dubai

Ten things I’ve learned from a decade of solopreneurship

Ten things I’ve learned from a decade of Freedom.

 Twelve years ago, on a regular run of the mill day, I got up from my comfortable corporate cubicle in a swanky office tower and handed in my resignation letter. I’d had enough of paperwork and politics and was ready to trade in my suit for sneakers, swap my posh Jaguar for a beaten up Land Rover Defender. I had little clue about the direction I was heading in, but deep determination solves all issues. Big dreams and real action fuels success. I was on fire and itching for freedom!

I now find myself a decade on. I must have passed Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule yet this is an industry that’s never matures. It is ever vibrant, dynamic and evolving… and as a result, I’ve kept evolving. Some clients have stayed aboard and others have left the boat. That’s the name of the game, I guess. Out with the old, in with the new. I value building long lasting relationships with clients yet I also love the pursuit of new ones. I’m generally not wired to do more of the same… I thrive on challenging myself, always chasing the next rung on the ladder. It’s all about the hustle. I found a great quote recently: “The dream is free. The hustle is sold separately.” Which sums is up nicely.

So in order to celebrate my 12 years of hustling, I thought I’d write an honest reflection of the lessons learnt and insights gleamed. I guess I’m reaching out to the young guns here, those transitioning towards their dream job and those corporate dudes ready to turn their back on that office cubicle.

TEN THINGS I’ve learned over a decade of DOING SHIT I LOVE

  1. Focus on your passion and don’t chase the money

A question I’m often asked is how to get started. That’s a big question but at the core, I always refer to passion. Everyone has a personal interest at heart and everyone can shoot their subject way better than anyone else. So start within your comfort zone, borrow or rent some basic gear and start to build a strong portfolio or show reel around this. Funny things happen after this. Doors open!

 Forget about chasing the money. We really do deliver our best work when doing something we’re really passionate about. That driving force feeds enthusiasm which feeds creativity that leads to amazing work. It’s a powerful cycle. The opposite is also true… when I’ve stepped into jobs that have either physically depleted me or where interest is lacking, my output has been below average. For this reason, I only do gigs that I’ll love working on.  I know that’s easier said than done at times yet my core message shall always remain… focus on your passion and don’t chase the money.

  1. Outstanding work leads to awesome opportunities

I’ve had some amazing opportunities come my way, doors that opened completely out of the blue. Shooting my aerial book on Dubai for example. And a client flying me around the world to shoot celebs or creating a cool destination film around Luxor, Egypt. These were fantastic opportunities that resulted directly from previous (unrelated) assignments… assignments where I busted my ass to produce outstanding work.

Sometimes it takes a while to connect the dots, but then you get that call, “Hey Wouter, you know four years ago you did that PR stunt in the desert with golf pro’s Kaymer and Donalds? How about recreating that look, feel and energy with Margot Robbie?” You can’t engineer great gigs like these. The reason I was called in for the golf shoot back in 2010 was thanks to my being ‘the desert photography specialist’… this, a credit earned by shooting and producing books for the four editions of the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. Shooting Margot Robbie in The Empty Quarter, led to assignments in Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Moscow and Milan. This is just one of many examples of how delivering wow work plants seeds. It really is that simple. But don’t forget that seeds take time to grow and mature. You can’t always control your inflow of work but you can decide to only deliver outstanding work… the rest will come.

  1. What you talk about is what you get

So create a portfolio around the subject you’re passionate about. That’s where it starts. You then want to share it, whether through social media, your own site, another portal or even a pdf you send to your wish list of clients. This work becomes your identity. This is how people store you in their brains; the work you do, your style and how you work. With people, I mean your mum and dad, your friends, prospects, editors, marketing managers, decision makers… everyone who sees your work. They’re the ones talking about you and they push new work your way, so they need to sing the right song, right? Let’s say your passion is food. You love making visual art around food. You share this in the hope of getting work that allows you to do more food projects. Those around you only know you as the food creative so logically word of mouth heads in the right direction. When the phone rings, it’s a job right down your alley.

Having said that, at the beginning, you do need to keep it real so if you get a call to work on something different (or not your specialty) in exchange for cold, hard cash, don’t necessarily turn it down because it deviates from your passion. If it’s a decent gig, think about how you might use it to grow and pay for new gear… take the job, deliver great work (no shortcuts), pocket the cash and then make little or no noise. We’ve all done this. Just stay low profile about it.

Now what if that work grows? You now need to think about some long-term implications. Cash may motivate but doesn’t rule all. How important is taking the gig versus spending your time promoting the area where your passion really lies? If you take the job, do you confuse your audience? One way to minimize confusion is to ensure your online presence is only filled with the work you’re passionate about.  Where your energy goes, your focus goes. Again what you talk about is what you get.

  1. Personal work is powerful

Big clients or brands rarely book you to do a project that allows you to experiment with anything new. Why? Because the bigger the production, the more clients and different agencies get involved and all too often, decision makers want to play it safe. It’s a game of risk management. So don’t bet on the call for an experimental gig. Instead, go out and create those opportunities yourself. This is what I call personal work. No clients, no brief, just collaboration with amazing people and the freedom to explore. I love my personal work. It allows me to experiment with new gear, build relationships and strengthen my portfolio. I sometimes do it to support an agency pitch or sponsorship proposal. It definitely helps when knocking on doors, with the aim of producing similar (and paid) work for clients. Forget fake it till you make it. Rather, create it to promote it.

Doing personal work should be fun and stretch you both creatively and technically. It calls for high energy and laughter on set. For those on the other side of the lens, it helps them build some nice visual content and tell stories of their own. My ‘Project Pause’ and ‘The Curiosity Film Series’ are personal projects where I share interesting stories. Project Pause is about inspiring people to spend more time in nature, away from the digital rat race we life in. Curiosity Series is about creating short films allowing interesting people to voice their stories and share their passions. I’ve no clear plan on where they’ll lead to, but I really enjoy the process and it feels like the right content to produce.

  1. Be fair in business and with people

What is your driving force to get up every morning? For me, it’s about creating impact and value, to produce art and share stories that move people. And I’m blessed to make a good living doing this. Yes … we should make a living from the skills we offer in exchange for a fee that is fair. Value your work. Your art should come with a price tag. Quality clients understand that. How much you charge is up to you but consider the product you offer and its market value. Don’t compete on price but rather compete with unique work, your style, your vision and how you deal with people. Again, quality clients appreciate that. Over the years, my fees have increased as productions got bigger and artwork more complex. Some clients have stayed on board, others haven’t. I would far rather lose clients due to my fees rather than poor delivery and if budget is a real struggle, I’d rather do a gig for free and work on my own terms than come in crazy cheap and be at the client’s mercy. Chase Jarvis wrote an interesting post here about decision making… how to validate (new) work by using three criteria, of which at least two need to be matched. It’s a good read.

I’m a big believer in teamwork. Productions can get insanely tough with long days, tight deadlines, chasing best light and hauling tons of gear around. The bigger the production, the bigger the crew. Amongst all that chaos, be fair with your team and look after them. Smiley faces, hydrated bodies and filled bellies still work the best… Perhaps this is a good opportunity to thank all the amazing heroes I’ve worked with over the years… You’re awesome.

  1. Connect with people not brands

As a creative, you have relationships with people not brands. Someone who says I do work for brand X actually says I have a relationship with someone at that brand, so that relationship is sacred. Look after them. You’re not married to a brand, you’re in a relationship with someone who represents that brand and gives you the opportunity to collaborate and have fun with it.

When that person leaves the company, so does your ongoing work with them and you have to re-apply with his/her replacement. Having a strong brand history helps but is no guarantee for future work. The new person might bring in someone he already has a relationship with, he might have a totally different vision and your style simply doesn’t match. Anything can happen so your best bet is to present your work, share that you’re keen to explore new ideas, discover his philosophy and take things from there. People come and go. So do brands. If all goes well, you stay with the brand and you’ll transition with the departing person in his or her new role and start collaborating with their new brand too. That’s a great way to organically grow your network and client base.

Pro actively reach out to those you want to work for and build relationships with marketing people, art directors, creative directors, brand managers and editors. Try to book in facetime with them and present your work. Don’t forget that there are 10’s or 100’s of others also knocking on their doors but if you’re hungry enough and bang the door for long enough, they do open…

  1. Curiosity rocks

Be curious about life. Travel the world, discover new places, immerse yourself in nature and breathe in fresh mountain air. Keep developing professionally. Grow personally and spiritually. Break old habits and seek new patterns. Curiosity keeps your fire going. It’s the fuel that get’s you out of bed at 4am to create magic.

