Joe McNally will be doing a book signing of his extremely well-received book, The Moment it Clicks at the Borders, Mall of the Emirates outlet next Thursday, May the 1st from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. This is your chance to meet and greet the author and get the wonderful book signed by Joe.
Joe is probably one of the top photographers in the world today with an illustrious career that includes shooting for the National Geographic magazine, LIFE Magazine, Sports Illustrated and many more.
The book has become one of the best selling photography books on Amazon.com and continues to be a hot item and a quick browse through of the book will explain why its very unique in that there are heaps of his stunning images with some great contextual info on the background and technique of the shot with some fascinating nuggets of advice.
He will also be giving a hour and a half lecture at the Gulf Photo Plus Photo Friday event on May 2nd - you can get more details here.
November 11; a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting independent arts and media have put up an online gallery of images that are being exhibited in FCB Gallery in New York. The exhibition comprises of a collection of images by a multitude of war photographers that are striking in their content and visual impact.
Many of these images have not featured in the mainstream press because of their graphical nature but they reveal a side of the conflicts that simply cannot be expressed in other forms.
If you can stomach images of war scenes, I recommend that you have a look at their online gallery and think about the danger the photojournalists put themselves in to report from the frontlines and give us a glimpse to the events that dominate the headlines.
Kippreport has an interesting article in their Brand to Brand feature where they look at the two heavyweights; Canon and Nikon in the photography industry. The competition between the two brands has been intense with the rollout of new cameras and technologies and that is always good for the consumer - long may it continue! The rest of the industry have also been trying to make an impact and there are some great launches and reviews of Olympus, Panasonic and Sony cameras but they are still playing catch up to the Big 2.
Have a read here.
There are 8 days left for the big event which explains why this blog hasn’t been updated
more often in the last couple of weeks.
14 photographers
80+ workshops for all levels
Special Offers on camera gear and Apple Macs and iPods
Many of the workshops have been sold out but there are still a few workshops to choose from - here are some personal picks:
David Hobby of Strobist.com fame - he will be teaching how to use small flashes (speedlights) to light all kinds of situations from corporate portraits to still life objects. using a minimalist approach and a lot of common sense. Click this link for more info.
Capturing Energy with Chase Jarvis - Chase Jarvis is a lifestyle photographer who has been making waves with his amazing photography - just have a look at some of his images on his website. He will be sharing some of his expertise at this one day workshop on the 29th. Take a long, a really long lunch break and attend. Only $105 - a bargain!
Ben Willmore’s Photoshop classes. Ben is a photoshop guru and he will be sharing his secrets in several workshops. Check out his website to browse through his Photoshoppery magic. Also, he has some great freebies on his site.
Call us on 04-360-2365 or email us on info@gulfphotoplus.com if you have any questions/comments.
Head over to the Photojojo store for some cool photography related gifts. My favorite is the Photo Circle Cutter and the mailable photo frames. There are some other neat gifts - some gimmicky and some really useful accessories. If you haven’t seen their website, have a look; they have some great tips and links; you can also subscribe to their newsletter to make sure you don’t miss out on their stories.
In our Let’s Get Started Classes, (beginner level photography classes), we always advise against using the camera’s built-in pop-up flash as much as possible because of the harsh shadows, red-eyes and dark backgrounds. And we still maintain that you should avoid using it and there are ways to get enough light in to your picture without having to use flash such as using a tripod, a fast lens or using an external flash unit on the hotshoe and bouncing or diffusing the light.
And now, there’s a quick DIY diffuser that you can make to help you eliminate those harsh and unflattering shadows - all you need is an old film canister and 5 mins and you’re all set. I knew there was a use for all those old films that I had lying around!
Here’s the link to the article (thanks to Photojojo) - have a go and feel free to share the images with us. Have fun! And if you couldn’t be bothered to make this yourself and had some money to blow, check out the Puffer by Gary Fong or the Lightscoop.
The National Geographic website have launched “MyShot” which allows photographers of all skill levels to create their own web page within the NG site and display upto a 100 photographs on their own “MyShot” page. “MyShot” members can also submit photos for the NG’s popular “Your Shot” feature which could feature in the actual NG magazine.
Another cool feature of the site is the ability to use NGM.com’s cutting edge jigsaw puzzle generator which allows “MyShot” users to turn any of their pictures instantly to a jigsaw puzzle.
All this is great for the photo enthusiast but be warned that by signing up to the “MyShot” service, you are granting NG the following rights: “A royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license to display, distribute, reproduce and create derivatives of the Photograph, in whole or in part, without further review or participation from you, in any medium now existing or subsequently developed, in editorial, commercial, promotional and trade uses in connection with NGS Products.”
But, if that doesn’t bother you, go ahead and sign up and feel free to share any of your experiences or links to your “MyShot” pages. Good luck!
There are less than 8 weeks to go to the opening day of the GPP 2008 event. Just in case you didn’t know, here are the vitals:
14 international photographers
80+ workshops, seminars and forums
April 29th through to May 4th
Online bookings before March 15th get 10% off
1 great week!
We have some top photographers joining us this year including Joe McNally, Chase Jarvis, David Hobby, Drew Gardner and many others. We will be profiling 2 of the photographers every week on the blog, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, check out the main GPP website for more information on the workshops, photographers and Photo Friday.
In the blog, we hope to bring you some interesting photography related news, updates to GPP offerings, links to interesting and relevant articles and stories from the region and across the world. We welcome your comments and feedback and if you think we should be blogging about something in particular, please feel free to write in and let us know.
