The region’s top photography event, GPP 2012 will be held between March 5-10, 2012 at the Dubai Knowledge Village and will feature a host of photography workshops and seminars from the world’s leading photographers such as Joe McNally, David Hobby, Zack Arias, Martin Prihoda, David Burnett and many more.

Completely new to DSLR photography?

If you’re a beginner with the desire to learn the ins-and-outs of photography and camera basics, then take advantage of Chris Hurtt’s hands-on workshop: How to use your DSLR with a choice of doing it in the morning or evening. Chris will guide you through your camera`s most useful functions, and help you to create perfectly exposed images that express your artistic vision without having to rely on the Auto mode. If the timings not right, why not attend one of GPP’s Level 1 workshops happening all year round.

The next step for confident beginners
If you have a good understanding of exposure and have a solid grasp of how to shoot in Aperture/Shutter Priority modes (you might have learned this at our Level 1/Level 2 workshops), your next step is to start specialising in different fields of photography. If places and landscapes appeal to you, we recommend David Nightingale’s Landscape Photography and Shoot the City – Day & Night workshops. If you’d love to learn to take better photos of your friends and family, but don’t want to invest in expensive lighting equipment, Bobbi Lane’s Portraits Unplugged workshop will show you how to harness ambient/available light to make captivating portraits.

For those who are interested in achieving better travel photographs, we recommend you join Chris Hurtt’s In the Market. Learn to make the most out of your travel to capture stunning images using techniques and other valuable insights. Embrace the world’s gorgeous sunrises, sunsets and the color of night to create vivid and compelling imagery in Chris Hurtt’s Dusk, Night and Dawn workshop.

If your focus is less of landscapes and places and more directed toward the lucrative market of wedding photography, then Louis Pang’s Wedding Photography: From Ordinary to Extra Ordinary is the perfect way to go.

Translate your vision to compelling photographs and find direction and meaning in your work with Steve Simon’s Passionate Photographer – 10 Steps Towards Becoming Great. Through his innovative 10-step process, you’ll be inspired to transform your passion into a unique personal vision. Steve will take you out of your comfort zone, helping you determine what you want to say in your work, while providing practical knowledge to translate your feelings into strong content.

Introduce lighting to your shots

When it comes to lighting, you have a choice of routes, and GPP2012 has introductory workshops for both.

If you want to start big, you can try your hand at studio lighting with Bobbi Lane’s Introduction to Studio Lighting for Portraits. During the workshop, Bobbi will teach you about the lighting tools and techniques that set the mood, form, and texture of your subject.

Want to learn the lighting concepts but keep it simple? Zack Arias believes in starting with and understanding one light at a time. Zack’s One Light on Monday or Wednesday workshop will break lighting down into something you can understand and know how to use in practical day-to-day shooting.

Speedlights/speedlights or small flashes are an affordable, flexible and extremely portable lighting solution, and a great starting point if you want to light your photos. David Tejada’s Small Strobe, Big Results workshop will teach you how to use flash on and off camera and modify light to achieve different artistic effects. You’ll leave this workshop knowing how to consistently achieve the results you want. You’ll be able to confidently produce studio quality lit portraits in any environment that you encounter on location.

The Flash Bus Class with David Hobby and Joe McNally is an amazing opportunity to get the lighting lowdown. Two different styles of lighting and two different ways of teaching combine as Hobby and McNally join forces to explore and explain good light — good light done fast and well. Learn how to explore and manage light, speak with light and create interesting light that is appropriate to the subject.

Stepping up a notch (intermediate classes in photography and lighting)

Photography

Translate your vision to compelling photographs and find direction and meaning in your work with Steve Simon’s Passionate Photographer – 10 Steps Towards Becoming Great (Intermediate). The workshop will look at ethics and help you overcome photographic fears, recognize your strengths and weaknesses and guide you to follow your instincts and troubleshoot technical and practical issues.

For the first time at GPP, Bobbi Lane will be offering Unplugged II – the follow up to her ever-popular Portraits Unplugged workshop. As this workshop builds on the concepts taught in Portraits Unplugged, it is vital to have attended the first Unplugged in order to sign up. For those who qualify, Unplugged II will help you create killer portraits using natural/ambient light.

