Sharjah 24: An exciting range of photographic workshops for both experts and beginners to fill the gaps in their knowledge and hone their craft continue at the ongoing sixth edition of Xposure International Photography Festival, offering an opportunity to learn directly from masters of the visual art until February 15 at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Unique insights into nuances of photography on Feb 14
On February 14, Muhammed Muheisen will discuss the ethics of photography and explore ways to form a bond of trust with people before taking their pictures in the session titled, ‘Moments in Time’ at 10am. “Invest in getting to know the people you photograph,” said the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning photographer. “The main key is to show them you care, and then let your pictures do the talking.”

The intersection of creativity and camera that allows one to transform the ordinary into something extraordinary will be detailed by Mike Browne in the ‘Photo Alchemy’ workshop at 10am, while the 10.15 am session on ‘Creative Bubbles’ will see David Newton share innovative tips and techniques to capture the other-worldly ‘bubblescapes’. These workshops will again be repeated on the concluding day of Xposure 2022.

February 14 will also see Diego Ibarra Sanchez lead a workshop at 2pm titled ‘How to produce a long-term photo project’ that explores ways of forging a deeper engagement with content, while in ‘Taking Wildlife Portraits’ at 3pm, zoologist-turned-wildlife photographer Mogens Trolle will offer valuable insights into capturing each creature’s unique personality. In the 4pm session, ‘Impactful Images – Simple Editing Tips for Powerful Results’, Elia Locardi will demonstrate the power of the latest editing tools in dramatically improving the impact of an image.

Light, focal length and studio photography on Feb 15
On February 15, Mike Browne will headline ‘Magical Mystery of Light’ at 10am to discuss and demonstrate how light can make or break an image, no matter how composed or beautiful the subject is, while his 1.15 pm session is titled ‘Focal Length Explained’. 

At 12 noon, David Newton’s ‘Getting started with video’ delves into the basic building blocks to tell a more in-depth story; and at 2.30pm, Colin Hawkins leads a 4-hour session on ‘Studio Product Photography’. The festival’s workshop programme wraps up with the final session of ‘Introduction to Scuba and Underwater Photography’ at 5pm. 

Participants trained in thinking outside the box
Daniel Kordan’s workshop delved into all aspects of composition and light as he advised participants to think outside the box when composing a landscape image. “Nowadays we see a lot of similar images over and over again,” he said. “Normally I scope out a wild, remote location to photograph, to create something unique and different.” 

In ‘The Art of Creating Visual Lyrics’, Vineet Vohra dissected all the essential knowhow of street photography. “My number one tip would be to shoot less and see more,” he said. The workshop also included a guided photo walk through the festival halls.

In a two-day workshop, Sajin Sasidharan mentored an outdoor shoot at the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, followed by a session on processing the raw files from the shoot into black and white fine art images. 

Beno Saradzic led a workshop called ‘Slicing Time’ focusing on time-lapse cinematography. “Almost any modern digital camera and even smartphones can be used for time-lapses. But not everything should be shot in a time-lapse,” he advised. “With practice and experience, you will learn about what makes an interesting subject.”