Michael Bolton Live in Dubai

Last night went with Su and Katrina to see Michael Bolton. Was a great night. We decided to catch a taxi to Jumeirah as the performance was at the Madinat Arena which is in the vicinity of the Burj Al Arab and the Madinat Hotel is built in an old fort like structure. We decided to have a drink and a bite to eat first at one of the many alfresco eating places within the Hotel complex..Trader Vics was our choice....

View on way to Madinat Arena

Dining at the Madinat..

Dubai being a predominately Muslim country means the serving of Alcohol is usually confined to the high class hotels and you pay a hefty premium. It often also means the serves can be small ..so after some consulattion Su opted for a Bud, Katrina a wine and me a Singapore Sling..so at about $12 each drink we only had one..

Outside the Hotel..at Triolgy Nightclub...$130 Dhs cover Charge!($36)

Michael sure put on a great performance, the girls thoroughly enjoyed it...in fact a number of girls were yelling out we love you Michael....makes me sick, (jealous)..but yes a great concert and I believe we alraedy have ticketsfor his concert at Jupiters Casino at the Gold Coast.

A Collection of Gadgets..

Those of you who know me know I have a passion for gadgets and generally collect them. In fact it would not be the first time I have been called go go gadget man...whilst in Dubai I have manged to collect a 70-200L series Thermos Cup, which includes a bag to carry it in, a Canon Camera and lens Money Box. Today I managed to score a telephoto lens for my iPhone for 90 Dhs..about $25.00..Bargain..and it actually works. It comes complete with Tripod, iPhone case, lens and lens cloth with a holder for the Tripod...in a nice box. And guess what it actually works! I decided to pass on the Canon camera usb memory stick....but would have been interested in a panaroma lens for iPhone as well. I just can't stop collecting lenses....

Dragaonmart and Diera City Centre

Inside Dragonmart

Today we set off for Dragonmart. Su was after beads and looking for some different beads to add to her collection...it was surprising as I didn't expect to come away with anything however guess who came away with a few bags??? Yes me I could not resist the Canon 70-200 Thermos Flask nor the Canon camera and lens money box..(start saving for 1D X).a set of headphones  and a few other trinkets.

Dragonmart is an interesting place as it has a myriad of stallholders who sell handbags, homewares, lighting, bathroom fittings, hardware and jewellery oh and shoes.

Not at 1400 Dhs...sorry

I came across some fantastic pieces once again for photoshoots...some unreal necklaces and earings...but at around 1500 DHS or about $425.00 bit expensive for a one off shoot and I could not convince Su to buy one.

Deira City Centre

Marks and Spencers

In the afternoon we went off to Deira City Centre one of the older shopping centres in Dubai. First stop was Marks and Spencers...now interestingly the shop was decked out in Christmas  decreations...the stock once again was rather odd for  a hot country...I think they ship the winter stock for ex-pats to buy so when they arrive home they are in fashion...there cannot be any other reason as I am sure  it never gets cold enough in Dubai to wear half the stuff...

Drama Queen shoes..plenty of Bling Deira

Not to mention height...

A Fabulous Wedding

Pior to heading out to Dubai I had the priviledge of shooting Jadye and Adam's wedding. I have shot about twelve weddings as a second shooter so this was my first on my own and i was very happy how it all turned out. I had Rebecca Robson of Lil'B Photography help me out. I spent the full day starting out with the girls getting ready and left after the Bridal waltz.
It was a full on day and the most stressful part was the drive .the Brides place to the venue for the ceremony...especially when the limo was two cars behind me. Thankfully the guests were late and the limo did a lap of New Farm Park. Here are some of my shots.

Return to Dubai

My Favourite Camera Store

Firstly I must apologise for not keeping my blog more up to date....okay apology over lets get down to business. I thought I would restart my blog with my return travels to Dubai.  We flew out on Emirates Airlines early Sunday morning and I must say with  alot of anticipation. Sadly Emirates disappointed me with their service..their staff were very snooty and appeared to lack teamwork I was unable to work out who the leader was in the cabin but sadly felt that if we were to have an emergancy I doubt they could get their shit together.

