I am happy to say my very long 16 hour flight was really pleasant and felt faster than I thought it would. It helped that the plane was almost empty and Mark, Ian and I each got our own row of seats. Score! We had an easy exit from the airport and ride to the hotel.
Needless to say we were all tired and off to bed we went. I experienced jet lag, no surprise, and just ended up taking a series of naps. We all met the next morning for breakfast and made our way to thr venue where Gulf Photo Plus is being held.
"Photo Friday" is a chance for the attendees to attend short 1 hour sessions with various professional photographer to discuss a variety of topics. I really enjoyed the speeches of two photographers from very different genres. One is a documentary photographer, Maggie Steber and the other is a fine art photographer, Sara Lando. It was really food for thought about the creative process.
The event is truly global with attendees from all over the world. Today alone I heard the attendees describe themselves from the Italy, Ecuador, Great Britain, South Africa, India and Saudi Arabia. I met a young woman, Alex just out of University who is originally from the Ukraine but has lived in Dubai for 20 years. She and I are pictured in this selfie.
Tomorrow, Ian and I will be doing a sunrise and sunshine shoot with landscape photographer Elia Locardi. Really excited about finally getting out to shoot.
I haven't seen enough of the city yet to comment on my impressions of it but I hope to be able to do more of that in my next entry. We did however get to ride the metro which was super clean.
My travel companions and metro dudes are pictured here.
