Dubai Fashion week 2011

Aly Fawaz contessa

I went to Dubai Fashion week, expecting to see a selection of gowns, wedding dresses, trendy and classic outfits, and beautiful long legged model's. 

Well my expectations exceeded themselves with the beautiful gowns designed by Aly Fawaz,

His mixture of metals on chiffon, silks and brocades were truly captivating.

I had a back stage pass and spent some time back stage with the models as make up and hair was being finalized, then it was time for the practice run. 

These are a few candid shots I took back stage.

Then it was time to line up. We waited in a long line for about 20 minutes, to get in to the very busy excited crowd, of spectators, customers, photographers and bloggers. There was quite a few shoppers with their pens and scribble pads making notes of the designs as they flounced down the runway. Lots of head nods, and appreciation for a beautiful collection from Aly Fawaz.

The first gown that hit the runway, you could hear the crowds, awing and ohhing as the model flowed down the catwalk in this bell shaped gown, with a metal waist and a deep v shaped bodice. It was truly breathtaking. 

When your at these fashion shows, you are requested not to use flash, most of the shows struggle to light the ramp evenly, or sometimes the ramp isn't lit to the end, and when the girls walk the ram p there upper bodies are in the shadow with the dress lit up. 

Stage production on this event was immaculate. the lighting was perfect through out the days I was there, and I had no isues with getting enough light on the frocks to see the textures of the fabrics. 

When photographing models on the runway your shutter speed should be somewhere around 160 to 250th of a second. depending on what type of movement your trying to create in the clothes. 

For this show I shot with my 70-200 mm lens, my f stop was at 2.8 for most of the show, except for the grand finale, I try to push it to 5.6 or 8, and adjust my ISO accordingly to get enough light.

There were a few outfits that that had a great depth of texture and class combined with bits of metal plating. 

When the models walk down the catwalk, they normally will do a 3 second pose to the right then a 3 second pose to the left, during this time you can catch the girls in action, this model's name is Anne, I met her back stage, also a Canadian. Lovely young lady.

In most scenarios I like to meter read of the models skin. If she is wearing black or white dresses,  you can sometimes be either one or two stops over or under rendering your image to lose detail in the blacks or overexpose on the whites. There isn't a lot of time to fiddle with your exposures. So practice does help you improve your shooting.

 I Loved this flapper style dress, such soft colours, and so striking on the model, Oh to be 5'10".

 The long evening dresses were very feminine and seductress like that I found myself in awe at how beautiful the models walked and show cased these spectacular dresses. The music for the show, was perfectly suited for the walk, very entertaining for all the spectators.

This event was very organized and they had a large ramp for media, so we could sit and enjoy the show, and shoot comfortably without people pushing and jockeying for position. 

 The wedding dresses, were breath taking, I didn't want them to leave the stage, I was hoping they would walk the cat walk just one more time so I could ohhh and wow over these brides. 

 Now the grand finale. Everyone I talked to after the show, was so thrilled with this years collection! Great efforts to Aly and his team. 

O.K this is when its time to boost your f-stop (aperture) so you can have more than one beautiful model in focus. I usually try to be at least f8. which then also means you have to adjust your ISO values, depending on your camera, you can get a lot of noise in the photos. There is software available to get rid noise. One of my favourites is

 http://noise-ninja.en.softonic.com/

it is a free software that you can download, it is a plug in for photoshop. 

Thanks for taking the time to look through the photos, I hope you were able to pick up a few photo tips along the way. 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I will reply, promise. 

Graduation Time

Kyle Bazen, 

Graduate from Bahrain school 2011

April 25, 2011 we headed to the Bahrain fort at 3:30 to capture some casual images of Kyle, It was hot but there was a slight breeze which made the afternoon very pleasant. 

  Ross Martin, a young photographer, and good friend came along to be my portable light stand. We did the shoot with a silver reflector and an Nikon SB 800. Some of the shots, I used the flash pointed at the reflector to make a bigger source of light.   

I've taken pictures of Kyle for the school portraits for a couple years at Bahrain School, I knew him from school plays and theatre. Always thought he had lots of talent in the arts. 

Kyle also has an interest in photography, 

I wonder what he will do, and which road's he will take in life.

Congratulations to Kyle for all the hard work.

May your roads be paved, windy, and many forks in the roads ahead of you.

