Quality time

Summer 2010 is mostly spend in Holland avoiding the summer heat, enjoying fresh air and plain greenery. Just the smell of a pine forest after a rain shower is sooo much better than the AC controlled environment we're otherwise living in. Besides work which I'll talk about in another blog post a fair bit of time is dedicated towards spending some quality time with friends and family...endless nice dinners, laughter and catching up on missed out stories. The camera didn't always come along but on occasions there is always a nice photograph to be taken...

Cheers, Wouter

Tour preps

Just spend a few days with the Cervelo Test Team, one of the favorites for the Tour de France which starts in a few days. The team is gearing up the Big Tour and just spend a training camp in Belgium and France, pre-riding one of the feared stage of the Tour...the cubblestones at stage four. The famous cobblestone backroads of Northern France are more commonly associated with the classic Paris - Roubaix. Enough action to shoot as well as off site team focus.

Abu Dhabi Adventure

For the third year running with again a challenging adventure program...the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority brings together an international crowd of adrenaline junkies who compete in the 6 day Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. Hundreds of kilometers of sea kayaking, mountain biking, desert running and moutaineering - trust me it's tough. I've been involved since the inaugural event building a portfolio of images each year with a book production at the end. I shot the race last december, covering pretty much the full course, brought a production team together to create this sourvenir book, thanks all for your great efforts. Jerry Balloch (tweekr.com) design the book and made this all-telling-summary video of the final ADAC coffee-table-book.

Cheers W

50x Amsterdam

Making Amsterdam my temporary base to work and travel from this summer, I call it a snuffelstage. Some would say the Dutch capital is the creative hub of Europe...certainly a mad hotspot in Holland. Summers are the best time of year - full stop. When the sun is out the Dutchies makes most of it and with the football world cup going on everything and everyone is covered in orange. Not a bad spot to call home!

Got a number great projects lined up and meetings set with big ad agencies. Let's see if there is some time left for a personal project '50x Amsterdam | 50 days in the Capital' - or something along these lines.

Photo reps, Art buyers, Creative Directors, Brand Manager...I shall be knocking on your door.

For now PROOST!

Wouter

TwoTimesTen minutes

A shoot with Mayssoun Azzam, a respected Arab political journalist and news presenter for Al Arabiya. Mayssoun has become the new face from Nescafe's to highlight the health benefits of coffee and to address the myths surrounding habitual coffee drinking.

Little time to make it work, only two 10-minutes slot's between interviews. Time & cash didn't allow a big crew to stage lighting, so to make it work just find a good working location and go with natural light.

NEW arrival

Proud to announce the arrival of Canon latest Large Format Printer. In conjunction with Canon Middle East, I'll be producing a number of articles about this machine on; What to do with it, what not to do with it, pushing the boundaries of creativity, showcasing what products a photographer can offer and turn it into a cash generating business tool. Software is just installed, ready to test the wide variety of paper options.

Creative input is always welcome...nice ones will be treated with their own produced copy.

Chef Gert

Love it when a shoot takes off and gets extended. Shot all their food earlier this week and now it's time for the man himself, Chef Gert, a celebrity Chef to be. Simple light set-up with either one or two heads. Last image is shot only with available light from the kitchen pass.

mOre food

Maybe it is because I spend so much time working from a restaurant with an arty purple ceiling that I've connected with others. There is something buzzy about the mOre restaurants, now with six outlets spread around town they are hard to miss.

Shot a line-up of their signature dishes. 'Rustic and Different' representing the way their meals are presented. No fancy-fussy decoration just a full plate of tasty international cuisine.

My love for coffee goes along way. Not in quantity but in quality. I can recall working from South Africa where everycup is a instant Nescafe or remote Gobi Desert where there is no coffee at all. Tough times when you're working long shooting days and could really do with a caffeine kick. I'm curious how much cash I would put down when someone pops his head around the corner selling a real fresh brew... Last shot is taken handheld with a long shutter speed capturing the beans from the roasting machine, if only the awesome smell of a fresh roast could be included.