Travel is my greatest source of curiosity and I’m fortunate that I get to travel for gigs. A particular favourite was a gig in Hong Kong to recreate a British Airways vintage poster in celebration of 80 years of Asia flights. We shot David Gandy on a jam-packed corner near a busy night market, where the backdrop of neon lights just framed perfectly. With a crew of 20 and just thirty minutes to shoot four options, I suspect we fed the curiosity of the on looking crowd too!

Another favourite was right here in Dubai. I’ve lived here a long time but rarely venture to the historical part of town, to the old souks and the vibrant areas around the creek. A few years ago, I wanted to experience true Old Dubai so I booked myself into a heritage hotel on the creek for three days. Just me and an old Hasselblad, with no brief other than to wander from sunrise to sunset and long after. I just wanted to be present and feel the energy around me, without rush or urgency. To feed my curiosity! I would encourage everyone to experience their home town as a five year old child. Big eyes, lots of questions and a great sense of wonder.

Feeding your curiosity goes hand in hand with making a commitment to never stop learning. Here in Dubai, you have Gulf Photo Plus, which is a great photography community, and online, Creative Live, which has tons of content. I‘m also a big fan of podcasts. I follow Rich Roll and Lewis Howes’ School of Greatness but there are many many more. I listen to them during downtime, especially during long commutes.

  1. You are a brand

Building a business and a brand takes time. Twelve years ago, I (foolishly) started my brand as Orange Expressions, partly to shy away from using my own name and being insecure about what I would deliver. I quickly re-branded into Wouter Kingma Productions (adding productions gave me the baggage to go after bigger gigs and book productions). Now my brand is just my name, Wouter Kingma. Clients book me for my style and what I have produced based on my portfolio. If you’re a creative, your brand is YOU so I think your brand should be your name.

Get a website and only upload your best work and the work you love to do more of. Your online presence should only feature the stuff you really want to do. I seek help from the team at Wonderful Machine, who help me select what goes online. It’s good to get feedback from fresh eyes. When it comes to social media, ensure you only post value, I repeat only post value. Don’t join the crowd of junk, fake and useless content that clutters cyber space. Instead be real, be inspiring and be yourself.

Making noise about your work is a must. That’s how you get recognized and book new business. How and where to share stories is different for everyone. I’m perhaps a little old school writing my own blog, but over the years it has become my diary of sorts. It’s filled with real life experiences, my best work and behind the scenes videos and as it’s a blog rather than a social media channel, I own the content. I work with an amazing copy editor Tori, who turns my jagged words into words that flow. I often pull out posts to share with prospects… a handful of images, a video and a short captivating write up about what happened on set sells much better than a few jpgs at the end of an email. The blog also feeds my newsletter and the work I do in my Canon ambassador role.

  1. Surround yourself with creative brilliance

Success is a team sport and becoming who you are, is a collaborative journey. No one makes it alone so surround yourself with the best creative people you can afford. This applies equally to the established brands and the fresh ones. Sure, when you start out, affordability is an issue, but bear in mind that some work for cash, some just for love and others will put in their time in exchange for something you can offer them.  When it comes to meeting new creatives, it pays to attend regular gatherings, art shows, agency awards and talks. They can, at times, be hit or miss but they’re often a great place to source drive and contagious energy.

How I see it, every single day, we start with a fresh jar of energy, one jar with no refills. We all choose how to spend it so we need to be wise and spend it on the good stuff. If we surround ourselves with positive people who creatively inspire us, we have the right mindset to make the right decisions. So, pick the people around you wisely.

Surround yourself with inspiring work as well. I have a folder on my desktop called ‘creative by others’ and every time I see something that moves me, I screen grab it to add to this folder. It’s now full of stunning photographs, ad’s, artwork, quotes, interesting video’s, cool fonts, case studies, unique locations, brand books, strong design, articles and short captions. I go back to when I’m stuck with a brief or pitching for a new project. Follow in Picasso’s footsteps, who said, ‘Good artists copy… great artists steal’ so seek inspiration from others then build from it and twist it into your own.

  1. Only Karma. Trust the process and believe in yourself

People land on your path at the right time. Phones ring and emails ping when you’re ready. Life unfolds just as intended. When I speak about this to my age groupers… the 40ish kids amongst us… they get it… so to the Millennials out there, just be cool about the journey you’re on. Everyday, people cross our paths and valuable lessons land on our laps for a reason.

It’s taken me a lifetime (or at least the recent dozen years) to be where I am today, comfortable with what I do with a body of work I’m proud off. Being a self taught photographer and filmmaker comes down to vision, dedication and believing in yourself. If I can do it, so can you. So please, quit the mundane and follow your heart. We’re surrounded by people addicted to their comfort zone, where not much happens… Precious time just slips away like water through your fingers. What might seem a giant leap isn’t as intimidating as it seems. It’s up to you to make it an exciting new chapter… bumpy at times, no doubt, but thrilling nonetheless.

I hope these words have planted seeds in those dreaming in their corporate cubicle. Feel free to follow my sporadic blog and irregular newsletters. Through the soon to launch Canon Academy, I’ll be running classes on making the big leap and following your dreams as well as some advanced tech stuff. Announcements will be made on Instagram.

Be great.

Stay great.

Wouter

Waldorf Astoria Driving Experience

Over the last few years, I’ve had the great fortune of traveling around the world documenting the story behind the Waldorf Astoria Driving Experience. We’ve cruised through Rome, Paris, Dubai, Ras al Khaimah and Edinburgh. How did I land such an awesome gig? It was all thanks to a kind introduction via my friend Zantelle at Lamborghini. I’m always grateful to have great clients who share the love…

Needless to say, we’ve created great chaos with our fleet of colourful and noisy Lambo’s. Streets come to a standstill. Fellow motorists stop to pull out their mobiles. It’s all a dream for boys who love their toys. Yet not everyone has been impressed with our presence. It’s funny how the various law enforcement officers react differently. Cruising through Rome, the police were snapping away while we looped around Piazza Venezia Roma… me doing my standard bag of tricks, crawling in and around the convertible Huracan to capture some great car to car shots. But in Scotland, we were pulled aside. “Excuse me sir, why are you not wearing your seatbelt?”. I was ready to wax lyrical why but didn’t even get the chance. In it’s place, a stern lecture about road safety, responsibility and ‘what would happen if’s….’

Little did he know that I do this for a living and have been in way scarier situations than bumper to bumper traffic cruising towards Edinburgh Castle. I was nearly issued a fine and knew better than to argue. A sincere apology did the trick and besides, even my five year old son reminds me about being strapped in before driving.

The tour has been great. 4am wake up calls to catch the sunrise up Jebel Jais. Timing traffic lights to get a clear view of Pont d’Iena for the iconic Eiffel Tour backdrop. Ducking hoards of scooters and navigating crazy narrow roads in Rome. Then there was the lead car being driven by the throttle heavy hotel manager and me, with a 23 year old Lambo pro driver, briefed to stay within inches of his back bumper.

I love this shit. The mesmerised eyes on the street, the sound of the Aventador’s V12 engine, the long list of happy hotel guests who get to experience how it feels to own a Lamborghini and a bag of iconic visuals to boot. Returning all the metal in one piece and the cool memories to return home with are the icing on the cake.

Wk.

Curiosity Film Series

This post marks a sort of personal milestone for me. Over the last year or so, I’ve been working on a film series named CURIOSITY. I’m not necessary new to motion work, but producing a consistent short film series brings a new tool to a filmmakers kit so I threw myself into the deep end and took this on, with the sole objective of creating five special shorts with five super talented athletes. It’s been a journey of fun, learning and fine-tuning along with establishing my own RAW style and juggling with unscripted story telling.

Making films, with captivating people in beautiful places, has become one of the most satisfying things that I do. I’ve so enjoyed the entire process and I feel truly stoked to finally release the series. All five are now online at www.wouterkingma.com/film. I hope you take the time to watch them all and feel moved by the inspiring individuals featured. Here’s a quick trailer.

It’s been an absolute privilege to work with these five incredibly gifted athletes… David Labouchere, Sjaak van Tunen, Claudine Foong, Karina Bensemann and Heidi Jones. The art of storytelling is so very powerful but it’s their unique and personal stories that really make the series such a success. They live and breathe their sport and it’s inspiring and humbling to learn about their successes, struggles and failures.

