Check out How I did my Front Cover Magazine Photo Shoot

Hi,
As I have told you guys earlier I photographed the cover for World Wide Golf Magazine a while back but could not yet share any images with you. The magazine is finally out so I can now show you guys some more details from the photo shoot.

As I mentioned before I was using Profoto Lights to light up both the background evenly as well as Mr. Donald Trump himself. I took a few over view images so that you can easier see my photography set up for this magazine cover photo shoot.
http://issuu.com/sportingpublications/docs/wwg_june_issue__lr

Here is my lighting set up, I had 3 D1's, I was at first thinking I should use the B1's since I was not sure if I would have near by access to a power socket but I had the chance to go to my location the day before for a quick look at the premisses to give me an idea of what I had available for me so in the end I opted for that D1's would work fine. I had two Profoto Strip Softboxes RFi 1x6' to make sure the background was evenly lit up. You can see part of my Profoto Octa Softbox that I used as my main light that I had positioned just above Donald Trumps head. On this photo it is lower down for when I was testing but you will see below that I put it higher up later due to that Donald Trump is a very tall man he is 1.91cm. ( I googled that in advance, so that I would be prepared of how I would have to position my lighting) When you know you have an extremely short period of time to photograph someone you should aim at having as few surprises as possible and to have as many facts as you can to speed up the photo shoot itself.  I had my back drop stand as high up as I possibly could and it was still not as high up as I would have liked it to be. I wanted more back drop space above his head than I actually had but hey there was nothing I could to about that there. I am quite tall (1.76cm) but I still had to stand a little bit on my tipi toes in order to create more background space above his head as well as not to photograph him from below :)

My assistant refused to step in front of the camera when I wanted to do a test shot lol so here is a shot of me testing how it would look if I gave Donald Trump a putter. You can see that I had put my main light  a little bit higher for this shot than in the previous one when I was just checking if they were all working at the same time :)

Here you can see an issue I had when Mr. Trump pointed the driver too far right, the end interfered with my background lighting, so I had to steer him more to the center to get a good shot. This is due to us being in such a small space, had we had a larger studio then this would have been avoided. But we had set up a studio in a small room next to where the press conference were for the Trump International Golf Course Akoya by Damac. Thankfully it was quite a high ceiling so that was to my advantage.

 To show you how the front cover was set up. My assistant Sherif Karas had put an X mark with tape on the floor so that we could easily tell Mr. Trump to please stand right there where we knew our light was set up for. I then removed it in photoshop on the images where it was visible.

I used a 2,75cm white paper back drop in case you were wondering. The white back drop was set up in front of a window.  With all this studio gear you can imagine my car was filled to the rim. I had to take the baby car seat out to be able to fit my camera bag lol. The camera I used of this job was a Canon 5D Mark 3 with the Canon 24-70mm lens f2.8. For most of the photographs I had my shutter speed on 160 and aperture was 8 and 9. I used 8 for most of the shots but changed in the end to 9 for some but kept my shutter speed the same and ISO was 100. I always photograph with the camera in Manual mode to make sure I have full control of all the elements.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask, I will try and answer as best I can.
Over and out for now.
Helen xx
www.shippeyphotography.com

