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.

Happy 1st of Advent everyone!

Hope you have gotten into the Christmas feel now, I decorated our house yesterday so it is now looking as Christmasy as it ever will. I also made homemade mulled wine (glögg) that I have had brewing over night so I have had some of that and some ginger bread cookies today together with listening to Christmas songs trying to get into the Christmas feel. It is otherwise a bit hard for me to get into the Christmas feeling when it is 26C outside and sunny. How is the weather where you live?
Have you celebrated 1st of advent today? If you have how did you celebrate? In Sweden its traditional to light the first candle on the advent candle holder. I unfortunately could not find any candles at home yesterday only the advent candle holder its always something missing isn't it?
My photo shoots last friday that I  told you about both went well I have not had time to go through all the images from the latest shoot but the one I had during the afternoon are all done and delivered to the client it is always nice when you have finished a job so that you can concentrate on a new one.
I have now started a personal project that I will have going beside my regular work that will be of producing more Abstract Photo Art I really enjoy doing it. I will also produce a few different kinds of calendars for 2011 it is after all time to buy a new calendar very soon if you are in the market for one. I will have all mine ready for purchase at Red Bubble.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/hshippey 

Well I better go and get ready I am invited to a party at the Hyatt Regency Taba Heights this afternoon.
Catch you all later.
Helen

Dance show Photography.

I have just finished cleaning my camera sensor and charged all my batteries so I am totally ready for this afternoon and evenings photo shoot.
First I will take some tournament presentation photographs then after dinner the fun begins with photographing a dance show hope I can get into the rhythm. :-)
I hope it will not be too windy either tonight it has a tendency to be more windy during the afternoon/evening here than it is during the day. I will use my Canon 5D together with my Canon 70-200mm 2.8f  L IS USM lens to get those lovely close up shots in low light.

Keep your fingers crossed for some great photography tonight. Its all about the performance and the dance costumes don't you think? I am hoping for something colourful. Like these.

I have been feeling very patriotic today wearing my Sweden T-shirt, but I guess I better go and change before my photo assignments.
Ta ta.
Have a lovely weekend I certain will. I do know what I will be doing on Sunday... at least where my hubby will be for most of the day and that is watching The Dubai World Championship Golf Tournament I will of course sneak some peeks here and there as well but I can seldom sit for a whole tournament part from the Ryder Cup I was totally hooked then day and night. That was some great golf on display!
Ps. I played on the Earth Course where the tournament is on now in July and it was a great course to play on I must admit, it also looks very well manicured from what I saw on TV yesterday.
Cheers,
Helen

Birds are magnificent creatures

Hi there!
Today I saw a Pigeon Hawk chasing a Pigeon it was a very noisy flight but quite magnificent to see in a way. To see first hand how life evolves in the wilderness and not only happens on the Discovery Channel. I did however watch something very fascinating yesterday on the Discovery Channel about fish! But that is another story all together. Of course I did not have my camera at hand to shoot some frames so that I would have something to show you guys.... Murphy's Law isn't it?
Yesterday I also wished I had my camera with me I think I need to start to carry it around with me at all times! I walked down for lunch and on the way I saw an eagle sitting not more than 5 meters away from me I would have had a great opportunity to get some great close ups. Of course it later on flew away once I got closer but wow are they great birds of pray to watch them fly they look so graceful.
I am having a busy week of events photography so I have made sure I got all my gear sorted out there is one last thing I need to get done after I publish this and it is to clean my camera sensor and format one of my cards then I will be all set. 
Yesterday I got my bookmarks from the printers and if I may say so myself I am very happy with them! But then of course I have done the design and taken the images LOL so I guess I better like them. Don't you agree?

I have made personal bookmarks so I have had a specific person in mind when making them so using images that I think would be suitable for them either with them in an image or with places they have been to or I know they like etc. So takes a bit of creative searching in trying to get the image I feel would be perfect for just that person. But I then also hope that the receiver  of the bookmark also would enjoy it even more. We will see how well that goes only time can tell.

A sneak preview for you of them.

A great gift that is perfect for posting (snail mail) to your friends and family living far away since they weigh next to nothing.

If you are interested in purchasing any of my images for Christmas or any other occasion you can take advantage of this promotion that lasts till the 14th of November 2010, 15% Discount when using this:
Discount Code: hshippey_is_on_sale_2887
You can buy my art work as postcards, on canvas or framed or as large posters.
Take a look at this website to choose your image that you like. http://www.redbubble.com/people/hshippey/portfolio/art

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

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

Pop Art!

I was inspired by one of the recent issues of Digital Photo Magazines to make Pop Art with one of my wedding images that I took recently of a wedding in England.

To my surprise it was not too difficult to do it took time to do but only due to that I was using so many different layers in Photoshop inorder to obtain as much detail in the wedding dress and in the suit. You can basically make it as quick as you like depending on how detailed you want your final image to be.

I have already showed it to the client and they loved it. But I can also appreciate that this is not a style for everyone.

I also showed it to my hubby and now he wants me to make one of us from one of our wedding photos. I also just had an email from my sister where she sent a picture of her family wanting to know how they would look with the Pop Art effect. Maybe this is my new nice? or maybe not. I did enjoy making it though but then I have only made this one image so far....

We'll where it takes me.

All the best,

Helen