Helping out others; Sirvan.

Over the last couple of years a lot of people have helped me out and gave me opportunities that helped me develop my skills in. Although I’ve still got a long way to go, I feel like those opportunities and people helping me out, did help me get where I am at the moment way faster.

So to me it’s more than logical, that when ever somebody asks me for help, I’ll try and help out where I can. The shoots always turn out to be a lot of fun and seeing somebody being super happy with the results is such a rewarding feeling! There is less pressure than shooting for a client and since most of the people are really passionate about “their thing”, it all feels really smooth and natural. So whenever somebody asks you if you could help, and you’ve got the time for it, go for it!

Recently I posted a preview picture of the shoot I did with Sirvan Ugur and her leather bag. She needed some photos for her final paper and presentation, so we went into the studio and out into town to shoot a couple of pictures.  On October 2nd, she held her final presentation and graduated with an 8 (out of 10)! So now it’s time to post some of the pictures, and even though they are different from what I normal do; it sure was a lot of fun to help her out!

Share the knowledge and spread the love!

Ivar

http://www.iamivar.nl – photos that love you!

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.

Normally you wouldn’t find me doing product shots, I simply miss the interaction that I normally have with models. But yesterday was a special occasion, a good friend of mine, Sirvan Ugur, has been designing a bag as her graduation project. She asked me if I could help her take some shots for her final paper, some product and some lifestyle shots, so we dived into my new studio space and I found out soon enough that my equipment might have been a bit too much for this simple setup. But hey…if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing right?

Sirvan also knows karate.

After the studio shoot was done, we went outside to enjoy the warm late summer day and shot some lifestyle photos with the bags. I’ll post those later, after they’ve been published in her paper…she graduates October 2nd, wish her luck!

You might have noticed that I said that we shot this in my new studio, and I guess that deserves an own entry on this blog but here is a headsup. I’ve got access to one of the rooms from an old movie theater. It’s temporary for an unknown period, if people buy the building I’ll have to leave…but till then I’m going to make the best of it!

Sneakpreview; hungover breakfast and spicy peppers

Here are two behind the scene shots from my most recent shoots.  Couldn’t resist jumping into the picture with my models.

45 minutes, 150 portraits, twice.

Last weekend was the kick off of Rotterdam European Youth Capital ’09 with an event hosted by Yourworld. During this two day event, 300 youngsters (from teens to young adults) got the chance to go through a program where they would discuss and develop their own dreams.

The theme of the event was “Real life heroes”, think political leaders, musicians, sports people, religious leader, etc. Think people that made a change by living their dream. Upon arrival the youngsters were divided into a group with one of those heroes as symbol. The entrance room was decorated with printed and audio quotes from the various heroes. When entering the main hall, they could see 180 posters, 150 blanks ones and 30 with a portrait of one of the heroes.

And you might have guessed it, but the blank ones would be filled with portraits of them! So just before entering the main hall, they had to get their picture taken. All 150 of them, and in a 45 minute time window. And this is were I came into play, I setup seven small studio spaces and collected six other photographer to help out shooting. After shooting the portraits, they were sent to a DTP team who processed them and handed them over the print team. This is how it looked in the end:

A small selection of the final portraits.

Closeup of some of the portraits.

In the last picture you can see:
- two heroes, pre-made: Johan Cruijff (top left) and Bart de Graaff (top middle);
- the host, shot during the day: Nicolette Kluijver (top right) (who turned out to be just as friendly and funny as she is on television);
- three of the persons who joined the event (bottom row), shot during the day.

All went unbelievably smooth. In the end we only had to shoot about 230 portraits, but I’m sure even the full 300 wouldn’t have been a problem. So a thank you to those who’ve been helping out:

Thijs Kelder (Studio Ruwedata) who was head of the DTP team and my direct boss;
Mathijs Goorhuis and Joost ten Bruggencate (Mothership) who were making this all happen;

And last but not least, the photographers:
Marc Borger
Taufiq Hosen (Taufiqhosen.com)
Wouter Kersten
Hidde vd Lijn
Roland Pupupin (Pupupin Photography)
Christiaan Roos

As soon as I’ll get some pictures of the actual setup, I’ll post a message about the logistical side of the story.

Salut!

Ivar – http://www.iamivar.nl