One of the joys of being a photographer is the freedom that I have. I choose my clients, I choose my jobs and I choose where I want to focus my efforts. Being able to choose to travel has to be a super highlight of doing what I do. This is a quick blog about my recent 3 day trip to Tel Aviv to meet some old friends and meet some new ones.
My good friend Udi Tirosh runs a photography Blog ( DIY Photography — http://www.diyphotography.net/) , we had been trying to work out a good reason for me to come over to visit Israel since we had met up at the Photography Show in the UK in the March before. When the good folks at Kinetis, which takes international on- and offline opinion leaders and makers on a weeklong all-expenses-paid personalized experience of Israel, decided on bringing my other good friends Rebecca Litchfield & Simon Pollock over to Tel Aviv with other world class photographer & bloggers like Ben Von Wong , Mike Kelly, Jared Polin & Adam Lerner it was a chance to good to miss out on. There is a full blog coming with the video that I shot, so I wont go into detail about that trip here, instead, I wanted to share a few photos about the trip and my thoughts on Israel & Tel Aviv.
Firstly another thank you to Udi for being my host and the invite in the first place and the history lessons ( sorry about the million questions I was asking).
Screen shot of Udi introducing something on video:
When one thinks of Tel Aviv or Israel, we think of tanks, guns, Jews, war and all the things that the BBC and world news tells us. It is very rare that we get good news stories out of Tel Aviv or mostly anything positive. I flew into Tel Aviv for a 3 night stay which turned into a 2 night stay and a 39 hour day. The only hiccup on was the flight as one of my bags was lost by the airport, it took them about an hour to find it, however, it turned out it was not really ‘lost’ but the airport security wanted to inspect the bag for a while.
A photograph of Tel Aviv Airport taken with the Fuji X-T1
When I landed in Tel Aviv, the first thing that I noticed was the lack of military or police, then I was alarmed to find that there was city wide, quick, free WiFi. After these two shocks, I was amazed at how friendly and easy it was to get a taxi. I had a vague address for Udi someplace out the city and the Taxi driver was totally amazing in getting me to where I needed to be. After a quick change and dropped of my Peli case, I grabbed the Fuji X-T1 and we headed out for a drinks thing at the WIX head offices which are in the Old North area of Tel Aviv. The whole area has a fantastic new decked beach front which has many wonderful shops, coffee bars and restaurants as well as an open air cinema and play areas for kids.
One of the many joys of this trip was being able to surprise Rebecca Litchfield & Simon Pollack. I had not told them I was coming so it was quite fun just show up. It was the first time of meeting Social Media guru and all round great guy Simon Pollack too. The image below was taken on the first night in the City from the roof top of the WIX offices with the Fuji X-T1.
The next day I headed out on my own after some filming in the morning getting ready for the shoot the next day with Ben & Rebecca. I packed light with just the Fuji X-T1with the 35mm, I was using the Domke bags for this trip as they are just amazing for day use & camera use at the same time. I took out some of the inner padding to make the bag lighter for the trip.
I spent the day out on the beach and walking about.
The beach at Tel Aviv was a very interesting place. Very calm and peaceful with a long strip of posh hotels and bars, packed with locals and holiday makers from Germany, Russia and the America. Whilst sitting on the beach waiting for the sun to get low for a better shooting light I got talking to a lady from Russia. She was in Tel Aviv for a couple of days for some hospital treatments. She had flew down from Moscow to attend the world class hospitals they have here.
Taken on a Fuji X-T1
It could be so easy to forget about the trouble of the area, bars restaurants on the beach play music and serve up ice cold beers, children play in the sand and there are people playing beach games up and down. As you stand on one end of the beach you can look northwards and see the new hotels and if you look south, the old town of Jaffa is fills your view.
Sometimes the idea that the West bank, Gaza and Palestine and the the trouble that surround Israel is the single look Helicopter that keeps a close eye on the beachfront.
As Sunset on the day I headed down to meet up with the gang with a nice walk all the way from the new modern parts of town to Jaffa. At times there were more joggers and people working out along the beach that it could of been any major cosmopolitan city in the world.
The following day required a 4 am call time and a long early drive. I was filming the BTS documentary for a head to head shoot for DIY Photography. Here are a few screen shots of the forthcoming video which will be on the blog.
Von Wong getting ready to shoot with the Lee Filter Filters & 3 Legged thing
I was shooting with:
- Nikon D800
- Lee Filters
- Lee Filters Matte Box
- Lexar Cards
- Rode Mics
- 3 Legged Thing Pods
- Sigma Lenses
- Ice Light
After a long day shooting we headed back to a stunning beach for drinks and to hang out while the sunset on my last night in Tel Aviv. We left the beach at about 10:00, went for food at the most amazing Hobbit themed bar, got home, I packed my kit and went right to the airport for a 5:00 am flight.
