Dubai night photography

Hi,
I had the pleasure to go out with 3 Swedish ladies and photograph out on the Palm Jumeirah the other night. We all met at the end of one of the outer palm leafs opposite Anantara Hotel. I have started to organize photography get togethers for the SWEA members in Dubai this was our third outing together.
We started a little bit too early but it was all nice to get together and have a nice chat only thing was its getting very hot outside in Dubai so at least I was quite uncomfortable just due to the heat and the humidity. There was absolute no wind out, well at least at our first location we swapped on the way back to another location and we had a slight breeze there.
We wanted to get the colors of the Dubai Skyline which we did in the end we just had to wait for it to get dark outside.

ISO 100 F 7.1 TV 1/80th of sec.

I shot this while we were waiting for the sun to set and it to get dark. 

The evening was not very clear unfortunately so I would like to go back to this location and photograph again another night when the sky is more clear and when its possibly cooler :)

 ISO 100 F 7.1 TV 6 sec.

 ISO 100 F 7.1 TV 6 sec.

This is our second location: So we saw JBR and Dubai Marina

 ISO 100 F 8 TV 6 sec.

                                                          ISO 200 F 6.3 TV 4 sec.

If you or your organization would like to take part in a photography outing with me please don't hesitate to contact me and we can set it up to suit you guys. Let me know what kind of photography it is you are interested in to take part of.  Just send me an email at info@shippeyphotography.com

I also do photography workshops if you are looking for more in-depth knowledge. 

Over and out for now.

Helenxx
www.shippeyphotography.com

Business portraits for MediaCom, Dubai

Hello,
As always there is a busy time at the Shippey Photography HQ. Which I love so I am not complaining at all the opposite totally.
At the moment I am photographing a lot of corporate head shots here are a few I have taken for MediaCom. They have a lovely bunch of colleagues working there, the office atmosphere when I come always seems so nice and energetic. I love it. Some of the lovely colleagues at the MediaCom MENA office.  http://www.mediacom.com

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you are looking to update your current head shots or need a new LinkedIn profile etc. Tel. 055 107 89 88, info@shippeyphotography.com

Over and out of today!

Helen

Halloween is upon us

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all well. I have meant to blog more often but it is so super hard to find the time. But don't give up on me just yet I am trying hard to do it more often. It is not that I have nothing to show you I have loads I am working very hard at the moment with so many different projects at the same time which I love so photography for me does not get boring for sure or mundane since I am photographing so many different things all the time.
Yesterday I photographed for my Make-Up Artist, Magdalena Alexandersson, she is such a super great make up artist I am so thrilled to be working with her on my photography shoots.
She did this for a Halloween themed make up contest.
What do you think? She went for a scary Prom Queen look. I loved it. The blood really looked like it was oozing out from her forehead.
So what are you up to for halloween? Any particular scary plans? Me I will be working there is a PGA golf tournament going on that weekend here in Dubai so will be a busy one for me. I take bookings for Halloween themed photography shoots if you would like to have one for your self or for your children. just let me know. Mob. 055 107 89 88
Ta ta for now.
Helen xx

Firework time of year again in Dubai

Happy EID everyone!
It is that time of year in Dubai where you can go out and photograph fireworks.
Tonight you can capture some cool fire work images down at the Festival Center Marina Walk. If you need some help in regards to how to photograph fireworks I have written a blog post about it earlier, you can find it here: http://shippeyphotography.blogspot.ae/2012/12/happy-new-year-dubai.html
Happy shooting everyone!
Helen xx

Happy New Year Dubai!

It is that time of year again! Time for new years resolutions and of course to watch and also maybe photograph the splendid fire work displays that we have here in Dubai or wherever you are in the world. Here in Dubai we have two firework displays that usually are spectacular there are of course several fire works displays but two that are usually a bit out of the ordinary at least. It is Burj Khalifa the tallest building in the world and Atlantis The Palm Hotel. Lets hope I am not wrong and that they both are boycotting fireworks or something this year :-)
For those of you that are photographer enthusiasts I would like to give some tips on how you can capture the fireworks with your camera.
When photographing fireworks your location is very important. You do not want anyone potentially standing in front of you or that a building is blocking part of your view. So location is very important you might want to go and location scout before hand since once the fireworks have started you will not have time to move yourself and your camera gear.
A tripod is almost a must at least very recommendable. If you do not have one find something solid to put your camera on such as a table or a ledge. Because you will not be able to hand hold the camera for the long exposures that are needed no matter how steady you are. A remote trigger is very handy so that you will not get any camera shake but not a necessity. If you do not have one you need to press your shutter very gently, no sudden moves.
Then put your camera on Manual mode. There are of course several different settings that you can choose from nothing is totally right or wrong just give different effects.
But to give you somewhere to start out at you can have your DSLR on ISO 100, Aperture 11 and Shutter speed somewhere between 1 to 8 seconds. At 8 seconds you will have more firework rain (light trails) and a brighter image since your camera curtain will be open for a longer period of time. When you choose a short shutter speed such as 1 second then you will only be able to capture the short bursts of light.
The lower your ISO is the less noise will be visible in your photograph, but if you do not have a tripod you can increase your ISO to compensate that a little but you then have to be aware that you will get more noise in your photographs. Try to predict where and when the fireworks will go off to capture the colorful bursts, you do not want to press your shutter when the rocket/firework starts since it then will take it too long for the colorful bursts to appear and you will overexpose your photo a bit too much.