Cover photo shoot with Mr. Donald Trump

I had a very fun experience last week when I photographed the cover for World Wide Golf Magazine in Dubai. My subject was in fact a golfer but not one from the PGA Tour like I am used to photograph for them. This time it was none other than Donald Trump that was in town for  less than 24 hours. He jetted in early morning and set off again the same evening. Talk about a hectic travel agenda he must have. He was here to give a press conference about his new project that he is developing together with Damac here in Dubai. They are building Trump International Golf Course as well as housing developments around the golf course where his daughter Ivanka Trump is very involved in all the details from house layout to the bath room fixtures.
I was not sure what to expect of my photo shoot part from I knew that I needed to be quick and super efficient and clear with what I wanted him to do once he stood in front of my camera. All lights and everything needed to be set in advance. These things are of course a no brainer its what I do all the time but this time I knew there was no margin for error since we were all very pressed with the time we had with Donal Trump. He is of course by being who he is very used to being photographed so were probably the easiest subject to photograph but I did never think of it that way before hand. I was more worried about would he want to do what I wanted him to do in front of the camera? Well there was only one way to find out and that was to ask and show him what I wanted him to do. It all went according to plan very much thanks to my lovely photographer assistant I had on the day without him I am not sure I would have been able to pull it all off as smoothly as I did. So a Big Thank you to Sherif Karas for flying in from Cairo to help me out. As always when you never want anything to go wrong or not work according to plan it of course does but my assistant got everything up and running before Donald Trump entered the room Phew. I was slightly nervous for a few minutes but thanks to also having direct communications with Samir at Advanced Media we got everything sorted in time. This just shows you how important it is to know your gear inside and out because when something does not work the way you want it you need to know what to do or in this case who to call :)
The magazine wanted a plain white back ground so I had opted for two Profoto 1x6 light strips to light up the background evenly. I then had a Profoto Octa soft box as my main light just slightly above Mr. Donald Trump, and a plain white paper back drop. He is a tall man so even me that are tall had to stand a little on my toes to not shoot from too low as well as to make sure the back ground did not end just at his hair line. I had the background stand as high as it went but would have wanted it to go just a little higher to be perfectly happy. I used the Profoto Air remote control to control the lights separately straight from my camera which is very handy.
I can't really show you any of the photographs that I took on the day of Donald Trump since the magazine is not out yet but I will be sure to share it with you once it is out.

Here is a snap of me when i am testing the lights my assistant is holding my camera.

This is me and Donald Trump after the shoot which took 10 minutes all together .)

As a fellow golfer myself I am very impressed by Donald Trumps golf achievement on the tee I think it was on hole 11, he hit a ball for the press to see, straight down the fairway in his suite and tie.
Most people can't to that after a few golf holes and practice swings and wearing proper golf attire.

Hope you are all well. I am for sure! Feel like I am living the dream today at least lol :)

Over and out for now!
/Helen
www.shippeyphotography.com

Dubai Picnic Brunch at Al Badia Golf Club

Hello,
I had the pleasure recently to photograph the Al Badia Golf Club Saturday Picnic Brunch.
The location of their picnic brunch is just perfect it is a large grassy lawn positioned at the foot of their clubhouse overlooking the 9th green and the 18th hole next to their lovely lake. It is a great picnic brunch for families with children they can run around at their large children's area so they are well taken care of while you sit and enjoy the gorgeous food. I personally love their outdoor setting especially right now in this weather it is so nice to be able to sit outdoors and eat for a few hours.
This time I was invited in to photograph some of their splendid food dishes and the picnic location. The weather was not optimal I must admit for taking photographs it was perfect to sit and enjoy the brunch however. :) They have both so you can sit and have a traditional picnic brunch feel on the grass or as I prefer to sit by a table then I can strap my little one in a high chair and keep her seated for a little while had we been on the grass she would probably not sit still much at all if any…. :) you have the option to choose.

A small peek at their children's area.

  

Omega Dubai Desert Classic 2012

Practice day 2 for the European Tour Golfers at Emirates Golf Club.
I have a very busy week ahead of me, yesterday I met with a lovely Norwegian Wedding couple that I am photographing today. They are getting married here in Dubai at the Norwegian Seamen's Center. I will start with taking some photographs of the ceremony then we will all head to one of the beaches in Dubai for some beach shots, once you guys see the wedding photos you will know exactly where we were :-) Just like last week I have the great pleasure of Caroline to assist me during the photography shoot! Thank you so much for the support Caroline!
Well like I started saying I met with the wedding couple yesterday after that I headed over to Emirates Golf Club to snap some shots of the golfers in action on the golf course. For those of you that don't already know that I am Swedish might understand that once you guys see who I photographed yesterday..... :-)

