Landscape pictures

Yesterday I was busy working on pictures that are part of a project that have continuously been going on for almost a year now, the reason for this to go on for such a long time is to get landscape pictures of the  during different seasons.  Since I am doing this project in Egypt the changes are not as drastic as it would have been in lets say Sweden for instance but they do also have changes in which flowers that bloom and how many of them etc more subtle changes but still changes. You can play with weather changes such as cloud formation and wind, but you always need to remember what the client wants and what they will use the pictures for. Since a picture with lots of dark clouds might not attract too many tourists to the area because they might think it will be bad weather. But as a photographer it is more fun to take a more dramatic picture than one where the sky is blue and the sun is shining.

Never forget why you are taking the picture if it is for your own amusement or if it is for a client. If you can get those two factors to coincide that is always great, but it does not always work out that way.

All the pictures below are from the same area but obviously at different days.

Portraits

Here are two portraits that I took of a mother and her two sons while I was in Sweden. I had scouted the location prior to the photo shoot we had to wait almost two weeks to do the portraits because the weather conditions were not great for portraits outside. It was raining everyday then finally there was a dry morning and we hurried outside to do the shoot it was still not very warm it was an early morning shoot with the sun on its way up. One of the sons, not the one on the picture above kept on complaining that the grass was making his feet cold and I agree it was nto the warmest of days even if it was summer. But the little guy above didn't complain much at all as long mommy was near by. He did start sticking his tung out on lots of pictures and it wasn't much I could do about it lucky for him he is so little and cute and can therefore get away with it on a picture. His parents will still hang the picture on the wall and think its adorable. I have done a soft focus filter retouching in photoshop on both these pictures.

A leisurely business trip is there such a thing?

Wow, so much have happened since I wrote to you last... I hardly know where to start.

Ok here I go, by the end of May I went on a long trip to Sweden that included both some leisure time and some hard work. I promise that as soon as I am finished with polishing the pictures I will post a few for you to take a peak at. To give you a preview of what is to come I can tell you that I went to a horse-race the kind of horse-race when the horses trot not gallop. It was great fun and I got some cool pictures form it as well. It was my fist time to this kind of horse-race I have previously only been to horse-racing where the jockey is sitting on the horse not in a wagon behind the horse, you know like they do at The Ascot Horse Race when all the ladies dress up very posh and wear large fancy hats well this was totally different I can tell you that. I was for one thing not wearing a fancy hat! I did bring my umbrella though that I needed to use. I also got a peek behind the scenes in the stables which was very educating and interesting. I also saw lots of famous Swedish Jockeys but I would not have known this unless they were pointed out to me since their names alone did not ring any bells in my head at all. So as you can understand I was a very novice first timer to this kind of horse-race but that did not stop me from gambling a bit.... All and all I had a great time.

I also had time to take quite a few nature shots, pictures of old houses (I just can't resist its something with things that look old that appeals to me...), family portraits, weddings, family reunions, landscape views of Stockholm and probably lots more that I cant remember right now. But I promise I will show you some of it later on. The thing with having been away either its on business or for leisure you always have lots to catch up on once you are back again. I have today written a To Do list for myself and it is rather long so I guess I better get cracking on it.

Over and out for now and I will chat with you some more soon.

Busy with projects.

Hi,

Wow time really goes by quickly when you are busy, it felt like I wrote to you just yesterday. I am right now working on a new project, a Photography Book. It is not as easy as I originally thought to choose which pictures to use and which you are better off leaving out. My plan was also to have not only pictures but some information about the destination topic that I have chosen so needless to say I need to sit down and figure out what is worth mentioning and not. I will let you know how it turned out once I am finished with it. I really put pressure on myself now to get it finished didn't I :-) Maybe just what I need though.  

I have also updated my website so please have a look at it when you have time http://www.shippeyphotography.com

My hubby and I have recently booked our honeymoon trip to New York so I am right now making a very long list of Photography Equipment that I want to purchase while we are there. Here in Egypt you can not get any good photography gear that is worth spending your money on. For those of you who don't know it already I can tell you I like gadgets so its a bit hard for me to only read about all the new exciting stuff that comes out and not have the oportunity to go and test it and buy it in the shops. 

I just finished reading the May issue of Travel Trade Gazette Middle East & North Africa (I received both the April and May issue today?! Egyptian post..) where I saw one of my pictures published, its always nice to see your photographs in print.  I am quite sure I have posted the same picture on this blog earlier this year in February. It was a picture of the Kempisnki Hotel Soma Bay that they had used, unfortunately for me there was no credit line for yours-truly.

Here is a picture that I took recently of one of the Resorts in Taba Heights.

Group Photo Assignment part 2

Ok I have now been out scouting for a location where I can fit 100 people and where I can be on a higher spot then they are and where the lighting is good.

My conclusion is that my original though will not work, because this hotel where I will be doing the photo-shoot does not have the same looking guard towers. Theirs are a lot lower in height so I will not get up high enough to capture the staff the way I had planned. But what this hotel do have is a mountain so I am now thinking that I will walk up on the mountain with my tripod and take a picture of them from the mountain. Regarding time of photo-shoot I think 18.00 will be a good time the sun is setting so the light will not be too harsh I am not sure the location will be in the shade already or not. I still have to go there at 18.00 and have a look. We have had a few cloudy days which would have been great but you cant count that you will have is cloudy on the day when you decide to take the picture. I will keep you in the loop of what will come of my group photo-shoot

New Group Photo Assignment

Yesterday I was asked to take a group photo, I thought to myself  sure why not I can do that. Then they told me its of approximately 100 pax that in itself is not that big of a deal. The tricks comes when you need to find a location that will be sufficiently large enough for about 100 people and at the same time have good lighting. I was pondering this morning about it while I was out o my morning walk. The light was very nice just before 08.00 I was thinking this could be a good time but then I do not think the people that I need to take a picture of will be very happy about a early morning photo shoot. I think they are more of a mid lunch to an afternoon kind of crowed, so I need to keep that in mind as well. My thoughts now in order to be able to take a photograph of all of them in one frame is to gather them on the beach and I will climb up in a beach guard tower or a ladder but it wont be to safe to place on the beach. I will go down to the beach today and scout out a location. 

Since I have not taken the picture yet I cant post it for you I will post it later though as soon as I have done it. In the mean time you can have a look at this picture that was taken earlier on the same beach stretch of a guard tower. So you can visualize me standing on top of it. I wonder if it will be high enough?