ISO 200, Shutter speed 4 sec. Aperture F. 14

ISO 100, Shutter speed 1Sec, Aperture F.11 

ISO 100, Shutter speed 3Sec, Aperture F.11

It can also be nice to include people into your composition to show a sense of perspective and dimension. This image below is to display that and that you should not wait till the last minute to photograph a firework display because the sky after a while will become very smoky from all the fireworks which you can see in this image so its not a great image by any means I just want to prove my point. :-)

ISO 200, Shutter speed 2 sec. Aperture F.14

Good luck tonight!  If you live in Dubai you will have a second chance at photographing fireworks during the Dubai Shopping Festival. They always have spectacular fireworks over the creek then. The above images are taken during last years shopping festival.
If all else fails you can always sign up for one of my photography workshops :-) LOL
http://shippeyphotography.blogspot.com/2012/12/happy-new-year-dubai.html

Happy New Year everyone!
Helen xx

Dubai Christmas Cards

Hi,
If you are a bit like me and enjoy a little bit of DIY jobs at least when it comes to crafts, maybe not to put up your own book shelves. :) I love it when you get gifts when you can tell there have been some thought put into it and not just a random tie or a pair of socks. (oops I gave my hubby a tie for Christmas) Ok so don’t do as I do, do as I say :-)
While you still have your Christmas decorations up take  advantage of it and plan next years Christmas cards already now.
It does not have to be difficult, go and get your christmas ornaments,
choose some of your favorite ones, if you have children it can actually be some of the ornaments that they have made in the past that can make a lovely and sentimental christmas card both at the same time.
This is my daughters first Christmas so we don’t have any ‘special’ ornaments yet only what I bought at ACE hardware last year.
What you need to make this Christmas card:

• A camera (does not need to be a dslr, any camera will do. It is all in the composition)
• Christmas ornaments
• Printer (or go to your local Kodak shop)
• Computer (not necessary if you go to your local Kodak shop, unless you want to add text to the photo, but I think your local printing shop can actually help you with that as well.)
• Hard thick paper (you can get this in your local stationary shop, or Carrefour and Hyper Panda also have them)
• Scissors or paper knife or paper cutter
• Glue
• Ruler (to make sure you cut in straight lines)
• Large piece of paper or sheet (for your background so can be anything that you would like to have as a back ground colour in your photographs, can be your christmas tree as well)

Ok there are a few things that you should think about when arranging your ornaments. If you have really shiny ones then you will probably get a reflection and see everything that are behind the camera. Such as yourself and anything else. I for example saw myself with my tripod and my washing that was hanging on a clothe horse behind me to the side.... Not what I want all my friends to see in their christmas card.

This is what my set up looked like. I used my washing basked upside down to get the ornaments off the floor. You can also use a table or what ever you have at home that is suitable for you. 

Once I realized that I saw myself and how messy the room I used was I started to dislike all the ornaments that had a reflecting surface. You can of course edit those areas in photo shop but my motto is to get it right in the camera so that you don’t create extra work for yourself afterwards, as much as you can at least.

Also remember to dust off your ornaments to make sure they look really nice. Because in a photograph you see everything. I saw on some of mine that a strand of my own hair was stuck in it I was very annoyed with myself that I had not seen it when I composed the photograph. Since I had missed it I edited it out in photoshop afterwards.

When you compose your photograph think of if you would like some text to go on the photograph it self. You then need to ‘save’ some space in your photograph for it so that you have the same background. If you add more space afterwards in photoshop or other software you will be able to tell that you have done exactly that.

Here are some finished photographs. You now just need to print them in the size you want and glue them to a card and post them.

You can of course give me a call and I can come and take a family photograph of you and your family and use that on your christmas cards. Tel. +971 (0)55 107 89 88 Ask for Helen 

I can also help you with printing your own A5 size Christmas cards they are folded and plain inside. I have a professional printing company that I use for that.

www.shippeyphotography.com