Canon Professional Services (CPS) kindly let me test run their latest flagship product the EOS 1d Mark 4. Now equipped with four bodies attached to a 16-35, 70-200, 300 and 400mm lens no opportunity will be missed. All lenses nice wide f2,8 apperture which I really needed with the race starting at the crack of dawn.

Another useful tip is to get some radio comm's with the ground team. We manage to shoot an awesome start hovering low over the Emirates Palace's private beach. Trailed the pro's for the first lap and getting ready to shoot the second wave. I noticed that a bunch of safety kayakers kept on falling out of their kayaks, that's odd...I'm sure they know what they are doing. It was only after about 15 minutes that the pilot got on the intercom and mentioned that he received orders from the airport control tower to fly higher. Apparently the helicopter was the reason why all the boats where tipping. Sorry guys for knocking you over...! Back at base I checked my phone and indeed lot's of missed calls and text messages saying 'fly higher!! fly higher!!' For next year let's get a radio.

The bike course followed the Abu Dhabi Cornish, crossing the new Shk Kalifa bridge before the athletes got onto the Yas Marina Circuit. How cool is this...getting to bike the full Abu Dhabi Formula One circuit. I'm sure this rush will elevate the saddle pain. Back on the Cornish the bikes where traded in for running shoes, only two 10k laps.

The inaugural Adu Dhabi Tri was a great success with the Spaniard Enoke Llianos taking home the glory. ...for the other I'm sure lots of very very sore muscles.

3rd Generation modelling starts here

What a gorgeous mix, half Indian half Dutch and a soon to become 3rd generation model, following (grand) mum's path. Horses are her love & passion so a comfy venue for Shakira's first fashion shoot. We covered it all natural light, studio's heads, wind machines, quick fashion wear turn around. Yvonne our make-up artist did a great job supplementing the different costumes.

To throw in a special twist, we set up a set with a 'very co-operative' horse. Admittedly more Shakira's thing than mine but it worked out really well. Working with animals is like working with kids, they've got their own frame of mind and do what THEY have in mind. As a photographer you can only adapt and react quickly. Hope to be back at the Endurance Club horse stables soon.

Golf to the test

Not necessary to an unsual brief but a challenging one to bring together. Audi Quattro Cup, worlds second largest amateur golf tournament had it's Abu Dhabi qualifying round at the Emirates Golf Club. I"ve been providing them with great golf photography over the last years, but this year was different. My client wanted a selection of photographs of each player (with branded back drop, location identifier, unstaged action, etc).

I made the set-up at the 9th Tee with three camera's. Two bodies on a tripod's with manual settings and pre-focussed. The third one with my long lens on a monopod further down on the ladies tee. What's the trick to trigger all three camera's a the same time...yes indeed pocket wizzards. Radio controlled triggering devices. Onces I pressed the shutter on my handheld camera, the other two bodies will automatically start fireing (tip; make sure they are manually set). Once everything is set up it's a piece of cake, just wait for the golf enthusiasts to pass by and keeping a control on the settings as the lights changes. Here are the results...

Cheers Wouter

Where the future is sport

A sweet portfolio of the future tennis champions. Tennis Emirates is the UAE body looking to promote the sport among youngsters, gearing them up to become big boys and girls in the sport. Play Hard!

Zighy Hideaway

If there is heaven on earth it must be very close to Zighy Bay... Six Senses operates an amazing luxury resort in the Omani Hajar Mountains bordering the Mussendam peninsula. Can remember camping on this secluded bay many years ago when we could only access the beach by crossing a madly steep mountain pass, seriously beating up our SUV's. Times have changed, you still need a 4x4 to get there, but camping has now been upgraded to very authentic Villas stuffed with luxury, warm hospitality and WOW cuisine. This occasion was sole leisure but couldn't resist to take the camera for an early morning stroll when the resort was still half a sleep.

First Aerobatic imagery

Has been a wild and hectic four days! Images fresh from the editing suite, my favourite act? Team We Fly for sure, also because I got some airtime with them! No is time to hit the sack, smashed... We've got a book production with 100+ images to work on.

Al Ain Aerobatics

Just got back from a massive four days aerobatics show. Long days, late night download, lot's of sun...and free Costa Latte's. I'm producing a another coffee table book about the show and was great to be surrounded by all these specialist pilots. Days where filled with lot's of pointing upwards to the sky trying to frame propellor planes at the best shutter speed as they shoot by. Finally managed to get access to the army base where HQ was based for a more behind the scene reportage. Lot's of content, now just busy sorting it all out. Will get the 'crackers' up on this blog in a couple days. I was busy getting all the kit together before I was heading out to Al Ain. At one stage noticed this pack the equipment. The nice thing about local shoots is that you can literally take everything, pack the car to the roof and grab what you need. Cheers W.

mOre stitching job

Matured Wouter, a good friend of mine & name mate has his own restaurant chain. We had a discussion over coffee which led to this idea. Can you shoot ONE picture which has the inside of the restaurant, the balcony and the skyline with Burj Khalifa...all in one image please. Here you go!

Nothing is impossible. Early morning light, Manfrotto mounted, 14 individual frames and endless stiching/glueing work in Photoshop. Little desertion on the edges which adds to the mega wide view.

Sneak preview

SUPER! Got an UNofficial sneak preview from the 122nd floor of what is now the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa. Sorry, can't share more for now, than a stitched image of the view at 600ish meters. Awesome view I must say, this tower is unreal! More details will follow once permits are in place.

Happy New Year folks

Fresh start of the new year...2010 started with the Capitala World Tennis tournament on New Year's day. Most friends were curing their NY party hang-overs whilst I was driving down to Abu Dhabi for this 3 day tournament.

We did a promotional shoot with Federer & Nadal on the new Yas F1 circuit to introduce the tournament internationally. Always wonderful to work with top-notch athletes, even if you only get 15 minutes of their time.... Shoot on and off court went super...only Nadal did better cashing in a quarter million dollars.