Watch the individual episodes:

David Labouchere // triathlete & entrepeneur

Karina Bensemann // surfer & PT

Claudine Foong // pro golfer & coach

Sjaak van Tunen // surfer

Heidi Jones // Integrated Health Coach

The majority of the series was shot on the new Canon Cinema C200 camera. As a Canon ambassador, there are always talks about new projects and field stories so I suggested they let me use the prototype C200 to shoot this series. A new piece of gear inevitably brings new challenges like unsupported software, no manuals and having to just figure things out as you go but overall, I really enjoyed working with it. It has great features like internal RAW recording and a touch screen with auto tracking. It delivers great quality footage with unbelievable colour richness and fits all my existing Canon lenses too. Check out this super short behind the scenes video about bringing the series together.

As for what drives my personal work? Put simply, it provides total creative freedom. I’ve always been a big advocate of doing personal work. You don’t have to worry about brands and labels, politics and hidden agendas. You can just work with your own ideas and push yourself to produce something that adds value to others. That is the ultimate reward, the ability to inspire and motivate others to leap into the unknown and fulfill their own dreams.

The feedback I’ve received so far has been awesome so I really hope for future opportunities producing more series with inspiring entrepreneurs, artists and designers.

Wk.

Omantel Campaign

Fun and games in the heat of summer. It’s taken a while to recap this shoot but I felt it was worth sharing. We flew down to Muscat with the simple objective of shooting four hero frames for the new Omantel campaign.

In line with the brief, we worked solely at sunrise and sunset, which was the smart thing to do anyway given the heat and insane humidity. The locations wanted were pretty straightforward, with either an urban or a mountain/desert feel. Anyone who’s been to Muscat will know that this meant no shortage of options. You can find iconic sand dunes slap bang in the middle of town.

The forth and final shot proved the real challenge. Two people rappelling down a waterfall or ‘Meet Non-Stop’ as the creative copy described. I had a pretty good reference image to go by, albeit one shot in the Alps. The location guys found a great spot deep into Wadi Tiwi, which had flowing water even in the height of summer. Our athletes, Ben and Anisa, were amazing and super skilled. Clean polished rocks don’t make great anchor points so it took some time to set up the ropes… no easy feat in 45+c heat and with the blaring sunlight shining through the gorge. Still, we made it happen!

I arrived in Salalah a few weeks later to shoot Audi’s new Q5 and as I walked out of the domestic airport, there I was faced with a giant image of the shot with Ben and Anisa. Last December too, driving around Oman’s interior for a Lexus shoot, I spotted my ‘Three boys – Meet Playful’ shot featuring on a massive billboard on top of a building. It will never cease to be a huge reward seeing my work in large format.

Wk.

Emirates Marhaba Campaign

Following our Emirates Flight Catering shoot, we got the gig to work on the next round of Emirates artwork… this time creating a fresh image library for Marhaba. We were shooting at the new Dubai airport, which, like any airport has its complexities, especially with a crew of 25. Reach beyond immigration and you can’t just pop out to the car to grab a forgotten something. Access passes, x-ray machines and endless long corridors make for a challenging labyrinth for production.

The lounges have a fresh and modern feel, making for a great backdrop. Part of the brief was to make the imagery feel alive. Real people in real places… connection, engagement and an open invitation to travellers to enjoy their services.

Like all big productions, we worked to a tight schedule to deliver the goods. I had my camera set up for the shots to arrive on the agency / client iPad in real time. This way, the images can be reviewed on a larger screen and we can work on the finer details. It’s all about the detail…

All round, an enjoyable gig, a great cast and a grand job by RAPP in managing the production and creative.

Till the next.

Wk.

//SPONTANEOUS… Our Mad Run

Being surrounded by inspiring people brings immense value. Their positive energy rubs off on others, instilling passion and motivation. Eva Clarke is one of these people. She even has not one, but eleven, Guinness World Records to her name.

I’ve been working on a short film about her passion. During an interview, she shared her fear of heights. Time to crush that fear, I thought, as I went ahead and secretly booked a tandem jump for Skydive Dubai.

In response to my telling her what I’d done, she turned a whiter shade of pale before saying, “Well, if you want me to jump out of a plane, we’ll have to run to Dubai first.” I’m not sure if she was hoping I’d turn that mad idea down but I accepted. Not because it was a smart idea, I should add. Far from it!

So 5pm on the 3rd December, I find myself at the start of a 100+ kilometre run from Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit to SkyDive Dubai. Something inside me told me she’d be giving me a real un for my money…

We ran through the night, climbed fences, danced around sprinklers, lived Eva’s dream of being chased by wild dogs, dodged potholes in the pitch black, had crazy food cravings and pulled each other out of the occasional dark place. We actually had a lot of fun!

Thankfully, I was in charge of navigation. Had this been left to Eva, I suspect we’d still be running. We sounded like an old married couple just getting off Yas Island, when Eva wanted to run in the wrong direction toward Saudi Arabia.

In the middle of the night, we had a taxi reverse towards us on the highway (as they do). I looked at Eva and said “You know this is our exit out of here!” She smiled and he drove off,  leaving us staring at his red tail lights.

Towards the end, the run became more of an endurance challenge, pushing and clocking the mileage as we went along. Admittedly not much running anymore. The long march home. The lack of long training runs was apparent and my legs felt pretty trashed.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed over the time it took to cover the 108 kilometre total. We were on the move for just over 19 hours and I’d been hoping to take around 16. I had to find peace with this before feeling happy with the achievement. The key is that neither of us were prepared for this sort of distance and after eight or so hours of forward motion, the body starts to protest. We were dehydrated even at the start line and then ran out of water a couple of times.

The first 60km was on hard-packed surface through Abu Dhabi’s residential suburbs and more remote farm roads. It was pretty scenic and safe to assume, I think, that no expat has run through much of it before. We hit Sheikh Zayed Road just before the Gantoot turnoff and that’s when we actually had to start running next to the highway. However tempting the hard shoulder was, for safety reasons, we stuck to the sandy patch alongside which sucked every last drop of energy from our legs. Soft sand, thick bush and running on a slight decline for 50km. It was tough and completely insane.

As the run was totally spontaneous, we had no idea where our refueling stations would be, nor the total mileage or even the best route from A to B. I guess that was all part of the adventure, using Google Maps to figure out our route along the way and getting crazy looks from people at gas stations. The best ones came from fellow walkers along the promenade at Dubai Marina walk. People were staring in sheer disbelief, some with disapproval in our filthy kit. This only fuelled me more. There’s nothing like shaking up the system.

I filmed the full run and carried a recording device to capture our conversations too. Check out Eva’s Instagram page where she posted live social feeds too. I think there’s a great story in there and am looking forward to seeing where it leads to.

Needless to say, we were both delighted to reach Skydive Dubai. Big smiles. Big HUA! I was glad it was over although for Eva, the run was only the precursor to the sky dive to come. At the registration we were both put on scales for a weight check. To my huge disappointment, I was told I was too heavy. “What?!?” I was four kilos over the 100kg maximum weight limit so they wouldn’t let me on the plane. Believe it or not, I really was gutted as I was looking forward to ending this epic adventure on a true high. Eva rose to her challenge and experienced the jump of her life. She was ecstatic on landing with fellow Red Bull athlete.

Would I recommend others to do crazy shit like this too? Yes. Hell, yes. Always. The body heals with remarkable speed and all you are left with is a handful of wonderful memories. For those toying with following in our footsteps, we went for the safe option by hugging Sheikh Zayed Road all the way from Gantoot to Dubai. I would actually recommend running parallel to this, in the actual desert (possibly on gps navigation). This way, you’re away from the traffic but you do also lose out on refuelling stops at gas stations so this needs to be taken into consideration. An alternative is to go via Bab Al Shams, which although means throwing in a few extra kilometres, the terrain is way better. Whatever the route, there’s no escaping soft sand.

A big thanks to Eva for challenging me to run my first 100k and for being a great running buddy. We made a good team. I don’t normally talk much when running but we rarely had a quite moment.

What next I wonder?! Perhaps I’ll challenge Skydive Dubai to support us with a helicopter jump to some random remote desert location  then we’ll navigate our way back to the bright lights via GPS. Then perhaps stair climb to the top of the Burj Khalifa. Why not? This would be incentive enough for me to lose those extra four kilos. Eva, is there another Guinness World Record opportunity there?

Wk.