Anyhow I digress we touched down in Dubai early afternoon we arrived at Katrina's and Costa's had a shower and set off for Mirdiff Shopping Centre. Katrina and Costa have moved but still a short stroll and now the weather is cooler no effort to walk there.

The shops are displaying winter clothing which is a bit unreal as their winter is very much like our Summer but Katrina assures me the girls dress in the long boots, scarfs and fur coats....

Those of you who know my wife know she loves bling and whilst checking out the homewares shop I had to hold her back from bring these two items back....

Actually the $2500 price tag held back...Phew...

Mind you in another shop I did wonder..am I too old for this bed?

Su managed to make a beeline for Forever 21 and buy an outfit for Christine ..infact I could go wild myself in this shop so many clothing options for photoshoots including accessories..Su is worried about me but you just dont see this stuff in OZ and the prices are so cheap. The shopping centre has a few empty spaces confirmation the GFC has made it to the UAE not that any one talks about it. Anyhow must sign off as we are off to Al Karama  to haggle with the local traders..Su just loves this.





Some Skittles and a few 100's and 1000's...

Last Friday I had a shoot with one of my favourite models Eve. Eve was starting a new job the following week so this would be her last shoot for awhile unless I can persuade her on a  weekend. Anyway she wanted to do a lingerie shoot and had this concept in mind. I had only done one lingerie shoot before  and that was probably over a  year ago. Luckily our bedroom had been recently repainted...like the day before and my wife is into shabby chic style of furnishings. Eve had her makeup done by Charel Cowan and I have to say it was awesome makeup. Eve had some Skittles and after doing a few shots at the dressing table Eve put 100's and 1000's on her lips and proceded to scatter Skittles on the bed.

For lighting I used two continous lights reflected by silver umbrellas with my flash shot up on to the ceiling. I am very pleased at the outcome of the shoot and have had numerous comments as well as expression of interest by other models in doing something similiar. I think what worked with thsi shoot was I know Eve well, we have worked together numerous times, I took my time and I was able to tweak the lighting alI went. One of my more enjoyable shoots and yes my wife is very understanding. Full gallery here.

Krank Photography Workshops

Taken without permission www.krankphotographyworkshops.com.au

Last night I attended a photo retouching workshop run by Krank Photography Workshops, Photographers Glen Krohn and Deborah Boots are the masterminds behind this enterprise. In March they ran a Mansion shoot and recently a vintage bride shoot. These shoots feature high fashion and they have fashion stylist's, makeup artisits and hair stylists involved. Glen predominately shoots hair and fashion Deborah is more into wedding shooting.

It was an interesting course and as my good friend Cindy said..worth the price just to discover the use of  the Liquify filter to manipulate images. I of course use very little Photoshop and tend to do limited editing in lightroom. I am sure though to create teh edge i need to invest in some photoshop courses.

We all sat with our computers to follow along and must say I was mighty pissed when I open my recently rebuild hard drive laptop to find a very odd message about not locating the hard drive when I fired up my Photoshop Elements 9. I did have my netbook but it is not really designed for editing unless you have a magnifying glass.

One of Glens first tips was to calibrate your monitor and to regularly do this. Glen started about four years ago and said he has self taught his photoshop skills and quickly professed he was no expert...maybe no expert but certainly turns out some fine images. There is no doubt that retouching in fashion is far more intensive and given you work with fewer images it is easy to see how two hours can quickly pass on editing an image. This would not do for say a wedding shooter but certainly worth knowing if you want to enlarge that bride shot say to go on a canvas or large arcylic.

I must say after watching Glenn last night I am starting to view the magazines and adds for comestics, hair etc with a slightly more critical eye. I took copious notes and hope to have a fiddle over the weekend once I sort out my PSE issues. Meantime if Krank Photography run another retouch workshop I suggest you better register you wont regret it.