Late last year, my team and I were commissioned to photograph the new completed phase for Arcos Gardens Golf Club and Country Estate. The Club, located in the picturesque countryside of the town Arcos de la Frontera, had recently completed construction of their magnificent new Clubhouse and required new images of the building as well as their new luxury villas for use in their various advertisement campaigns.
As that I have years of experience in shooting golf clubs and have previously shot this particular one, I was aware of the challenges awaiting us. The terrain through which this course runs through is quite flat. There are no significant natural land elevations from which I could obtain sufficient height in order to capture anything monumental in terms of the landscape.
Outside of using a helicopter, I decided that a crane of sufficient size would do the job. For a reasonable daily rate, Arcos Gardens hired for me a 20 meter articulated mobile crane, a.k.a. a cherry picker, that is quite easily operated by your average photographer or better yet your technical assistant. Over our 5-day shoot schedule, we certainly took advantage of having this piece of heavy machinery at our disposal…and what fun we had! Check out our video clip to get an idea of what I’m talking about!
MORE IMAGES FROM THE SHOOT
As that I live in Southern Spain, getting to Tangier involved a short car ride into the expansive port of 
Algeciras followed by a one and a half hour ferry ride to the port of Tangier. The townhouse itself was a 10-minute walk from the port and located just outside the Medina. Although the exterior of this property was simple and unobtrusive, the interiors were magnificent featuring traditional U-shaped arches, elaborate use of bright color, and extravagant decorations. Traditional 
Zellige terra cotta tile work covered much of the floor and walls of almost every room while impressive Moorish plasterwork adorned the vaulted ceilings…and the views were absolutely spectacular! All in all, an amazing property. Enjoy the pics!
Our CAT adventure began at 4.30 AM on a cold Spanish January morning. After three cups of coffee and a final equipment check, we set off for the Malaga-based corporate training center for Caterpillar, the world’s largest and best-known maker of construction and mining machinery. My team and I were commissioned to capture images of various current and new lines of machinery to be used for worldwide CAT ad campaigns. Personally, I aimed to create images that showcased CAT machines in a new light and artistic perspective, something different and exciting.
For this shoot, I decided to test the new lightweight Canon EOS 5D II designed to capture noise-free 22.1 megapixel images in low light conditions. Along with my Gitzo carbon tripod I decided to bring my versatile and lightweight Manfrotto Neotec monopod fitted with a custom bracket for a rapid switch from portrait to landscape format as well as quick vertical adjustments. This combination of equipment is ideally suited for capturing images of machinery stationed on 45 degree incline quarry slopes. By 6.30 AM, our team, comprising of an assistant, producer, two light technicians, crane operator, art director from CAT and myself, met up at the CAT headquarters. We set up the camera equipment, including a generator-powered 4000 watt HMI light, ballast and two large tripod mounted mirror reflectors in pitch black while operators carefully positioned the machines. As soon as the sky took on a cobalt blue hue, we began to shoot aiming to capture as many quality images as possible before sunrise kills our light (or my assistant drops the camera on the steep slope).
Following our early morning shoot, we moved on to one of the daylight segments of the project. A separate art director oversaw this part of the production with images intended for a new CAT ad campaign. Finally, we got to see these monster trucks in full action, a thrill for any Tonka truck fan! Gary, head operator for CAT expertly maneuvered these 100-ton beasts through the rough terrain as if he was driving a mini in a car park. AMAZING!
This past December, our team were commissioned to create images to be used in advertising campaigns for a new business venture featuring ultra fast powerboats based out of Sotogrande in southern Spain. This assignment presented with its own unique challenges. Orchestrating the positions of both the 20 meter Sunseeker shoot boat and the 38′ Hustler Slingshot at the right angle to the sun was in itself tricky.
On top of that, I had to maximize the number of usable sharp quality images captured of an object traveling at more than 85 miles/hr. In choosing the camera for the job, I needed a model with a high frame per second rate to capture as many images as possible in a short time frame. Each pass of the powerboat would only give me about 5 seconds of shooting time.
Taking all these factors into consideration, I ended up using the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, which features a capture rate of 5 frames/sec as well as a huge 3” fine detail LCD screens for image review on the scene. I fitted the body with an image-stabilized EF70 – 200mm f2.8 lens along with a B+W polarizer to saturate colours and reduce glare from the water.
To stabilize the camera and allow for rapid vertical adjustments, I used the lightweight Manfrotto Neotec monopod fitted with a custom bracket.
Using a technique called panning, I was able to create a speed effect using a slow shutter speed of 1/60 to 1/100 of a sec while tracking the boat with my camera resulting in sharp images of the boat itself with blurred background and water.
Once the shoot was done, the team and I got a taste of serious speed by taking a ride on this 600 horse powered Yanmar diesel racing machine! All I can say it’s one hell-of-a-ride!