I produced a series of 60 second clips for PURE Sports Nutrition to tell the stories of their sponsored athletes. As many of you know, I absolutely love working with athletes. They always have captivating stories to tell, they look amazing and fuelled by dedication and commitment, are a great source of inspiration to so many of us.
The PURE team were super kind to send me a batch of their products. Over my years of training and racing, I’ve tried quite a few brands and I must say that I love this Kiwi line; the taste and how it hydrates and replenishes. PURE, as the name suggests, is committed to using pure, natural ingredients without the artificial add on’s, so great quality without the nasty stuff. Awesome!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
