Focus on imaging exhibition NEC 8th March 2010

Visited this exhibition today with Ruth to day. Arrived at Midday, left on closing. Some day. So much kit to look at and be tempted with. The outstanding bits for me were:- 1. The talk (very short) by Jo Cornish on his landscape photography. The amount of work that he puts in, and the way he constructs his images was quite revealing. The use of several filters for example to get a balanced exposure was quite interesting, as was his presentation of a very long panorama he had done (see video). He also uses a range of large format cameras, some digital, all of which escape me at present. Ruth had her picture taken with him, which was a delight for her, taken by an extraordinary photographer of course. 2. Asking a question about the Interfit lighting system lead to a discussion about how to use and utilise lighting, including how to change the bulbs, the life of a bulb, the advantages of using Interfit lights over Bowens for changing bulbs (Interfit you can do yourself, Bowens you have to send away eg). The chap was Paul Simmons, who is actually a Hair and Beauty Photographer, taking something like 2000 images a week, using Interfit lights. Interestingly their continuos lighting systems feature energy saving bulbs (see image) If only I had the cash the price of the Canon 5D Mk II was really low (and 1D!) and the price kept dropping. Missed a trick there me thinks, but cash is cash, buy now, eat later? The range of kit was overwhelming, do we really need 12 or more different bits of software to manipulate our images, all better than the other? I did find that the people manning the stands were very helpful and knowledgeable, and happy to discuss any question asked of them. I do want one of the ring flashes that the guy on the HP stand was using though, no setting up lights, just ambient, with excellent results, looked like there was no requirement for photoshop here, the images seem to perfectly exposed. I did not have time to try it out, never mind. Came back with a Canon(not a garish yellow Nikon)bag full of stuff, lots of research material though, and lots of web sites to visit.