It can be surprising just how quickly time flies by - this time last year I visited The Photography Show at the Birmingham NEC Arena, and just yesterday I was there again. As I visited The Photography Show for two days last year I figured one day would be enough to check out the stands (although I would have loved to have gone for more days just for talks and workshops!). Sunday worked out best for myself and my friend (bottom-left corner in the photo above) who runs a photography accessory website (www.camsessories.co.uk - shameless plug!).
I've kept this blog short and sweet, but if you if you want to get more of a feel for what The Photography Show is like then please click here to give my detailed blog about last years visit a read.
For now check out the photos below:
One of the first things that surprised me was seeing hand-made leather straps being made at the Olympus stand ...
...it was impressive to see the range of tools and level of craftmanship involved.
Affinity impressed me at their stand with a well-presented demo of a few features of their slick Photoshop-rivalling software. Affinity won the best Mac app of 2015, and with a Windows version on the way I think they are set to do well on the PC platform.
If I was shooting a lot of video then I would be investing in Atomos products. Their combined monitor and recording-storage devices are quality, used by many a professional. Their stand setup surrounded a pool table, giving attendees an opportunity to see how the monitors looked when mounted to camera equipment.
I really enjoyed the Super Stage talks last year, so I made sure to go to another this year. Lara Jade (a worldwide fashion photographer from the UK) gave her talk '10 Year Evolution', described her journey from her late-teens to now. Her work, drive and approach to reach where she is now is inspiring...
...Lara illustrated this journey well with photography from the start of her journey to recent commissions...
...she then ended the talk with words of advice and tips that were useful for any kind of creative person to think about.
Amongst some of the typical products you would expect at the show like these Sigma lenses...
... there were some smaller stands featuring companies and products, like these little guys. These are created by 3D printers by scanning people posing in specially designed booths.
...attaching a camera body on one end of the bellows, and a lens on the other, you have the ability to tilt/shift with a variety of cameras and lenses...
...there's something undeniably cool and old-school about these. I'd love to take one out and about.
Lastly, meeting this guy in the glasses and having a friendly chat with him was a real highlight for me...
...this is the man, the myth, the legend that is Kai Wong, the main presenter of the hugely successful Youtube photography channel DigitalRev (their channel has close to 1.5 million subscribers!).
Kai has recently moved back to the UK after several years of producing videos for DRTV in Hong Kong with his buddy Lok. Distance isn't stopping them as they are still making videos together from opposite sides of the world. After several years of watching their videos it was quite surreal to meet Kai.
So that was some highlights of my day at The Photography Show 2016. I had a good time wandering around, looking at new products and speaking to friendly and knowledgeable people - I'll certainly be looking forward to it again next year!
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