I've spent most of this week talking about black and white photography, particularly in terms of the launch of our new assignments-based course. As I mentioned, we scheduled two occurrences of the course: May and June. May sold out a couple of days ago, and there are only a handful of places left in June, so we're really pleased with how well it's been received.

So, enough of black and white photography for a while: time for something a bit more colourful.

This one was taken at the same time as the one below, but I didn't post it at the time because they were both processed in much the same way.

Today though I thought I'd try something a bit different, so started by changing the white balance to fluorescent and took it from there.

As always, let me know what you think.

From what I can remember these two dummies have been in the textile souq in Dubai since my first visit in 2007, and while I've photographed them before I haven't come up with anything worth posting until this shot.

Here's another RX1 shot from Dubai: a portrait of one of the drivers who took us out into the desert for my Landscape Photography workshop.

I've already posted three images from this shoot (1, 2 and 3) but held off posting this one because I couldn't work out how to process it. It was taken just as the sun had breached the horizon, and the light was quite flat, but there was something about it that kept drawing me back. I tried black and white, which didn't work, and a whole variety of other styles, but none of them suited the image: they either looked too brash, or too forced, or both.

In the end though I think this slightly cross-processed look works a lot better, mostly because it splits the dawn light from the colder light that preceded it. It probably won't be to everyone's taste, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

This is the second shot I've posted of this guy, one of my students from my Art of Black and White Photography workshop in Dubai and, while this one isn't nearly as dramatic, I do think it does a better job of capturing his personality: he wasn't quite as serious as my first shot would suggest :)

I spent about twenty minutes photographing this guy, switching between being fascinated one minute and cringing the next. And I guess the cringing must have been obvious because about ten minutes in he stopped, leaned over, and, in a slightly puzzled way asked me "Do they not do this to meat in your country?" And I guess they do, though maybe not quite on the same scale, but it's not something I'd normally watch.

And I do appreciate that it's a rather gruesome shot – it still makes me cringe – so my apologies to anyone who now wishes they hadn't seen it.

This is a shot of my good friend Issa AlKindy, posing on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. It's a shame we didn't have better weather – it was a very hazy day – but it was a great location to shoot from.

A few years ago now I realised that if I go someplace, and don't take a camera, I don't look at things. Or, more accurately, I don't really pay a great deal of attention to my surroundings: I just wander around, do what I'm doing, and the visual nature of my surroundings is definitely secondary to whatever else I'm doing at the time. When I do take a camera though, I see things differently.

And this shot is a good example: it's certainly not something I would have paid a great deal of attention too if I'd just happened to be walking through the market – I simply wouldn't have noticed the odd juxtaposition between the foreground and background.

That said, you might not see it either, but to me it almost looks like a bunch of flowers, possibly tulips, right up until you work out what it is you can see in the background.

Let me know what you saw first.

Another one of my fabulous students from my Landscape Photography workshop at #GPP2013.

What can I say about this one? Not a lot beyond the fact that it was shot in the desert near Dubai during my Landscape Photography workshop.

This is one of my students, shot during my Art of Black and White Photography workshop at this year's Gulf Photo Plus training event. My reason for shooting it was twofold.

First, he was a great looking guy. Second, I wanted to shoot an image to illustrate a point I make about converting portraits to black and white, i.e. that you can vary the black and white conversion process to either minimise or maximise facial detail. For example, if you use the Channel Mixer or Black and White tool and apply the Red Filter preset you can minimise facial detail (great for women and kids). At the other extreme, if you use the Blue Filter preset (as I did in this case) you can emphasise facial detail.

There's a counter-intuitive element here – using the Red Filter can make a portrait overly bright (there's lots of red tones in a person's face), while using the Blue Filter can make them too dark – but if you compensate for this using a curve you can create some very striking portraits.

On which note, if you're interested in learning more about black and white photography/post-production, take a look at my latest course on Udemy, The Art of Black and White Photography. It covers pretty much the entire black and white workflow, including portraiture, and usually costs $79.00. For the rest of this week though (up until midnight on the 24th), you can use the following link to sign up for just $39.00 and join 13K+ people who have already enrolled.

https://www.udemy.com/the-art-of-black-and-white-photography/?couponCode=chromasia_blog_offer

This offer is open to anyone, so please feel free to share the link.

This was shot in the Fish Market in Dubai, and while I have absolutely no idea what he was trying to tell me, or show me, I'm pleased I took the shot.

This is the first of quite a few portraits I'l be posting from my trip to Dubai, and it's probably one of my favourites: shot in the Hindu temple in the Textile Souq during my Shoot the Street workshop for GPP2013.

This was taken during my Shoot the City workshop at GPP2013, and while I posted a very similar shot in 2008 I thought I'd post this one too, mostly because I much prefer it to my previous attempt.

And in case you're wondering, it's the Emirates Towers in the background, shot from the grounds of the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre).

There's not much I can tell you about this one: it's just a quiet moment during my Shoot the City workshop as we photographed the sunset from the Palm.

My recent trip to Dubai was my 11th since 2007, and during most of those trips I concentrated on shooting landscapes and architecture. This time though, as you'll see over the coming weeks, I shot a lot more portraits and street shots. That said, I did find some time to take a few shots during my Shoot the City workshop at our final location: the Four Points by Sheraton on Sheik Zayed Road.

It was taken from pretty much the same location as the shot I posted before I left for Dubai, but this one is a panorama: shot using an RSS PCL-1 Panning Clamp and a MPR-CL II: MPR with integral clamp, stitched in Photoshop (File -> Automate -> Photomerge), then warped and further enhanced using 33 masked curves to alter the contrast and tonal balance of the image.

It's not perfect – all the frames were shot at f/5.6, so the point light sources aren't quite as sparkly as I would have liked, and a couple of the frames are a bit soft – but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

As always, let me know what you think.

I'm heading back to the UK today after another fabulous GPP event out here in Dubai. I met some great people, and got some great shots - most of which I'll post over the coming weeks, along with a detailed summary of the event - but I'll be glad to get home to Libby and the kids.

On which note, I better start packing as my hotel room is currently scattered with kit :)

I'm running my first GPP2013 workshop today – Shoot the City – and it's one of my favourites. We start out at the DIFC building this afternoon, switch to the Palm to shoot the sunset, and then finish up at the rooftop bar at the Four Points by Sheraton on Sheik Zayed road: the location from which I took this shot back in November.

Hopefully I'll manage to shoot something equally interesting today :)

I leave for Dubai today, for GPP 2013, so thought it was fitting that I posted another shot from my trip in November. I won't be shooting from this location during the coming trip, but I'm hoping to get some equally good shots. I'm also really looking forward to hooking up with old friends, meeting some new ones, and spending time in a warm climate - it's been a long, cold winter here in the UK :)

A shot of my good friend Issa, taken during the same trip as my last shot.

On which note, it's just 11 days till I'll be out in the desert again, as part of this year's Gulf Photo Plus training event, and I'm really looking forward to it: mostly because I really enjoy running my Landscape Photography workshop, but also because I've had enough of the cold and wintery weather here in the UK :)