Aperitifs by Chefs at Marriott Red Sea Resort - Egypt

I was attending The Race to Taba Heights golf presentation the other night. Taking the photographs of that days winner, runner ups etc. of the golf tournament. The evening presentation was held at the Marriott Red Sea Resort and the Chef had made these gorgeous and very tasty aperitifs for the event I of course could not help but to take a few snaps of them before everyone indulged, they were gone pretty quickly so if you wanted any you needed to be swift. But that is always a good sign for the Chef so all compliments to him well done on the aperitifs. My personal favorite was the pastries with blue cheese in, the chocolates were of course very good as well!

If you are interested in the presentation images I took you can find them all on the Taba Heights Golf Resort facebok page, http://www.facebook.com/tabaheightsgolfresort

Another day in the life of me.

Hi,
The other day I got a facebook message from a friend where her mother in-law to be was asking for the images that I took of a wedding that we all attended back in August this year... oh dear did I promise something that I have not delivered on yet? I know a lot of people attending wanted to see my images but I did actually never promise to put them out somewhere for them to see... So technically I haven't but anyway I have since yesterday been trying to figure out how to put the images all 300 of them on my website but without them really being linked to my official website, since these images will have no interest to most people out there unless you attended this wedding of course. I had an epiphany the other night it was actually thanks to my sister she just had her family photographs taken in the states (me being located a bit too far away) and they were uploaded on the photographers website but not through her official one so I thought if she can do it why can't I and to be honest once I figured it out it was dead easy. Well saying that it is still uploading and it is taking ages... but in theory very easy. What took most of my time is not only the uploading but the creating of the web gallery. I am making it in Aperture also easy you click and choose which images etc. and then press create, now my computer have virtually no memory space left so everything and anything that I am doing on my computer is taking ages right now so annoying. I am on my third upload attempt to my website I think it will work now once it is all there. The first two times I had the wrong folder names on some of the html pages which means that the links wont work because they cant find each other etc. you get the picture I was not happy when I realized it and after trying to change manually again realizing that it is so many pages and places that need changing it will be a lot quicker to make a whole new gallery. Do I have to tell you that it takes just as long to delete a folder on my website as it did creating it? Well it does. While my computer was thinking this afternoon I went over to a friends house for a chat. I hope I am almost done now Yey!
This morning before I started on my web gallery adventure I was out capturing some great images of the golden hour which here is between 07.00 - 08.00 anytime after that unless it is afternoon is not a great time to take photographs the sun is just too high in the sky. I got some great images of the mountains looking all golden very nice. I wanted to do some more shots but the sun went too hight too quickly so need to make anohter early photo shoot to get everything in my plan done. I also saw a few shots that would look great in afternoon light due to where the sun is in the morning so will have to plan that in later on. What I did not like this morning was that my camera gear got so dusty it did not feel like it was very windy but I had to keep on taking the sand dust off the lens several times. Not ideal.

Image filing system and some Portraits

I have recently gotten a request from a magazine about images from a certain place here in Egypt. No problem I have plenty of images to send to the magazine to choose from. My biggest issue was to find the images on all my several external hard drives. I thought I had a good system but it turns out it is not so good so it took me a lot longer to find all the images that I knew that I had. So I have this morning started to make up a new system my issue that I am facing now is if I am going to continue my old system parallel to this new one which then means that I will have duplicates all over the place that will take up space that are quite precious to me… I am leaning towards to only use my new system. I hope it will work. The system I have now is according to year and month of when I have taken a picture but then you need to remember when you took an image. My new system that are far from all implemented or completely thought through, it will probably take me months to get it all done anyway it is based on categories. Such as a folder for; food and vegetables, Stockholm, Golf course names etc. so all images that have anything to do with the categories goes into that folder no matter when the image was taken so Stockholm for instance will have plenty of images from several different years since I go to Stockholm about once a year and take pictures every time. What do you think will this system work? I guess most of the time a client do not need an image from a certain year they just want an image of the place they are requesting.

