Apple in Dubai, Annual Gulf Photo Plus Exhibition 2008

UPDATED: The annual Gulf Photo Plus Exhibition 2008  (29 April - 4 May) in magnificent Dubai, UAE, ended today with the presentations from the world’s best at Dubai’s Knowledge Village.  Apple IMC ME was there.

Apple Inc’s regional distributor and officially-sanctioned third-party representative for the Middle East, Apple IMC ME, has demonstrated unwavering support for the event which lasted from April 29 to May 4. Other big names included Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, GraphEast, Bowens, and Fuji Film.

The only Apple User Group in the United Arab Emirates, EmiratesMac, was present on Photo Friday, chatting to people about all things Mac, and helping them out with their problems.

On April 29/30 Apple IMC ME sponsored two 2-part workshops hosted by David Nightingale. The first workshop was an 8 hour course held over 2 days guiding students through the essential stages of digital capture and digital output, in terms of both web and print. The first technique involved converting the image to LAB Color mode then ‘extracting’ the Lightness channel, while the second technique involved using the Channel Mixer tool to vary the tonal balance of the final image to draw attention to the areas of an image users wanted to emphasise.

The second workshop was a 6 hour course held over 2 evenings covering two techniques for converting an image to black and white and a variety of tools and techniques for tonning images. The topics discussed also included simulating cross-processing, adding a ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ tone to an image, adding a sepia-like effect, and split-toning an image. The tools used include the Curves tool, the Selective Color tool and the Channel Mixer.

On May 1st, Apple IMC ME sponsored a  10 hour one and a half day workshop following on from the Bowens presentation of Portraits Unplugged workshop, which was held on April 29. Nightingale presented a range of post-production techniques that can be used to enhance the portraits taken during that session. The specific topics covered included adjusting white balance, correcting minor defects (cloning, patching etc), and making basic changes to the tonal range of an image.

On May 2nd, Apple IMC ME sponsored a one and a half hour mini workshop providing a brief introduction to the Curves tool, one of photoshop’s most powerful tools. In this session attendants learned how to adjust the white and black points of an image, alter the mid-tones of an image, use ‘S-Curves’ to increase the contrast within an image, and use luminosity blend mode to increase the contrast within an image independently of the saturation.

May 3rd was the Apple Day at the Gulf Photo Plus event. David Nightingale represented Apple IMC ME at two workshops that day, working through a variety of ways in which consumers can use Apple’s iLife suite of programs to import, organise, enhance and share their photographs: in photo books, using iPhoto; in DVD slideshows using iDVD; and on the web using iWeb as well as integrating with the .Mac service.

The session also discussed some of the benefits of a .Mac account including: hosting your own website; synchronising your contacts and calendars across multiple Macs; sharing and accessing your files from any location; and using your .Mac account to back up up to 10GB of data. Nightingale also talked about the new features of Apple’s newest operating system update: Leopard.

On May 4th, the last day of this event, Apple IMC ME held a 5 hour workshop titled “Snap Crackle Pop!,” which covered a variety of tools and techniques that can be used to make an image pop. The topics included discussion of two main points: contrast and saturation. In terms of the former, the session concentrated on using the Curves tool to globally enhance an image, but also focused on how to use this tool to selectively enhance specific areas (e.g. a subject’s eyes). In terms of altering the saturation of an image, Nightingale discussed three tools: the Hue/Saturation tool, the Channel Mixer, and the Curves tool.

You can visit Gulf Photo Plus 2008 - Official web site.