Last month I photographed Etihad Airways' sponsorship of The Nation's Triathlon; the fourth time I've worked with the wonderful folks at Etihad Airways. This time, however, presented the most challenging logistics of any shoot I've undertaken to date. I'm accustomed to working under tight deadlines with rapid image delivery for press release and other publication; however, for the three-straight days in September covering Etihad's events surrounding Nation's Triathlon, my second shooter and I both maintained the ability to instantly live-upload each photo we shot to the Etihad social media team in Abu Dhabi. Two photographers, multiple locations miles apart from one another, fully mobile, fully wireless, three days. Our photos were live-uploaded and live-tweeted by Etihad while we were still on-site photographing - It was a huge success! My second shooter (Eddie) and I were separated over the course of all three days - we were in constant contact, however we were never in the same shooting location. Eddie became close with the Etihad Cabin Crew who were working at Georgetown Cupcake leading up to the Triathlon while I spent time covering the Health and Fitness Expo. Check out Eddie's highlights here.
My first task, however, was to photograph Omar Nour, an Egyptian professional triathlete who helped connect the Tri Yas in Abu Dhabi with Washington, DC's Nation's Tri, making them triathlon sister cities. Omar is on his way to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our photoshoot utilized the United States Capital Building as a backdrop,making our DC event location easily recognizable to anyone in the World. Omar is very friendly and outgoing, and is a natural in front of the camera.