Lifestyle hotel imagery

Sometimes a new great gig comes off the back of a friendly referral. This gig was just one of those. My thanks to Rupert @ Film-Me for saying the nice words.

The client was the stunning new Fairmont Fujairah Beach Resort on the east coast of the UAE and the brief, to build a portfolio of lifestyle images. We shifted shoot dates a number of times before settling on four days this March.

What I like about the final images is their experiential feel. Real people in their element, at an exquisite location. Simplistic, candid composition complete with fine detail. The aim was to create content that is inviting, content that feeds curiosity and authentically conveys the look and feel of the hotel. All right down my alley given my background at hotel school, many years of operational experience, Burj Al Arab posting and of course, shooting for high end luxury brands for the last ten years.

I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot, largely thanks to the enthusiastic and knowledgeable crew who made for a super smooth production. The schedule may have been intense but we had scouted and planned well in advance. The one thing we hadn’t anticipated was rain. Probably only once every couple of years do I find myself seeking shelter under an umbrella in the UAE. Seems like such a European thing to do.

I’m stoked with the resulting images…

Wk.

Emirates Inflight Catering

Back to my roots… back to my original studies… back to what brought me to Dubai in the first place, 14 years ago. The world of hospitality.

Thanks to the creative agency, RAPP, I had the opportunity to capture the world of Emirates inflight catering. I was simply amazed by the operation they run. Pushing 120,000 meals a day? Yes 120,000 meals EVERY DAY! It all needs to run like clockwork so needs a kitchen on steroids (without the steroids obviously).

After a full scouting visit followed by creating a detailed production plan, we spent three days shooting. The brief tagline was ‘Appetite for perfection’ so the images needed to make the food look delish, handcrafted and show scale on a refined level. How to make a production line look appealing? This was easier for the first class meals than those for economy. In the economy class kitchens, everything from the cooking utensils to the bowls where spices are mixed is just huge. In fact, when shooting their spices room, I anticipated a nice shot with a mix of colourful bowls. As it turns out, cooking a 10,000 litre Bolognese sauce doesn’t happen with a teaspoon on chili flakes but rather tubberware boxes full of it!

Emirates pride themselves on their handmade, real egg omelettes and they have a designated crew that flips 20,000 a day. Amazing!

The shoot was a wonderful experience. I’ve been in many kitchens around the world and I love the atmosphere of crafting and teamwork. The Emirates operation stunned me by the sheer scale of everything, the professional approach and how seriously they take hygiene. The staff were all geared up with hair nets, safety shoes and and face masks for the bearded ones…. that included me on shoot day!

Wk.

 

BTS with Karina @ Wadi Adventure

A while back, I worked on an editorial piece for Women’s Health. They were running a feature story on super women, Karina Bensemann being one of the super women featured. I know Karina. We’ve collaborated in the past with Lululemon. She’s great company and certainly lives up to what she’s known for.

Wadi Adventure in Al Ain was our base, a super cool watersports park at the base of Jebel Hafeet and a place for champions.  I did an awesome shoot here with Joe Clarke, who at that stage was prepping for the Rio Olympics and had his eye firmly fixed on a gold medal at slalom canoeing. I should add that he did indeed return home with a gold.

I shot with both a long Canon telephoto lens and got deep into the action with an Aquatech waterproof housing. Both work, the  ‘dry’ long lens version freezes the sharp action nicely and has a bit more control whiles shooting. Than getting into the surf with my waterproofs and a wider lens allow for in your face action, obviously you’re thrown all over the place but allows unusual angels.

Thank you James for shooting and editing an awesome behind the scenes video. It really tells the tale of a fun day out, doing what I love to do. The article itself, written by editor Yi-Hwa Hanna is well worth reading for its inspirational vibe. Must be a nice job seeking out interesting people then picking below the surface and understanding what makes them tick…

Wk.

MG’S NEW CAR CAMPAIGN

It’s always tricky to really work out where new business comes from. Sure, I knock on doors, reach out to brands, feed this blog and send out promos… but I do sometimes question the ROI of these efforts. Short term, some jobs just land on your lap. Right time, right place kinda thing. But long term, these efforts do pay off I think although it can be hard to trace back and figure out what actually led to sealing the deal. So it’s a numbers game, I suppose. A constant effort to throw strong, fresh and consistent work out there.

One day the phone rang, out of the blue. No history with the brand. Just a cool gig and the words, “Found you via the internet…” So online noise is worthwhile, it turns out. Blogs, social media, brand affiliations… they all have a place.

MG is being reintroduced in the Middle East. Originally a quintessentially British brand, it’s now run by the Chinese SAIC Motor Corporation. I’ve worked with them to create a full package of imagery and am stoked with what we wrapped with. The studio shoot is always a dance with lighting, reflections and shadows, constantly moving things around in search of perfection. The outdoor shoot is always great fun and a real team effort. Five locations in one day was a pretty ambitious production but everything was pre-scouted and we worked, as always, to a pretty rigorous schedule.We ended up pushing the dates a bit in the hope of better weather. Turned out to be a great decision.

I shot with the new Hassy 50mp for billboard quality images. Expect to see some cool images on a highway near you soon!

Wk.

2016 Recap

Writing this post feels like a celebration of all that’s happened in the last twelve months.

2016 was a dynamic year. Business was a bit all over the place with some great productions and awesome opportunities in the mix. Travel is one of my greatest passions and the year took me to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Egypt, Paris, London, Moscow, the usual Middle East spots and of course, my summer sabbatical through Europe.

I produced two short films. Khareef was a personal project… a story about friendship and windsurfing off a remote island in Oman and Hakawi, a destination film about Luxor. This gig came about through my role as Canon Brand Ambassador in the Middle East. What we created is a gift to the people of Luxor and to Egyptian tourism to help them promote their beautiful destination.

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Following my successful Margot Robbie gig for British Airways in Abu Dhabi, BA flew me to Shanghai to shoot David Beckham then to Hong Kong. There, my brief was to recreate an old vintage poster with David Gandy and to shoot Immy Waterhouse and Lizzy Jagger. After this, came a cool ballerina stint in London and shooting on their inaugural flight to Moscow. These were pretty amazing opportunities with red carpet treatment and celebrity protocol all the way. The briefs were creative and what resulted is some magical storytelling imagery.

I love working with sports brands and their inspiring athletes. There’s such beauty in the collaboration… it’s like a dance between athlete and photographer. This year saw some big sports productions including shooting the Middle East launch campaign for Under Armour, expanding Lululemon’s brand ambassador portfolio, a fair bit of magazine work and some more personal work with pro athletes.

I recently produced my BrandReel, which is an energetic 60 second summary of what I’ve done, what I like to do and most importantly, what I want to do more of. As with writing this post, I had to dig through my archives, which resulted in a celebration of what the past has brought.

No year is complete without a Project Pause. I’ve been pretty quiet about last years Hajar Mountains edition… a week I spent in the Hajar Mountains last March, solo, off the grid and disconnected from the digital rat race we live in. The experience was stunning, so valuable and needless to say, a highly recommend endeavour! I’ve built a dedicated page on my website with background info and short videos. Feel free to browse and (hopefully) get inspired…

Of course, no year is complete without some impulsive, spontaneous act of madness so in December, I challenged Guinness World Record queen, Eva Clarke to join me in jumping from a plane to overcome her fear of heights. In return, she challenged me to run with her from Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit to SkyDive Dubai. Neither of us was prepared for 100+ km but we set off anyway, ready to see how it panned out. In the end, we ran and ran and ran (and walked) 108 kilometres in total. Why? Just because we can. We ALL can! Read the full post here. A short video is in the making…

In June, I took time out to review my own personal goals and dive deep into the business. I saw two amazing coaches… Tom Young and Tricia Evans. The challenge was wonderful. To be shaken up gives great clarity on how to move forward. I think my biggest takeaway was identifying my need to do meaningful work, work that moves people and to develop my new tagline; “Helping Brands Tell Powerful Stories.”

Finally, a huge thanks to all of YOU for staying tuned to my Blog, Facebook and Instagram. A big thanks also to all my clients and the crew of independent creative professionals I get to share my adventures with. Last but not least, to my rockstar wife Kiki, for giving me the freedom and go ahead to continue this magical journey…

I look forward to spending an awesome 2017 together!

Wk.

Three days in the mountains with WWF

There’s something remarkable about working with field biologists. Their passion and excitement are contagious. Their appreciation for the smallest gritty crawlers makes me wonder what beautiful fauna I fail to notice everyday.

