May 29th, 2010 § 0
After 3.5 months in the desert (Abu Dhabi), I have finally made a short trip back to London to, among other things, celebrate my birthday with friends. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend a couple of days back in the Cotswolds with family. I was lucky to have a beautiful summer’s evening with family friends, wine and a BBQ. This is just a simple snap from the back of their house, but I had almost forgotten how GREEN everything is here!
May 29th, 2010 § 0
A friend in Abu Dhabi has recently bought a horse and I jumped at the chance of heading up to the Royal Stables to take some photos. I’ve never taken many ‘portraits’ of the equine variety although fortunately am very comfortable around horses! Over two early-morning visits, I think I picked up some useful skills and some nice photos in the process.
The learning process…I love it! Click on the image above for the full set.
April 25th, 2010 § 0
This week was the second outing for WOMAD Abu Dhabi and I was fortunate enough to get a press pass for the first two evenings. There is SO much going on at these festivals; I concentrated my efforts on two cracking bands, Babylon Circus and Trans-Global Underground.
There was disappointment after Damien Marley pulled out of the last night, but from what I saw, WOMAD Abu Dhabi was another huge success.
Click through for more photos on Flickr or purchasing options on Zenfolio.
April 22nd, 2010 § 0
The majority of my photos are on two Flickr accounts (see links on the right) and some appear on Facebook, however I have been approached a number of times by people wanting to either purchase prints or a digital download of some of my better photos. After a two week trial, I have signed up with Zenfolio to offer just such a service. Prints can be ordered through Photobox (UK) and various other worldwide providers for delivery to your home, plus some photos have digital downloads available.
Zenfolio is a fantastic service, cleverly designed, and has allowed me to create a number of event-specific albums which are password-protected (weddings, birthday parties, portraits etc). Take a look and let me know what you think!
March 30th, 2010 § 1
After an epic Friday with the ‘trainee’ gang (meaning an all-you-can-eat brunch, PJ O’Reillys (Royal Meridian), Pearls & Caviar (Shangri La), Chameleon (The Fairmont) and then Etoiles (Emirates Palace), rest and recuperation was required.
Up early to grab our spots on the beach, we ended up having a great view of the Red Bull Air Race off the Corniche from the Hiltonia Beach Club. Whilst we couldn’t hear the commentary, we could tell who was doing well and who wasn’t (including wincing as one pilot was disqualified for ‘dangerous flying’ as he swooped barely a meter above the water).
All in all, good fun although the weather is definitely heating up!
Click the photo for the rest of the gallery.
March 13th, 2010 § 0
This weekend I drove to Dubai to visit friends and to watch the Dubai Polo Gold Cup. In the scorching heat, the polo was good fun although considerably less polo was played than at the “World Cup” at the Hurlingham Club, Fulham, last summer.
My first time in Dubai, I found it to be crazier and more hectic than Abu Dhabi, but didn’t see why so much fuss was made out of it. Having said that the Burj Khalifa was impressive!
March 8th, 2010 § 0
Wakestock Abu Dhabi organised a number of international artists to perform in the evenings after the wakeboarding.
I must admit I didn’t know Maximo Park very well before their concert but I was impressed; they were simply superb.
Paul Smith (lead singer, pictured) had such incredible charisma on stage, he was fantastic to photograph. I had trouble choosing a photo to use here (the rest can be found here).
March 8th, 2010 § 0
Abu Dhabi is perfectly arranged for beach-related sports events. The Corniche is a fantastic stretch of beach which this weekend hosted Wakestock, 2010’s (and Abu Dhabi’s) first stop on the ‘Wakeboard World Series’ tour.
March 2nd, 2010 § 1
There is something extraordinarily relaxing about sunsets; perhaps it is because they signal the ‘wind-down’ of another day?
I thought I’d seen impressive sunsets in Europe but here, they may be very short (you can literally watch the sun drop out of the sky) but they are beautifully golden and bath everything in a wonderful glow.
I haven’t had a chance to photograph many but it is going to be a project for the next few weeks!
February 27th, 2010 § 0
I was lucky enough to get a pass to the 2nd Abu Dhabi Yacht Show at the incredible Yas Marina, which has already hosted the Formula 1 (on the Yas Marina Circuit) at the end of 2009. It was a scorching day and attendance was good; a mixture of awe-struck guests (myself included), brokers, press and yacht owners. It was quite easy to spot who was who!
I had a good wander around with my camera and as you can see, it was an incredible spectacle (despite there not being enough proper sailing yachts!). Not only were the boats ’super’ and ‘mega’ but the Yas Hotel is easily the most impressive hotel I have been in. I will definitely be going back at night for some dinner and drinks to see the colour-changing cladding.