Project Endurance - Your invite

Many know that I have a weak sport for these mad athletes who are passionate about their adventure racing. I've travelled to all continents last few years, capturing them in action. A summary of the best images together with sound bites, interviews, music and captivating stories are put together in a 52 min movie documentary. Movie is screening at mOre Mirdiff/Festival City next week. Entrance is free, bring you buddies and enjoy a great night out. For more details, check out the flyer.

Land Rover Experience

Bumps in seats, the best way to sell cars. Back in my Land Rover days that is what we used to do. Create awesome experiences for customers, media and sales guys, let them experience the products, WOW them with the capabilities and indulge them with luxury. This formula still works - a few marketing team changes later and a new line-up of products it's time for action. A weekend filled with 4x4 adrenaline.

Personally found it difficult to not get involved in the operation. Can hear myself saying far too many times; how about this...don't forget this...let's quickly do that. Let go! Managed to get one car seriously stuck so that we had to leave it behind for a night rescue....now off camery duty this was my time to excell!!

Loved it.

Cosi in the Middle East

The Cosi brand has arrived in the Middle East, at the office tower opposite the InterContinental hotel to be exact. It's more than fast food & take away, as they say it:

If life is a journey, food is the fuel that lets us keep exploring what’s ahead. Cosi was founded on the idea that good food will make that journey all the more delicious. Our look and feel was first inspired by a small Parisian café - a warm inviting spot where people liked to go for coffee, spend time with the community and of course, enjoy a great sandwich. "Life Should Be Delicious®"

My favourite - their T.B.M sandwich

NOW OUT! Image Box & Story Tales

Our digital-age artwork is owned by hard drive units, online storage, CF cards and back-up DVD's. So many great achievements get lost in the volume of it all...megabites, gigabites and terrabites. How often do we still write a letter, send a 'real' postcard (even this goes faster online) or print your own work?

This thought had been playing with me for a while, 6 months to be exact, lets produce a memorable portfolio book. Today, 4th May it is actually been finalized; 'Image Box & Story Tales' version 1.03 is fresh off the printing press. Early 2010 was the right time to press the pause button, reflect on what had passed the horizon and collect the content to produce this visual art piece. Managed to shoot a few personal projects in between a hectic commercial season to compliment a strong selection of personal favourites.

No stranger to producing coffee table books, already launched five international titles, contributed photography to further four books and I currently have two more books on the design table ready to be printed within the next couple of weeks. Working on IBST felt different, for this book I could write my own brief, be my own creative director, decide on font, color, layout and text. Total freedom...love it! Saying that, no project becomes a success without the input of industry professionals, thanks guys for picking your creative brains and you help in making this book look at it's best.

'Image Box & Story Tales' is the start of an unregulated series and has been printed with the idea to bring in new clients. If you've been through the images on my website and you've like what you've seen, please drop me an email and I'll get your copy across.

time out

19th April 2010 at 9.42am, a very special moment with the birth of our son Koen. Now a first time Dad - my daily schedule has been complimented with many proud moments, nappy duties and round the clock baby room service. Every parent mentioned it' Bank as much sleep as you can before the birth, there aint any afterwards...' So true!

Having a child has expanded my skill level. Wacom tablets are great for single handed retouching whilst holding my son in the other. A constant flow of fresh coffee helps me through the editing work, which now can be done at any odd time of the day and specially a new favourite 3am in the morning! Clients request don't change and life goes on.

Cheers, W

Dubai Autodrome series

Fresh new look for the Audi driving experience at the Dubai Autodrome. Just spend a few days on and round the racing track working on a lively and varied portfolio of images. Their CI has changes, which if different from the images below but these are my personal favourites. Looking forward to see their new campaign creative coming across soon.

Cool summer nights

Aquaventure at the Palm Atlantis Hotel is all about Non Stop Water - Non Stop Fun. With the Dubai summer kicking in it's time for a another season of water carneval. The water park offers an evening full of entertainment with ray feeding, dolphin shows, fireworks and acrobatics. Anything to keep your mind of the steaming temperatures. Great evening out and can strongly recommend a visit in you're in the neighbourhood.

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!