A workshop must for aspiring photojournalists is A Photo Walkabout with David Burnett. If you join this workshop you’ll be one of a small group (maximum six participants) with whom Burnett, one of the world’s leading photojournalists, will share his four decades experience, before leading and guiding you through an on-location assignment shoot in old Dubai.

Lighting

If you have the studio lighting basics and wish to up the ante, catch Bobbi Lane’s Creative Portrait Lighting Techniques that will help you develop the skills and techniques to create evocative and powerful images.

If you’re hoping to take studio lights outside, On Location with Zack Arias will teach you how to get the best out of a variety of settings, subjects and situations. You`ll be heading out for two days with great subjects and challenging photography situations around Dubai to gain tips and tricks on how to work with available light and battery powered strobes.

Greg Hiesler’s Language of Light workshop will help you develop a true appreciation of light in its many forms, opening up an entire world of possibilities. After Hiesler’s 2-day workshop, you will no longer be a slave to light; you will learn how to dance with it!

Pro photographers and (very) serious hobbyists

This year’s lineup is rich with workshops for advanced photographers. In addition to Steve Simon’s incredibly inspirational, and great for all photographers, The Passionate Photographer – 10 Steps Towards Becoming Great (Advanced), we have specific workshops covering the finer details of different photography genres.

If conceptual and fashion photography is your passion, Claire Rosen is back with her in-demand Constructed Image and The Beauty Shot workshops will cover the elements involved in creating conceptual and thematic imagery with a focus on producing images that are ‘about’ something rather than ‘of’ something. Every student will leave this course with a portfolio of image(s) of his/her own creation.

David Burnett’s Available Light, Available Life workshop will share Burnett’s techniques for capturing some of the compelling and iconic images that he is well known for. In a combination of classroom discussion and on-location shooting, David will distill his decades of shooting experience into a series of tips and techniques that will benefit aspiring street, travel and documentary photographers. Alternatively, you may fancy going out with him on a walkabout in a very intimate group either on Thursday or Saturday.

Formulas and photo recipes will only help you create images that look like everybody else’s. The key to developing your own visual style lies in your unique implementation of technique to create an image; how and when and where, but most importantly, why you use it. If you want to distinguish yourself from the sea of photographers join Greg Hiesler’s inspirational The Next Step – Developing A Personal Style workshop.

With Martin Prihoda’s Big Lights Far Away workshop, you’ll take your photo quality from advanced amateur to professional with this two-day workshop. Learn why big lights and distance are crucial for perfecting a commercial shoot. Get hands on experience in a professional setting, perfecting the key elements of photographing in industries both corporate and creative.

Unleash the power of small flash with David Tejada’s Small Strobes Big Results – Advanced. You’ll leave this workshop knowing how to consistently achieve the results you want. You’ll be able to confidently produce studio quality lit portraits in any environment that you encounter on location.

Let’s get down to business

Whether you’re just starting out and hoping to go pro one day, or you’ve taken the leap of faith and decided to earn your crust exclusively from your photography, everyone can use a little help and advice in the business side of photography.

In this digital world where social media rules, a well-run blog is one of the most powerful tools on the web and can make all the difference. David Hobby knows a thing or two about successful blogging; he created Strobist.com in 2006 and five years on, it not only receives over 3,000,000 page views a month, it has also been named one of the Best 25 Blogs in the World by Time Magazine! Get a step up on the competition by joining his Blogging And Social Media Master Class.

With the explosion in digital photography, the competition for professional work is seemingly endless. Whether you shoot weddings, portraits, corporate, architecture or anything else you’ll learn how to control the direction of your business as you build your portfolio and create relationships with David Hobby’s Business Without Boundaries.

For those venturing into the lucrative market of wedding photography, then Louis Pang’s Wedding Photography: From Ordinary to Extra Ordinary is the perfect way to go. The workshop is all about successful selling without manipulation or pressure and staying true to your art, business and yourself.

If you want to make big business by photographing, consider Corporate Photography & Building a Successful Business. Take a step into David Tejada’s world and discover everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the business and art of corporate photography.

Last but not least, if you prefer working with Excel spreadsheets like some of us in the GPP team, click here to download the schedule in Excel. A word of caution however is that you should use this spreadsheet as a guideline and always refer back to the listing on the website in case there are any changes.