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Recently, I found myself at a very special place… the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been appointed to create the first National Park in the region, named Wadi Wurayah National Park, on the east coast of the UAE.

129 square kilometres of rugged mountain land has been closed to the public since 2009. The area is most valued for its wetlands and the opportunities it presents for documenting and conserving natural resources. For now… and for generations to come.

For three days, I pretty much got carte blanche to roam around the park… to create imagery for a book project I’m involved in. With my innate love for the mountains anyway, its pure rock, fresh mountain air, breathtaking views and sheer expanse, to have access to such exclusive areas was a real privilege. And they call this work?!

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With few roads let alone hiking trails in place, exploring entailed roaming with a pack on my back to find the best vantage points. To wonder and to find. I spent some time with Alex on a ‘Bear Hunt’… of course, without either the hunting or the bear element! Actually, the wildlife is pretty scant. The biggest animal we spotted was 6cm big, a toad. Obviously animals don’t turn up to order but rather show up on their own accord… and generally when you’re least prepared! Anyway, with the help of of the local team I enjoyed an eye opening experience and banked a few great shots.

One shot I was keen to get was the release of a toad, shot half above and half below the water. Knowing the wetlands plays a big role in the story, I had to include a strong water shot so I took my Aquatech waterproof camera housing. I found a pool with the right water depth and timed it so we w’d be there during the three hours of the day when the pool catches a bit of sunlight and the backdrop would look dramatic. Part of the WWF learning program is counting toads so it’s a common practice which happens in real time. I did a quick dry run to check the camera settings and framing, followed by the a painfully long 45 minutes trying to find one (Murphy’s Law), but eventually we struck lucky and caught a sequence of 24 frames. The below is one of my favourites…

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As a photographer and storyteller, Wadi Wurayah National Park has endless beauty and content. As a scientist and biologist, it must be heaven to map the park and for WWF, it’s a proud showcase of the valuable work they do. I’m so grateful to the Fujairah Government for taking the lead in preserving their land and building a platform around sustainable access.

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Once the park is officially opened, I’ll be taking my two boys there, to hike the trails, spot the dragon flies and observe the Arabian Tahr… and most importantly, to teach them the value of looking after our resources. It’s a stunning place.

Wk.

Lululemon Ambassador David Labouchere

David Labouchere is a real character. Founder of his own gym, Optimal Fitness, he’s also a well established triathlete and Lululemon ambassador.

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Thanks to Lululemon, we had the opportunity to spend some time together, building a portfolio of brand imagery. It was a simple shoot. Just David on his monster tri bike at the crack of dawn, his normal work-out hour anyway, followed by some fast paced running shots breaking some real sweat. Sweet.

Wk.

Powerhouse Eva

Eva Clarke and I have competed in races together a few times now. She’s upfront and I get to hang around somewhere in the middle. We recently shot the Under Armour Middle East launch campaign together.

Eva has an inspiring accolade of sports achievements under her belt but when checking out her Facebook page pre the UA shoot, I found a page rich with inspiring stories and achievements but pretty weak on strong visuals. I reached out to her and we spent a couple of hours in the gym building a bank of images to help Eva tell her story.

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I had no real game plan when we started. Normally, I have quite a clear idea on deliverables and creative direction but on this occasion it was athlete led. I wanted Eva to inspire me so we just played around a lot. My motto is always to shoot ‘real people in real places’. Eva is certainly real and she commands the gym, it’s her place. We collaborated well with ideas feeding ideas… add some strobes and a camera and we got some pretty cool frames…

Wk.

Fishing in Fujairah

To celebrate their 60 year anniversary, I went assignment for Toyota and Al Futtaim Motors. How do you tell a 60-year long story? What mark have they made? Sure, you just need to glimpse at the highway to see their presence on the road but my brief was way better. I was to drive to the East Coast and capture the look and feel of Fujairah’s life as a fishing village.

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At sunrise on the beach, we discovered a load of old Land Cruisers, most of them older than I am. They’d certainly put in a few decades of hard work on the beach. Fishing in Fujeirah involves a fishing boat, a Land Cruiser, a huge net in between and a crew of hardworking guys. One side of the net is attached to the boat and the other side to the Land Cruiser, to haul in the net. The catch is then loaded into the back of the car and sent to the local fish market. Ready for diner time…

It’s the daily routine that fascinates me. The simplicity got me hooked. We spoke to one guy who’s been fishing there for 28 years. If the car breaks down, he said, they just weld it together!

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The catch attracted a small crowd looking for fresher than fresh fish. I loved the atmosphere of people coming and going, digging through the nets to source their dinner. In this quaint fishing village, so set back in time, there was complete harmony in this mini economy at 7am in the morning. There’s much to learn from that.

Wk.

Ultra Running; Love. Can. Do.

I always mean to write this post during a big race, when the thoughts are most fresh in my mind, but somehow I never get round to it and then on return home, reality kicks in and the routine takes over.  So I went back to a voice memo I recorded during the 50k Urban Ultra Race.

Why is (long distance) running such a key part of my life? Why am I doing this? The hours on your feet, top to toe pain, negative self talk, dizzy sun rises and complete exhaustion. Why?

It’s hard to pin point what it comes down to but I’ll give it a try. For me, it’s about being out on nature’s trails because… well, because I love it. Because I can. Because this is what I do. These three words; LOVE, CAN & DO kinda sum it up for me. It’s about putting momentum towards the stuff I love, which works for running but also other passions in life. It’s important to walk your talk, even if it’s a long walk. It’s also about sharing the field with like-minded, driven and ambitious people. We’re all here, from all walks of life, for the experience.  Being out there, running together and embracing your surrounds is all that counts.

Earlier this year, I ran the Salomon Wadi Bih 72k solo and below is the brief race recap…

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It’s 4.30am as the start gun goes off and we’re pounding through the sleepy town of Dibba. Once we pass the empty dam on the edge of the village, the race continues in a pitch black wadi (dry riverbed) filled with nothing but the meditative spotlights of fellow runners’ headlamps. After years of being on the other side of the lens and shooting the this Desert Relay, I thought it was time to sign up to run solo and give it my best bash.

Needless to say, it was tough. We basically ran through the wadi for 30 or so kilometres followed by a 1,000m mountain climb towards the turnaround point at 36km. The route returns back down the same way to finish at the Golden Tulip Hotel on the beach. The first part was amazing, running at night amongst these big rock faces and witnessing a new dawn. I even quite enjoyed the big mountain climb as a good, strong hike proved a welcome relief from trail running. I checked off the first half of the race in a little under four hours which I was pretty pleased with and I passed the 50km marker in reasonable shape, but the remainder, I recall, went downhill (no pun intended).

My nutrition was ok but my legs were screaming and the hallucinations, that all us runners can associate with, began with me seeing no other than Elvis stepping out of a 4×4 and strutting his stuff. These crazy thoughts at least brought me some much needed distraction. It’s fascinating during a long race, to observe how the brain behaves, the mad mind games it plays. And then there’s the constant inner voice telling you to stop, to give up, to reserve your body and mind for the hectic work and home life that lies beyond the race. It’s insane.

Of course, all “good” things come to an end… as does the finish arch eventually appear in the far distance followed by great applause and a well-deserved medal. Bingo. “What next?” I immediately ask myself. We’re a strange bunch, that you cannot argue!

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The following day I shot the relay race, working on capturing some beauty shots for sponsor, Salomon. Surprisingly, I had a pretty swift recovery from my own race. My legs were sore yes, but my joints had held up pretty well, which is always my biggest concern. Knowing the course and the experience that fellow athletes are going through certainly helps to create strong imagery. Knowing where to shoot, where the landscape is best, is often the hard part but luckily I’d seen it all the day before.

My thanks to John Young and the entire Wadi Bih team for putting on an amazing race. Anyone considering an epic mountain running experience, stay tuned to their webpage. Next year’s race marks their 25 year anniversary so it will no doubt be a special one.

Wk.

 

Catch Karina

With a bit of pre-summer breathing space in the shooting calendar, I’ve been able to catch up on personal work and hangout with some mad athletes. I love the surfers lifestyle and have enjoyed getting on a board myself in the past, mainly in Oz. I dusted off my Aquatech waterproof housing then called Karina to go have some fun. Soon after, we found ourselves on sunset beach to hit the morning waves and take advantage of the last big swell of the season.