All the best,

Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, lots of laughs, and lots of smiles. 

And serious shots too. 

Kyle's Mom Courtenay, already missing the idea of him off to Uni. 

Dubai Red Bull X fighters 
April 15, 2011

Last night I went to this extreme sports event in Dubai, What an amazing event 15,000 people, down in the Dubai Marina what a beautiful place to be. The grand stands where massive and completely packed with people from all ages.  The waves crashing in on the beach, helicopters in the sky and the Jumeriah Beach Residence peering down at the on lookers. I was totally blown away. What a night.

There were 10 riders competing in the first stage of the 2011 tour in Dubai, the first 5 were competing to get into the qualification round. Two out of the 5 placed, into the competition. During the competition round two riders rode back to back and competed to take it to the next round.

01	Nate Adams	USA	370
02	Andre Villa	NOR	365
03	Dany Torres	ESP	310
04	Levi Sherwood	NZL	290
05	Adam Jones	USA	290
06	Robbie Maddison	AUS	265
07	Mat Rebeaud	SUI	175
08	Eigo Sato	JAP	130
09	Mike Mason	USA	105
10	Jim McNeil	USA	95

  I was utterly amazed by the flexibility and athleticism of the young fliers. When I first went to the event, I thought I was watching guys that like to ride bikes, well.  I soon realized that there was a possibility that they enjoyed the aerobatics of the flight as much as riding.  Not just well, the best, these guys are the best in the world.




The riders are judged on 5 different categories and have 90 seconds to show the roaring crowd what they can bring to the sand pit.

Judge 1:    Variety

Judge 2:     Challenge and Execution

Judge 3:     Style

Judge 4:    Use of Course


Judge 5:    Show and Spectator Reaction

        This is the beginning of the world tour for them, Dubai,  Brazil, Italy, Spain, Poland, Australia.

Superman stunt, hands behind back, being pulled along in the airstream and the momentum of the bike. 

Yes, he truly can fly like superman

Dany Torres of Spain triumphed with 100 points in Dubai, In the lead to the next event. 

 For more information, on the rules regulations of the event and to find out more about sponsorship please check out, www.redbullxfighters.com


This was a question asked by one of my readers: Fantastic photos Jacqueline.. what were your settings? ISO? They are so clear and bright! 
Here is some details about the shoot!  The riders were lit up with great big spots, they didn't have a yellow or blue cast to the skin tones. I believe they were day light temperature lights 6500k.  I had my white balance at auto, as it seemed to handle the ambient light quite well. My Iso setings were between 2000 and 3200. I shot some of the photos with my 70-200mm lens at 2.8. then switched to the bigger zoom lens, as I was on the ground a ways back, so my 80-400 was a better choice, The lowest aperture on this lens is 4.5. and my shutter speed on the moving targets was between 1/320 and 1/500s. The best focus plain to use was the single, sometimes I used the auto focus, other times i focused on the gravel, roughly about where I thought the riders would launch, lock down the folcus point with the AFL button, and wait till they hit that depth of field. Hope that helps... 


If you have any other questions feel free to ask, I am happy to share!
To see the video clip on the event click here on this link.
http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Video/Red-Bull-X-Fighters-Dubai---Best-Action-021242995441461

Now in Dubai

So here we are living in the big Metropolitan city of Dubai. the U.A.E.
how could that be, we left in 2004, went to Canada for a year and a half, 6 school years in Bahrain, and here we are back yet again. I say that not as a surprise but a pleasant thrill. I was very sad when we left and so excited to be back.

We have been here for three weeks now, the kids have managed there way perfectly well with out any glitches. Very proud of them as moving into a new school and being the new kids can be challenging to say the least in many schools. They have found great new friends and reunited with old friends.
We spent the first two weeks with the Hurlbuts one of our oldest family friends. Don't ask how old O.K., They put up with us for the duration, and when we left, we were sad to go.  Big thanks to Margaret and Jim, for loaning us the use of your home during our transition time.
 I was looking for a temporary apartment. One with everything form dishes to linens. I don't know how, but everything in Dubai was fully booked.
Looking around this fabulous city, you ask yourself how is that possible, with all the sky scrappers that there wouldn't be a 4 bedroom furnished apartment available. I think a lot of it has to do with the unrest in the Middle East, there seem to be many refugees out and about from Egypt, Libya, Bahrain....
Paper work signed, and a key was handed to me with the numbers 1004 on the key ring.  Off we went up the escalators with our suitcase each, and my camera gear...
bags of school uniforms. Up 10 floors to a beautiful view over the Dubai Marina. Wow what a view.