Since I have your attention I might as well mention that I will be on the radio live tomorrow on Dubai Eye at 11.00 together with Suzanne Radford. We are broadcasting from the Golf Village at the Emirates Golf Club. So please tune in to 103.8 if you can. We will however not talk about golf but about ARTE Souk that takes place on Friday at Time Square. www.arte.ae

Taba Heights Golf Resort Egypt

For everyone that loves golf I have now made a 2011 Taba Heights Golf Resort Calendar with images of the golf course that I have taken throughout its subtle season changes.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/hshippey/calendars/6502723-1-taba-heights-golf-resort


If you are more into a Coffee Table Book you can get your own Taba Heights Golf Resort Coffee Table book here.
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1503591

Taba Heights Golf Resort Coffee Table Book

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150284181688418&ref=ts

Jan Heesbeen the General Manager for Marriott Red Sea Resort to the left and me in the middle and my hubby to my right.

I have a Permanent Photography Exhibition of 9 images that I have taken of the Taba Heights Golf Resort, Egypt.

The Sinai Mountain Range together with the azure waters of the Gulf of Aqaba gives me great inspiration when photographing the golf course. You have spectacular backdrops at every turn. 
I have had the great pleasure to photograph the Taba Heights Golf Course throughout all its seasons. You might not think that a golf course in the desert changes throughout the year but it does be it more subtle than in Europe. The golf course also gives you great opportunity to photograph rare and exotic birds that migrate through the area.

To get to know more about Taba Heights and what it has to offer check out their website: www.tabaheights.com/golf

Dubai here I come!

I have received what I think is the best Christmas present ever! Yes, I know it is a few days early... but I just could not wait with the great news I had to tell you now. We are after 3 and a bit years in Egypt moving back to Dubai. I am so super excited about the move, there will be so many new great opportunities and many photography ideas that needs to be realized.

If you are short on Christmas ideas for your loved ones and you cannot give them a move to another country then here are a few ideas that I have come up with.

For the music lover maybe this cool guitar USB Flash drive? It is a 4GB USB Flash drive so it can come in very handy. Maybe something for my dad? He plays the guitar.. hum not a bad idea. 

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Guitar-4GB-Flash-Drive/dp/B004F1MU6W/ref=sr_1_134?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1292767261&sr=1-134

 or for your fashionable lady friends maybe a handbag USB Flash drive?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004F1V28E/ref=s9_simh_se_p23_d0_i4?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-no-results-center-1&pf_rd_r=0W9CVC06CHYGC2WM5C3F&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1263465782&pf_rd_i=USB-minne%20i%20form%20av%20en%20systemkamera%20i%20miniatyr

or this very multi useful Swiss Flash drive? 

http://www.amazon.com/Swiss-Army-SwissFlash-USB-Drive/dp/B001E6T636/ref=sr_1_180?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1292767335&sr=1-180

My personal favorites and for all you photography crazy friends there are a few different options to choose from.

A Nikon 70-200 large thermos.

 A Canon 24-105 Coffee mug.

 or this very cool 4GB USB Flash drive that looks like a miniature DSLR camera.

The photography gifts I found on a swedish website called: http://kaffebrus.com
http://kaffebrus.com/nikon-70-200-stor-termos-objektivmugg-1439.html

Good luck everyone with your Christmas shopping!
Oh yes maybe I should also mention if you are interested in getting someone you know some Wall Art and 2011 Calendars for Christmas please take a look at my collection at Red Bubble. I unfortunately don't think they will arrive on time for Christmas though.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/hshippey

Greeting card

2011 Calendar 

Framed image

Or if you have a golf fanatic friend this golf book is a great gift it has wonderful golf images taken of the Taba Heights Golf Resort by yours truly and on top of that Golf Pro tips on how to play each hole! Take a peek here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1503591

Sending you lots of Christmas Cheer from a warm Egypt!