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Karina is a total badass. She called the day before to ask if we we should still shoot as she had a black eye from a recent surf crash… “Hell yeah,” I responded. “More RAW!” And the following morning, in an attempt to avoid hitting me with her new board, she cut her nose. More blood and I did appreciate her efforts in keeping me out of the firing zone! It didn’t slow her down. She lives life full stop without slowing down.

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I also brought my super long telephoto lens but stayed put with the waterproofs. In the water. In the waves. In where the action is. It’s certainly harder to shoot this way… waves are variable, the subject moves, I move, waves break just when the composition is right… it’s hard to really grasp what you’re shooting. But when the shoot comes together, it just looks so much more authentic. A long lens shot would have helped tackle some of the variables but on the downside, could then create a distance between the viewer and athlete. And I love wide angle ‘in your face action’.

Thanks for a fab morning Karina!

Wk.

With Jagger & Waterhouse in Hong Kong

Granted my portfolio may not be overly strong on shooting high end fashion models, but hey… life throws us all serendipitous opportunities from time to time. Work with David Gandy already had me in Hong Kong (link) so extending my time with Lizzy Jagger and Immy Waterhouse made perfect sense.

Success is all in the research, detail and pre production. The key was to create Hong Kong related content with stunning models yet with a different look & feel to David Gandy’s images. During my research, I came across well-known established names like Mario Testino, David Roemer and Peter Lindbergh. All have the habit of stripping down clothes, whilst my shoot was all about the uniforms as both girls were to wear stunning old British Airways uniforms from the BA Heritage Museum.

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With the iconic Hong Kong Island as our backdrop, I found a perfect location on the Kowloon observation deck and as the weather cleared, we shot a bank of great images.

Wk.

Tips for working alongside a TVC

I recently worked alongside a couple of big TV productions, shooting the stills whilst the TV crew did their thing. There’s something great about big TV gigs. They run like clockwork, are so well orchestrated, have huge crews and days are spent shooting what will result in an, albeit awesome, 90 second commercial. It’s a condensed pot of energy, like an oiled machine at full steam, running on a super tight deadline.

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This post contains my tips for photographers when working alongside a big TV production.

– Determine who’s boss. You or the film director? Who’s calling the shots? Exactly… the answer is not the photographer! I start here because you need to know your place.  Producing TV content is an expensive gig where time is always short, stakes are always high and stress levels are ever present. There’s rarely time dedicated to shooting stills so you have to just work around what’s happening. It’s probably more reportage style photography but space can be made to work on staged hero shots… keep reading.

– Create your own story. Work on your shortlist of hero images that fit your style and brief. It may be tempted to go with the TV flow but thats not your story, take a moment to plan wisely.

– It’s super important to connect with the FD (Flim Directors), AFD (his/her assistant) and DOP (Director of Photography/person behind camera). Do a bit of prior research about their background to feed the conversation and build trust from the start. These guys need be comfortable with you roaming around.

– I find it super important that the client introduces me to the FD & DOP and explains the importance of the stills (PR usage, hero shots and general reportage) and he/she requests we work together. Generally, my client is also their client so we’re on the same team. Post this introduction, it’s over to you to make it work.

– Next up, stay out of the frame and don’t make a noise. If you follow these rules, you’re on to a winner… and it’s probably wise not to direct the talent/actors/actresses as this will piss out of the FD.

– The noise of the shutter is your worst enemy. The sound guy (recognisable with a big boom stick and headphones) will pick up on anything, even your internal camera focussing beep so switch this beep off and select single frame and quite mode (Canon has the ’S’ option). What works for me is knowing where the sound guy stands then making a concerted effort to stay away from him. Working with a long telephoto lenses also helps to keep a bit of distance from the set action. I use my 400mm lens a lot. If you’re serious about doing lots of work on TV sets, it’s wise to invest in soundproof housing; Aquatech Blimp kits are be a brand to look at.

– Know what lens the DOP is shooting with, whether a wide lens or a longer lens. Staying out of the frame is crucial, which means having a handy stache of hiding places (behind cars, on top of cliffs etc)

– Work independently i.e. have your own car, gear, power, drinks, food, coffee etc. This particularly applies when sets are a car ride apart. You need your own wheels to move quickly between them and not be dependant on a spare seat in a crew truck or worse still, discover there’s no space for you at all…

– Think like the film director. What is he trying to get out of the shot? That helps you to understand how the actors/actress move around, where the DOP will stand/roam and most importantly how to stay out of the way. I generally find it super interesting to understand their thought process and how they build their story.

– On multiple film days, try to get in on day one. Production days are long and from day one, the team blends like a family, ego’s are determined, the funny guys tell their jokes, breakfast/lunch/dinner is shared and there’s a real feeling of ‘we’re in it together’. It’s tough to join that family at a later stage.

– Look after them. I don’t mean running around being a coffee boy, but simple things like handing your sunscreen to a frying red faced DOP or a bottle of cold water on a roasting hot day. These work wonders. The best hugs I’ve ever had came after taking cold beers and pizza to the film crew during the Footsteps of Thesiger expedition. The crew had been filming in the remote desert for a couple of weeks and my having to return to Dubai for a couple of days gave me the perfect chance to treat them.

– Try to get your shots during the dress rehearsals so you can leave the main shoot free… or use a wide lens during dress rehearsals and a super telephoto lens (bigger distance from set) during the main shoot.

– In the heat of the moment, only shoot when your know your image will be truly amazing. By ‘heat of the moment’, I mean when they’re running behind schedule, the sun is setting, crew are shouting at each other and tensions are generally pretty frayed. There’s no point agitating others without very good reason.

If you’ve gelled well with the team, they’ll value your input and do yourself a lot of favours. I’ve even gone as far as requesting a few extra takes just for stills and being able to direct talent so it both worked for stills and film.

Much of the above is common sense and hope it helps.

Wk.

Boat Building Awe

Shooting trade and industry blows my mind. Over the years, I’ve been on multiple oil rigs, power plants and desalination installations and I’m always fascinated by their sheer scale and design… so many pipes, valves and de-compressors, all of which play an important role and then these super smart engineers make it all happen. It’s like taking a huge orchestra and making it play in perfect harmony.

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Recently, I found myself, plus team, on a boat dock, where tucker boats are built from scratch and bigger boats repaired. We’ve been shooting aerial footage (motion & stills) and commercial imagery for the company catalogue.

I could have easily spent a week on site, curious to observe the finer details of boat building and unearth some good stories. Massive steel plates are cut and welded to create dozens and dozens of small puzzle pieces which are eventually transformed to a boat’s outer shell. The shell is then dressed, cabled and painted before becoming a beautiful floating object. Once the engine and a few more moving parts have been added, the finished result is ready to start it’s very own journey. It’s a nice ending, really…

Wk.

Hitting the dunes with Miss Poland & Saluki Motors

Mark and I go back a dozen or so years. I still worked as an experiential marketing manager for Land Rover when he first came knocking on our door. He had a passion for rally driving, which we supported and had also branded his pimped up Land Rover Defender.

To me, Mark was a pure example of following your passion and doing what you love. At one stage he left his comfortable, stable corporate job to start his own car garage, Saluki Motors, which he turned into a go-to brand. Now he uses his rally knowledge for training and 4×4 experiences. A great showcase of following and evolving your passion.

Wouter-Kingma-Blog-for-Saluki-post-2 I was in Oman when Mark got in touch again and I immediately knew it would be for something good. A brief chat and he’d caught my attention with his unique combination of  former Miss Poland, Marcelina and his motorbikes. 

 Soon after, I found myself in the desert with Marcelina Zawadzka and Marek Dabrowski, a Dakar Rally driver from Team Orlen. Our gig was short and sweet. Marek and Marcelina’s brief was to rampage the Polaris buggy through the dunes. They were to go hard and fast, rev the engine and get some crazy sand flying. I got them to follow the crest up the dune straight into the sun then quickly dialled down on exposure and hit the shutter. Now covered in sand, I knew I’d banked the shot. Afterwards, Marcelina stood in for a few portraits. It’s always a joy working with pro models. 

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Many thanks to Mark for the inspiration, the crew at Saluki Motors for keeping us out of trouble and our Polish friends for a great afternoon. Till the next.

Wk.

Under Armour Launch Campaign #2

Back for more launch content. The Under Armour campaign was based on a series of two images. One beach image with an iconic landmark setting, which we shot with Goes Grant on the Palm Jumeirah and for the second, I needed a location with a strong athletic feel so chose the Zayed Sports Stadium. The national sports stadium has all the grandeur we needed for a world-class sports brand. Years ago, I shot the Presidents Cup in a packed stadium for a FIFA Bid Book, which was a very cool experience. Later this month, I’ll be taking my boys there and a bunch of other dads with theirs to watch the UAE football finals.

