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.

Getting my home studio ready.

Hello,
I have finally gotten a light stand for my softbox. Yey I am very happy about that I have now been re-arranging the furniture around a bit in my office slash junk room to also now be office/studio/junk room it is a good thing it is a big room so that I can manage to have a combo room like this. I was for a while thinking that I should get the one bedroom apartment next door as my studio since then I have more space and close to home but there have been guys working on that apartment for the last couple of days so I guess we are getting a neighbor and it will not be called Helens Studio I am afraid. Shame but then I at least have everything I might need close by and I can sit and edit images in my tracksuit bottoms!! So I guess something good comes out of that. :-) I also would not have this great combo room or should I say would not need to have a combo room. I actually have a whole apartment in one room because this room has the en-suite bathroom I have the refrigerator in here as well, that is solemnly due to how they have built the kitchen in this Egyptian apartment not the most cleaver design made in Egypt not like the pyramids. The previous tenants had the refrigerator in the living room but I do not want to sit and watch TV next to the fridge. So instead I have very easy access to cold refreshing drinks in my office :-)
Anyway now I need to get a background drop for my home studio. I have just noticed that our walls have the same colour, light yellow, as the ceiling. Is that normal? I thought most apartments had the ceiling white? Anyway not our Egyptian apartment, there might be a slight shade difference but not a lot that is for sure.
The other day I met a friend that have lived in Sharm el Shekih for years I think from its start of being a tourist destination, I ran into him by accident but I took the great opportunity to ask him where there is a fabric shop in Sharm. I am now going down there next week to take a look and see if I can find anything that will work as a great backdrop for my studio. Wish me luck I got a feeling I might need it. If I can't find anything in Sharm that is suitable Cairo is my next bet to finding one unless I simply paint the wall  :-)
I also need to get hold of a model so that I can try it all out. Let me know if there are any takers out there that lives nearby. My hubby is very resistant when it comes to me photographing him unless he is on the golf course then he does not mind too much since he is busy golfing. He just does not have the patience to stand/sit still for even 5 minutes. The best picture I have of him is one I took years ago in England we were there on holiday he had no idea I was taking a picture of him it's on my night stand now. I can not for my life remember where the soft copy is right now otherwise I could show it to you now.
Hope you are having as good a day as I am.
All the best till next time.
Helen

Kids give the funniest comments

As I showed you earlier in a previous blog I made Pop Art of a family portrait that I got sent to me by email. When the eldest son in the picture, he is 5yrs., saw the image his spontaneous comment was "Mamma how did this happen we look like a cartoon" I will have to agree with him Pop Art does give you a cartoon feeling doesn't it? Mum in the family liked the image anyway she is using it as her avatar on Skype at the moment. :-) Maybe next step is to print it on Canvas?

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

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New York Skyline!

The other week I sold an image to a travel site called Haute Compass, they just launched their website this Monday so please take a look at what they have to offer that can be suitable for you.http://www.hautecompass.com/new-york.html

This is the image I sold.

This got me thinking that I need to change my own website a little bit, I want to add a gallery where people and companies can buy my images that they see straight from the website with paypal. I have had these thoughts a long time I have even started a few times with different kinds of designs but never finished I never could decide upon which design I liked best, as well as its been a bit daunting to get all my images together and categorize them etc.

But I have now picked up again on one of my old designs and started to finalize it. It wont be changed just yet. Don't worry of course I will let you guys know when the new one is up and running.

In the meantime you can look at my current web page for information, www.shippeyphotography.com

Below I have added a few more New York images that I have taken.

I guess no one can buy images off you if they do not know you have them!

If there are any images on this blog or on my website that you like and would like to query how much they are to buy please do not hesitate to contact me with an email or email me a description of what you are looking for and I will send you a few sample images that fit your description, that is exactly what Haute Compass did it could work out for you too!

Email: infoATshippeyphotographyDOTcom 

Take care for now.

I guess I better get back to my website design.... :-)

Helen

A few New York images.