Some images will of course be trickier to place in just one category and there is no point having duplicates (unless it is your back up of course!) Maybe that is when sub categories come in? You know when a picture can be thought of as fitting in two or more different categories such as an image of a date palm tree with dates on, it could be in the fruit or tree folder or in a golf folder since it is taken on a golf course. I will have to think about that one! I do think it would be good with subcategories though to make it easier and maybe fewer folders to see as a start. If I do folders per country but then I will have it tricky when it comes to golf courses since I have so many images of them from different countries. If I make a folder of golf courses then I can put it all in their but if I do countries then I will have to have a golf course folder as a sub category in all country folders which I guess there is nothing wrong with either… Let me know if you have any great insight into my new filing system or if you have another one that is idiot proof. I spoke to another photographer about how de does his filing; he had a system that he thought was very good well at least worked for him. I just thought that it was the most complicated one I had heard of so I will definitively not do what he does. I guess it is all down to making one that works for you personally and sticking to it.

I am already quite good at deleting images but I think I need to up my game a bit and become even better at it to save space. I save almost no images on my hard drive on the computer itself but still I got a worrying message the other day when I opened Aperture; that I had too little memory for it to work properly and that I was risking loosing images! Wow that was a wake up call so I straight away frantically tried to move images from the computer to different external hard drives. I did peek at the utilities on the computer and I was scarily low on memory not sure how that happened. I need to be better at keeping an eye on it that is for sure.

I recently helped a friend take some avatar images of her for an article that have been written about her for Living Abroad Magazine. So we both ventured out to take some lovely images of her for the editors to choose from here are a few of the ones we came up with.

Bird watching

Hi there,
I went out the one afternoon to take some photographs of white birds that I had gotten a tip of was in the area. The person telling me about them did not know what kind of birds they were part from that they were quite large in size and flew away when he got close :-) No surprise there ha ha. Anyway I set off to take photographs of them. I put on a pair of shorts with lots of pockets on the sides for lens caps etc. and to that I had my 'new' company t-shirt those of you that have followed my blog knows that my compay t-shirts are bright pink in colour. I think that was my first mistake of this photo excursion. I very likely scared away any bird with any sense. I did fire off a few images towards an eagle that I saw or was it a large hawk? I am not sure. But it kept on flying away when ever I got close. I did chase it around for a while until he got tired of it and flew way off so that I had no chance of following it, so quite clever! I saw this early on my bird expedition so I was not at the lake where these white birds have been spotted so I set off trying to find them I had brought a book with me incase I had to wait for them. Once I got to the lake there was no birds in sight I scouted the area trying to find a good place for me to wait for them. But that is not as easy as it may sound since I had no idea of where they would be coming from and which part of the lake they would like to be at not that the lake is that large but still large enough to be at the wrong place at the right time..... well you know what I mean. Instead of sitting down to read I walked around trying to see other things to photograph while I was waiting. I did see the eagle again but only briefly he got a glimpse of me and few off and never came back I waited around for about 45 minutes. But no more eagles or the white birds. I am guessing that the white birds are a kind of heron because I have seen them in the area before and they can get quite large. But I did not get to see them this time. I did how ever photo graph some smaller birds. :-)
See images below, not the ones I had planned to photograph but they were there while I was waiting around and my bright pink shirt did not scare them off so easily or at all really. I guess for next time I should dress a bit more inconspicuous maybe some desert colored clothing would be a good idea so that I can blend in with the environment more.
Ps. if anyone knows the name of these birds below please let me know. Thanks!
Over and out till next time.
Helen

Planning a photo excursion

Hi,
I am very excited about a new photo excursion that I am planning into the Egyptian Desert. It will most likely happen in the next two weeks, fingers crossed. If we can get all the planning done with Jeeps and guides. You don't want to get lost in the desert!

I am also very keen to start some photo courses for beginners to intermediate enthusiasts as well as do more Photo Excursions. But not sure we have enough clientele base here in the Taba area of Egypt. If anyone are interested please let me know I am also happy to set up one on one photo sessions to fit your skill level.

I have this morning been working on images that I took while trekking in the Lake District in England. Looking at them now makes me want to go back and take images now when the leaves on the trees are changing colour as well as taking some images once the frost arrives and the first snow. I guess I will have to plan that for next time not sure I will have time next year though... we'll see. I did fall in love with the area though I must admit with it's beautiful landscapes at every turn.
I am right now reading a book by Bear Grylls, Facing Up he is telling his story about his trek up to the Summit of Mount Everest. (It's a great book) I know that my trekking is nothing in comparison but the lakes did test your fitness at times some of the hills were pretty steep and very high but once up there it was all worth it. The views that lay in front of you were amazing. Similar in the way of how Bear describes what he sees on his trek up towards the summit...
I had reacently on my trip to Dubai bought a new camera bag and I was very grateful for it I used to have the Lowepro Sling Shot bag but have now exchagned it to a Lowepro Mini Trekker and it was very comfortable to use in comparason, the sling shot is not comfy for long walks.
I think I only used one lens the whole time, at least my favorite was my Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM.
As I mentioned earlier I am still working on getting my images from the lakes ready but here are a few that are ready so far for you to view.
If you would like to buy any of them for editorial purposes or website use please contact me and we can discuss the options that are available.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Why not take your camera out for a spin? and let me know how you get along I would love to see your creations.