Again, I shot with my PhaseOne medium format. Granted it’s not a sports camera (with just one frame per second) so I needed to work it harder, but when you capture ‘that’ shot, the end result has mind blowing detail.

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This time, we were collaborating with legend Eva Clarke, seven times Guinness world record holder and top notch athlete. We had a wrap in a short and sweet two hours. Check out the behind the scenes video to grasp the energy of the shoot.

 Thanks to the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Zayed Sports Stadium for opening their doors.

Wk.

My fascination with bikes

During my younger years, I worked as an outdoor instructor around Europe, enjoying life’s great adventures, travel and camaraderie. One of my favourites was mountain biking in the Belgium forest with over-energetic school kids… hitting the hills, trails, mud pools and river crossings. After a day on the bikes, we’d be exhausted, filthy, aching and thoroughly beat. I’m left with wonderful memories!

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Following the great Adventure HQ catalogue shoot, we got together to shoot a new Ozzy bike brand called ‘Fluid’, prior to their launch in the region. As always, the preproduction is the most important element of any shoot… knowing what, where and when to shoot, scouting to find locations that match the brand and give a strong selection of backdrops. One of my scouting trips found me at the Hatta Mountain Bike Trail Centre, which completely blew my mind.

Awesome technical trails surrounded by glorious mountains. I hadn’t even known it existed. I rocked up at sunrise but I wasn’t having much luck. My bike had a flat tire and I found my spare also had a puncture. After scouring around for my repair kit, I found that the patches were dried out and no good. But alas, I had my trail running gear and my two feet so off I went! I don’t want to be seen to be promoting running on mtb tracks but it was my only means of getting the job done.


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Back in Hatta for the actual photoshoot, we all set out on bikes to get to our chosen locations. My style is very much real people in real locations and we worked with some very talented bikers, which brought back great memories. 


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Anyone who owns (or rents) a mountain bike should go and visit the place. The trails are marked based on different skill levels and it’ll be a guaranteed great work out.

Wk.

Going hard at Under Armour Launch Campaign #1

Just before the summer I shot the Middle East launch campaign for Under Armour, in conjunction with their official launch in the region. Thanks to agency BWM+ and along with their CD Greg we worked on one super strong image showcasing local athlete, Grant Goes, posing in a push up hold. I love working with real time athletes. True RAW power. They move effortlessly and fluidly, with authentic and perfect form.

Below behind the scenes video is the shoot in 90 seconds…

I shot using a killer PhaseOne medium format camera, allowing for huge end production printouts. It’s not always easy to shoot sports at one frame per second, but once you get the image right, the fine detail is amazing. Endless sharpness and tons of data to pull details back into the image. There is so much good to say about medium format.

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Thanks to Fairmont The Palm hotel for hosting us. The view from their beach is a stunner. Gotta get back there soon to chill and go sundowner.

Great gig. Thanks team for making it all happen.

Wk.

Joe Clarke in training for Rio

Red Bull UK called to build a portfolio for young and upcoming Joe Clarke, who was training at Wadi Adventure in Al Ain. Joe is a complete joy to work with, very accommodating and knows his sport as a slalom canoeist inside out. I had certain shots in mind and Joe would just appear in exactly the right place, again & again. We’d then review the shots and head back into the water to refine them, making them tighter and better. Collaboration is the game plan here.

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Halfway through the morning, he mentioned that he’d made it into the Rio Olympics. Awesome. I’m so excited for him. The Olympics has to be considered the pinnacle of a sporting career… the opportunity to compete with the world’s best and show them what you’ve got. I can only imagine how focussed he’ll be now, as he gears up for the games.

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Towards the end, I pulled out my Aquatech waterproof housing and jumped in the water with him… shortly followed by some lifeguards chasing me in with a helmet and a life vest as they’d escaped me. Whoops! I chose to shoot in the white water section rather than the calmer end basin. Slalom is about rapids and fast moving water so an underwater shot should be bursting with bubbles and energy. There’s nothing to hold on to and the bottom is slippery, so everything moves like crazy; the camera, the canoe, the athlete and myself. It’s like jumping in a tumble dryer and trying to get a straight focussed shot. Eventually, with a bit of trial and error, we nailed one super strong frame.

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To wrap, I was keen to get one strong portrait. Raw background, studio lit and Joe in his racing gear, dripping wet with a determined look. To stay ‘wet’ he could either jump back into the cold water or hit the warm shower…which one would you choose?

Wishing Joe an amazing Olympics. He’s in it for the gold… so take it home!

Wk.

Memorable runs

My love for running really took off when I moved to Dubai in 2002. It all started with my first half marathon in Abu Dhabi. Marathons and triathlons followed then eventually I discovered that my true passion lay in long distance trail running. There are so many reasons to love trail running. I love exploring new places. Nothing beats heading off in a random direction and just discovering where the path takes you. Trail running also unites interesting people and amazing places. On longer solo runs, I get to munch on business topics; my keynote at World Art Dubai came together during the 30k night rebel race. There’s alot to be said for using solitude to feed your creativity.

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These are my top most memorable runs over the years:

> My best run last summer was with my friend Ilonka, who runs a mountain lodge in the France Alps. We both love alpine runs and got up early one morning to hit the mountains. I don’t own any cold weather running gear and can remember it was a bitterly cold start in just shorts and a light fleece at 5am. Still dark, we used our head torches to wind through the forest trails, past little mountain village Narreyroux and on to Col du Bal. Running on the high ridges with spectacular views and fresh mountain air is when I’m in my element. These are truly magical moments.

> A run filled with anxiety and excitement… or perhaps more an escape run! I fled my parents house back in 2003 to run free. It was my wedding day and the house was full of family and friends… it felt like chaos and I just needed to get out there on my own. I enjoyed an amazing run through the forest and remember feeling so free.

> Day seven of the Gobi March, a 250k self supported running race in remote China. Day seven marked the final stretch to the finish line and I can remember running the entire way, despite the blisters, aching limbs and immense fatigue. Running through the Flaming Mountains and ending at a Buddhist village made for an incredible setting. It was pretty much all downhill at that point. Crossing that finishing line came with such immense relief and pride before receiving the biggest medal ever. I felt on top of the world.

> A memorable run to be that remains in the pipeline will be a dash with one my boys, either in a competition or just a run down the street. Having seen other dads during that proud moment of first running with their sons, I can’t wait to do so with my own.

> Living in Dubai means living pretty much in the desert. In just a 30min drive, you can hit spectacular dunes which make for perfect training ground. Running in soft sand builds character, turns a run into a serious workout and requires a decent sense of navigation. Followed by setting up camp with the family, these runs can turn into a really fun weekend. I remember one run not far from Bab al Shams, when off I started, with a loaded pack at the usual crazy hour and there, beautifully lit by the early morning sun, was a stunning white Arabian Oryx. It was perhaps only 100m away, staring intensely at me… probably wondering what on earth I was doing… for what seemed an age. I stood still, staring back at him and then he just dashed off. And so did I.

Wk.

With adventurer Adrian Hayes

There’s never a dull moment in an adventurers life, particularly when it comes to UAE hero Adrian Hayes… over the last ten years, I’ve followed Adrian’s extreme expeditions and had the pleasure of capturing some of them. I’ve seen him at his best and and at his worst… I’ll never forget his flying start on his Footsteps of Thesiger expedition, when the camels turned into rodeo bulls and threw Adrian and his expedition team members off their backs and onto a rocky wadi bed. The next stop was the local hospital rather than the desert! Time with Adrian during both Footsteps of Thesiger and the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge has left me with some wonderful memories. We even did an adventure race together once but unfortunately my bike frame snapped just five kilometres into the race so we were forced to complete the full Arabian Quest course on foot… needless to say we were last in, but at least we didn’t give up!

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Adrian is a hard man to pin down as beyond his great adventures, he has a crazy busy schedule with speaking engagements and corporate coaching in Europe, the US and here in the Middle East. I love spending time with him though… it’s always inspiring to pick the brain of a full time adventurer, where he stands now and how he turns future fantasy’s into reality. So I jumped at the opportunity to organise a shoot when a simple yet great idea sprung to mind.