Thought you might like to see what our view is like! I was very impressed, by Day and Night. 

During my 3 weeks here I have been hunting for houses. It has been a bit of a challenge. I am sure I have looked at possibly 60+houses. Always something just not right...  I was starting to think I was being possibly a bit picky. ( I had my self convinced that it had to be perfect, especially if your in it for 5 years). So the search seemed endless. Then oneday I walked into this  house and said, I could live here. It isn't a huge home or anything really special, just right for us, with a big kitchen space that is the centre of our home.  Ready for Miranda's baking with a good centre Isle. An office big enough for my camera gear, and a small studio. Double garage, for maybe a bigger studio, have to pass that one by Dave still. (Just an idea).

My big question I ask myself every time we move, is what do I want to do? I would really like to continue on with my photography, but doing what? What will be my niche? Should I steer my career toward fashion, weddings, school portraits, real-estate? There is such opportunity here in this grand City. I guess time will tell. I think at this point and time, I will bring my camera with me everywhere I go and see where my lens leads me.

I have a huge desire to get out into the desert with a team Simone the make up artist, hair artist still in search for and a few designers.
So onward I search,
For now my photos will be of sky lines and my family photos in Dubai.
Thanks,
Jacqueline Kent

Bahrain Top Model season 3 round 3 March issue of FACT

Bahrain Top Model 2011

Season 3 March issue

Venue: Audi Car dealership, Sitra Bahrain

Models, Anna, Hannah,Jasmeet, Kaleigh,  Louisa, Monica, Tabia, 

Clothes sponsored by Mango, Camaieu, Origem,

Hair by EJ Salon Supply

Make up by Simone Gannon

Stylist Laura Bale

Anna   photo was taken totally with speed lights for this photo I had two speed lights outside the car one on each side of her face with the light on the left being the main light, added a flash inside the car to get some of the details of the interior. 

Hannah
for Hannahs photo she chose the Audi R8. Nice car, I had brought a smoke machine with me and we put the smoke machine under the car and put a flash inside the back of the car to light up the smoke and the details. Two speed lights to light the face and body, the main is on the left side with the right side as a fill, used a golden umbrella to highlight the fill with a golden glow.

Jasmeet
Chose to be under the hood of the Audi A7 sportback, yet another beautiful car, To light this image, I had one flash behind the smoke, one main light with large shoot through umbrella square on the face, one light on the right with a gold umbrella to add a gold highlight. 

Kaleigh thought that being a mechanic was a great way to show her talents as a model, with a little grease added to the face with Simones' creative make up gives it a real sense of her working. The underside of the car is lit with two flashes one behind and one to the left, one flash straight on the face shot through a white umbrella.

Louisa was thinking about changing the tire,  with high heels and fabulous hair it was an easy shot to get what we wanted from her. To light this, I have one flash inside the car with a red gel, one on the floor behind the rag to light the tire, as there wasn't enough ambient light to get the details. I have one flash on her face, shoot through umbrella to soften the transition of shadow to light on her skin.

Monica was right into this shoot, she had grease, vaseline added to her skin to give a nice shine and a bit of dirt to her face. To light this image, I had a flash on the floor to high light the wall and to give some sense of separation between the subject and the wall. Two flashes were used to light her face, one was placed under the hood and one to the left of the image to create nice highlights on her face. 

Tabea was playing in the car wash, to do this image, I didn't want my flashes to get wet, so I placed them into plastic zip bags and hid one behind her on the side mirror, to highlight and separate her hair from the background. One large shoot through umbrella to light Tabea's face and the car. 

The girls Season 3 round 3 March issue of FACT
This image was a bit of work to light, it was one of the first images of the day and we had quite a bit of ambient light in the garage. I wanted to light under the cars, so profoto lights were used behind the tire of each of the cars. I had my D1 air Profoto light with a 5 ft Octabank soft box to light all the girls. Inside the car there is a flash triggering as well to add some depth to the photo. 



Photography by
Jacquelinekentphotography.com
lighting assistance Armand Hough

thanks to the team for making this such a great day.