Video to be highlight of photo event

A dozen top photographers will share their technique and trade secrets with amateurs and professionals at the sixth edition of the annual Gulf Photo Plus event.

The region's only hands-on dedicated photography event is being held at Dubai Knowledge Village from March 1 to 6, with classes starting from Dh500.

More than 50 workshops will be held over the week, with several new features this year, including courses on fashion photography and video, says Chief Organiser Mohamed Somji.

"Despite the financial crisis and a consequent drop in sponsorship, 2009 was our best year in terms of attendance," he told Emirates Business. Over 600 people attended GPP workshops last year, with another 1000 coming out to the introductory Photo Friday session.

Somji said he expected numbers to stay around the same this year given space and budget constraints. "However, we're hoping to improve on our fill rate of 78 per cent," he added.

New to the event this year is a video SLR workshop presented by Vincent Laforet, who believes the world of still photography is rapidly converging with that of film, video and multi-media.

"One photography trend over the last 12 months is the emergence of video, with both Nikon and Canon putting out high-definition SLR cameras. And while video may not seem like a big deal because even the smallest cameras have video functions, the HD feature has opened up a new world for editors and photojournalists, besides offering a quality close to 35mm film at a fraction of the cost," Somji said.

Fashion photography comes into focus this year with Melissa Rodwell's two-day seminar. Somji expects great demand for a five-day course called 10 Steps to Becoming a Great Photographer, to be presented by digital documentary photographer Steve Simon.

The event kicks off with an exhibition at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre of works by lecturing photographers, including Joey Lawrence, Joe McNally, David Nightingale, David Hobby and Bobbi Lane.

Other courses cover technical elements and the use of technologies such as Photoshop. Workshops vary in length from half a day to five-day courses, but hobbyists who cannot get time off work could pop along to Photo Friday on March 5 for tips on any of 16 topics.

More details are available at gulfphotoplus.com. Tickets go on sale on January 14.

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