I will this afternoon take a model down to the beach and take some sunset images. I'll show you later how it turns out so stay tuned.

Ps. If you or someone you know are interested to do some photo excursions or photo courses with me please do not hesitate to contact me and we can set it up.

Cheers,
Helen

Portraits.

As I have mentioned to you before I bought some photography equipment on my recent trip to England.
I am so happy with my new setup, remember I asked for a model in my last post well no one came on their free will and asked me so I had to go out and get myself a model :-) I asked one of my friends the other day if she could model for me so that I could try out my new gear. 
We planed the shoot to be straight after her work so that we could get the photo shoot under way and then afterwards meet up with some other friends for dinner.
I had in my head a photo shoot plan of what kinds of shots I wanted to do. I needed a chair as a prop and since I don't have one (I know it sounds silly but I do not have a chair in my house, I have bar stools but not a normal chair) anyway my model does so I thought, great I will come to your house then. In hind sight it probably would have been better if she would have brought the chair to my house. I have more plain walls than she did...as well as her ceiling is not white! I had planned to bounce one of my flashes against the ceiling and I think it got drowned due to that the ceiling was not white but peach.... ha ha but in the end we managed to get some great shots. The chair did not play a large role in our photo shoot as I had originally planned. I wanted to make very bright portraits so that the face is almost washed away only leaving some contours. That is not what I did not in camera at least I did more of that in Photoshop afterwards. I learned a lot by looking at the images afterwards of what I would like to do different next time with the light set up. So I would like to make another photo shoot and make some changes. My model is soon going away on holiday unfortunately so either I hurry up and get this next photo shoot underway or I will have to change model. I luckily have another model coming in a few weeks time. That I can use as well. I'll keep you guys posted :-)

I have for a few weeks now been waiting for a sunset with no wind you know when the water reflects everything like a mirror. I have another shoot planned in my head that I would like to do and it would be ideal to do during those circumstances but I am thinking I might be waiting in wain it being winter soon and all and more wind in the afternoon to come. Should have done this shoot during the summer! The greatness of  hindsight again. So I might just have to try and do the shoot now and see how it goes with wind. I will let you know how I get along.

My Swedish Smultronställe!

Every time I go to Sweden to my home town I always try to take some time to stop by one of my Photography "Smultronställe" It is a Swedish word that does not have a direct translation into English but I googled it for you and this translation fits very well to what I mean.  Smultronställe is a Swedish word that means an idyllic spot on Earth. It also means "a place where wild strawberries grow". Smultronställe is a beautiful metaphor that lacks an English equivalent. It is a special place, unique (even if) only to you, it can be a local forest, a bench, a tree, or your favorite vacation spot.
The image below I took there at sunset in May 2010. This is a place where I don't bring many people I have only brought 1 outsider part from family to this date and I think I will keep it that way.. :-) so sorry guys....
I know however that I am not the only person that knows about this place because I can see traces of where people have had BBQ's but I have never seen anyone there. You also need to be properly dressed to get there you cannot just think oh I will go to that place right now. So that rules out all the housewives that walk around in high heels and wake up with make up already on. If you are not wearing the right kind of foot wear you will not reach my "smultronställe". So some planning is needed and it is in the middle of absolutely nothing. You will not find it unless you know it is there. I have my mum to thank for showing me this place years and years ago.  
I do have a few other places that I also always visit when I am in the area that I can tell you where they are they are not such a secret. 

My "Smultronställe" .

Taken at a place I go every-time I get a chance no exceptions!

The ones below are taken by Mälaren in Köping.