We both share a friend and client, Dewald, who distributes amazing outdoor brands like Marmot and Patagonia. Together, I felt we could build a super strong portfolio of images around Adrian’s training regime and desert jaunts, in preparation for tackling high altitude peaks in the Himalayas or hair-raising polar crossings. Marmot could throw in some amazing new gear… without which Adrian would probably have rocked up in a tatty Ironman Finishers Shirt dating back to 2005 (!)… and Marmot, in return, would get great visual assets and stories for social and editorial use. Win-win for all!

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So organised it was and we set off, suited and booted, on a energetic day shooting, hitting the desert in time for the morning sunrise. We headed for Fossil Rock first of all, followed by RAK’s mountains in the afternoon. Needless to say, we had lots of fun and got cracking shots along the way.

What’s my take on Adrian’s life as a full time adventurer? It’s restless, thrilling, vibrant, passionate and his living on the edge is an inspiration. As a worldwide, record-breaking adventurer, the world is certainly a crazy one. Where to go next? What to climb? What to cross? Who’s not done what? You constantly need to be thinking of something harder, higher and more extreme than what’s already been accomplished. How do you maintain your unique voice in a pretty crowded space?

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Perhaps this instills in you some crazy thoughts and ideas?

Thanks Adrian for the inspiration and energy!

Wk.

In Shanghai with David Beckham

What a great opportunity it is to fly around the world shooting celebs for big brands. In this case, travelling to Shanghai to shoot David Beckham for a PR activation was pretty cool to say the least. Why Shanghai? No major reason. it just happened that travel plans and availability found us meeting there, in a fancy room in a luxury hotel. Air travel makes the world a very small place indeed.

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The brief was comprehensive; one strong shot with Becks with BA crew/fans on a branded backdrop. Not staged or frozen… rather a fluid flow of energy. Charismatic and authentic. Time frame? Ha! Five minutes tops. It had to be quick, captivating and simple.

What I’ve learned over time is that researching your subject is key. Think career, hobbies, video’s, TV interviews, social media. Together, it all helps to get a good understanding of who you’re working with. Aside all that though, celebs are also human so being able to hold a good conversation from the start sets you off on the right path. It’s often a short and intense session. The higher the status and the bigger the entourage equals the less time you get and the higher the stakes to deliver the goods.

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In order to work fast, I had set up three different shots which were rehearsed in detail beforehand with the crew and a Beckham stand-in. The set was lit with two Softbox Octa’s connected to two Pro-8a’s with air remote, so there were no unnecessary cables and no shortage of fast flash. I stripped down my gear completely using just one Canon body, a fast CF card and two lenses. The less extra gear to worry about, the more you can just focus on just managing the energy on set. One of the pilots, Mark, who worked on our Margot Robbie and Orlando Bloom shoots was also part of the team. He’s outgoing and charismatic making for a lively conversation with Beckham. Admittedly, I did have a few quirky questions to hand (see research) in case the conversation died. Beyond that, it was just a case of moving through each planned shot flawlessly.

I shot 104 frames in well under five minutes. The client handed over five edited images of which two got final approvals by Beckham’s team. So yes, it all worked out as planned. Seamless, fast and resulting in the delivery of two cracking PR shots.

Wk.

Urban Exploration with Canon

Thanks to Canon Middle East, I had the great pleasure of spending a day with ten media creatives from a range of publications and blogs. We were hosting a full day program centred around the theme of Urban Exploration. The video below is a great summary of the energy of the day.

Urban Exploration means different things to different people. We spoke about this at length during the class room session, particularly in terms of access and location. My definition is this… urban relates to the urban environment and culture and exploration relates to the intention of discovery and being open minded about the outcome. Together, Urban Exploration means hitting the streets in a rich and dynamic place to randomly wonder and tell stories with photographs.

Exploring is all about spending time on the street, either on foot or on a bike. Strap on a backpack and hit the road. I’m a big fan of fstop gear bags for three reasons; they’re super comfy, they’re not immediately recognisable as photo gear bags (thereby allowing you to blend into a crowd) and they provide easy access to kit. Trying to stay unnoticed is key. Depending on where you are in the world, that could mean looking like a local or a tourist. Ditch the tripod, travel light and keep your camera in your pack (lens mounted) until you really need it. Walking around with your camera around your neck would be a definite no no and simply draw attention to yourself.

Beat sunrise and shoot well beyond midnight. Remember the unexpected stories come from the out-of-the-ordinary. Every city bustles with energy 24hrs a day. Think bakeries, fish markets, bus stations, entertainment areas, ports… they all run around the clock and each one tells a story regardless of the time of day. If travel time is an issue, just book a room in a cool neighbourhood. I booked a heritage hotel along the Dubai Creek once to fully immerse myself in three days of exploring Deira and Bur Dubai. A truly amazing experience.

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Heba showing off her latest collection of Canon gear…

With regards to access, my advice is to be bold.  Ask for forgiveness rather than permission. From experience, I know that if you ask the question re whether its ok to enter somewhere to take a photograph, you’ll spend ages waiting for someone to respond, which eventually turns out to be “Problem Sir, not allowed. No photo”. This particularly applies in this part of the world. So just find a way, walk with confidence like you know where you’re going and keep moving forward.

At some point, we hit the grey area of trespassing and going somewhere (truly) off limits. My point of view is that there are certainly things that would be damn stupid to enter. I’m talking military camps, Skeikh Mohammed’s private palaces, the safe of the central bank, the ladies section of mosques etc. These are absolute no no’s. And then there are other places where I guess you’re not suppose to tread but, if you get caught, a bit of sweet talk might be all you need to get away with it. Think container complexes at the harbour, old ruins, building rooftops  and abandoned warehouses. Accessing these would just amount to a little harmless mischief. Both lists can go on and will differ for everyone. It all depends on your own comfort level. For me, it’s important that I’m not doing anyone harm, not damaging anything and not doing anything super illegal. Common sense really.

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Jessie standing in as model for magic hour demo shot

To get the max out of your time, do your homework first to see what the area has on offer. A simple google search will have tons of images. Coffee table books are a great source of inspiration as are searches on a good image bank like Getty Images or Arabian Eye. Get a detailed map to plan a rough route. I find the ‘sun scout’ app super helpful to see how the sun travels at precise times of the day. So have a wishlist but don’t get too hung up on it. Be open to change. Take a left turn when you planned a right, just because the light looks better or you feel there might be a good story at the other end of the street. Follow your intuition. Listen to your gut. I’ve discovered the best places on random explorations. Remember what Tolkien said. ‘Not All Who Wander Are Lost.’  Don’t be disappointed if your wishlist isn’t met. Instead, celebrate the lucky and unexpected encounters. Embrace the unseen.

Urban Exploring is only partly about taking photographs. It’s also about meeting interesting people and having unexpected conversations. It’s about having roadside food, whether a schwarma from a roadside vendor or some tea in a crowded joint. It’s about the mindset of choice and freedom and not chasing someone elses wishlist. It’s about the adventurer and explorer that lives in all of us. It’s quality ME time and that’s so valuable. Leave your phone at home… don’t be disturbed by ringing, buzzing or vibrating.

Finally, it’s about getting out there. Don’t be an armchair dreamer. Get out, do it and experience it. Explore first, brag later.

A big shout-out and appreciation to Canon Middle East for the opportunity to spend the day with such an amazing crowd. There is something super rewarding about sharing passion and trade with those keen to learn. Also many thanks to SanDisk and f stop gear for spicing up the media kit with valuable products. The crew at Clarke and Romero did a fab job in putting the behind the scenes video together.

Wk.

Young, energetic & free

The crew at Red Bull took me down to Big Red, an enormous, iconic and pretty daunting sand dune between Dubai and the Hatta mountain range. With a reputation for being able to separate  the novice 4×4 drivers from the real dunes bashers, those who make it to the top are considered real heroes!

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On this occasion, we didn’t aim for the top but set our focus on a skatepark custom built for newly recruited Red Bull ambassador, Jan Hoffman. It’s tough being a skater in Dubai, with frantic roads and hoards of security guards blocking access to abandoned industrial sites. So what to do and where to go? This reportage is about thinking outside the box and going that extra mile.

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Wouter Kingma blog for Red Bull Jan Hoffman 04I came across Big Red years ago whilst competing in a desert running race. I recall around 2am, 20km or so into the race, expecting a desolate dune… little did we expect a huge crowd of local boys cruising the sand and showing off with tricks on their quad bikes. This dune certainly holds its own when it comes to action and adventure.

Wk