Buy My Prints

http://www.redbubble.com/people/hshippey

Herb Garden at a Hotel in Egypt

Hi there,

Hope you are all well. I have this week busied myself with lots of different things such as editing images that I took in Sweden on my last trip, I still have loads to do before I am finished, as well as editing images that I have taken this week. I have had several different motifs that I have taken photographs of.  Peaches, Champagne bottle for a magazine as well as an Herb Garden at a hotel that they have recently started. It is really nice because what they do is they have this lovely looking herb garden where guests can sit and relax in the shade of the dens trees, it looks splendid together with their overall hotel landscaping as well as they use these organic growing herbs in the hotel cocking! I was walking around between the rows of lovely growing basil, rosemary, dill, lemon trees and olive trees its mesmerising to feel and breath in all the different scents. Very relaxing you really envy the guests and want to be one of them, to be able to just sit and relax for a bit. I might come back and do just that if I ever get the time. 
I think it is a splendid idea for a hotel to have access to their own herb garden, no need to stress over deliveries that are not arriving on time since you have it all outside in your own garden. They even play nice soft music in the garden for the plants not for you as a guest even though I am sure that you can sit and take part of the tunes whilst reading your book. They play the music for the plants to make them grow better they have the speakers positioned so that they are towards the herbs they play twice a day different kinds of tunes to make sure that the herbs get exactly what they want. 
I have photographed other hotels in Sharm el Sheikh that have taken the same idea of having their own fresh grown herbs at their doorstep but they have taken it one step further they also have vegetables such as tomatoes, corn, pumpkin etc. that they can easily grow here in Egypt in their gardens solemnly for use in their cocking. I don't think I saw any speakers in their garden though...

Birdies everywhere in Egypt

If you feel that you are being watched whilst teeing off that might very well be the case and by no other than the Residence Merlin Falcon. He is silently watching over their first tee box and their chipping practice area. He blends in very well with the palm trees natural colours so it can be hard to get a glimpse of him at times. But once you know where to look then you will be able to see him every day. I usually go to see him with my camera in the afternoons around four pm. The temperature is nicer so I can sit and watch him or if he is away wait for him to come back because he always does. The thing with being a twitcher which I am by no means you need to be patient, and that is not really me but since he is so predictable its easy.

Merlin Falcon also known as Pigeon Hawk

If you are golfing you will first run into the Merlin Falcon then at hole 3 you will be greeted by an array of different kinds of birds. Such as the very bright coloured Shining Blue Kingfisher, Gray Heron, Snowy Egret, White Heron and Yellow Wagtail among many other kinds of birds that feed around the lake.

This bird i am not totally sure which kind it is but a kind of sand piper is my guess. But please tell me if you know.

It was a couple that was by the lake, they did not like it when I got to close. They never flew far only across the lake. So I kept on going after them ;-) So there we were going back and forth it was great practice for taking images of a flying bird which is not as easy as it might look. It definitively takes practice. I admire the photographers that takes wild life images for a living both their patience and their skill.

Yellow Wagtail.

Grey Heron.

Snowy Egret.

Shining Blue Kingfisher. 

You will also be able to see some of them again while playing off the back nine. The Majestic Eagle is well camouflaged by the mountains. The Eagle is just like the Merlin Falcon very predictable once you have spotted him you know where to look the next time you pass by the same location. When I am out to photograph the birds on the golf course I usually start with the Eagle and end my photography session with the Falcon but that is just me. These are just to mention a few of all the birds that you will be able to see while enjoying your golf game in the sun in Egypt.

Cattle Egret.

The other day I got a phone call saying that there was a 1.5meter tall Great White pelican on the golf course. I rushed down with my photography gear in the hope that the bird would stay till I arrived so that I would be able to take a few snaps of it. S Murphy’s Law has it of course it was nowhere in sight when I arrived. I did speak to a few guests that had seen it and taken some images of it. They said it was just magnificent when if came flying in over them and I can imagine that since it was so big in size. Unfortunately I have still not seen it myself so therefore have no pictures to show you of it yet. Hopefully one day…

Eagle.

 Eagle.

One thing that I discovered while taking photographs of wild birds is that my 70-200mm IS 2.8f is not enough I wish I had a 300mm or a 400mm lens. At least when trying to get a good photograph of the Eagle when he is sitting up on the mountain. With the birds on hole 3 and the Falcon you can get quite close to them before they fly off. You should have seen me one day when I literally followed the poor falcon all the way around the clubhouse with my camera. But he still comes back for more! Both the Falcon and the Eagle was here last year as well around July I believe it was if I remember correctly and they hung around the same places/trees so I guess they are very territorial.