31
Mar, 2017
The Photography Show ~ Day 1
The Photography Show was on at the NEC in Birmingham from Saturday 18th - Tuesday 21st March; Monday is "Pro Day" & Tuesday is "Student Day". I was there for Saturday & Sunday, which I feel are more of the "enthusiast days" or for those maybe thinking about taking their photography further {based on some of the talks on these days} This is the second time I've attended the show, as I went last year as well.
I set off on Friday lunchtime & after 3 hours or so down the M6, I arrived at the hotel around 5pm. I then spent part of the evening finalising the talks & stands I wanted to listen to/visit, I did this using The Photography Show app & the paper guide that I'd gotten with my N-Photo magazine.
The show is held in Hall 5 & is open from 10am - 5pm each day. In correlation to the show, Capture Birmingham is also on, which gives photographers the opportunity to do photo walks around the city {I didn't take part in these though} An added bonus is that MCM Comic Con is also on at the same time & these two shows work really well together as everyone in Cosplay is happy to have their picture taken & the photographers are usually on the look out for an interesting subject to capture!
Armed with my app, paper guide & list of kit I wanted to get {having a list definitely helped me not get caught up buying kit I didn't need!} I headed over to the NEC, walking passed a group of Stromtroopers as went to the entrance. While waiting for the show to open, I had a wander round Loxley Colour's The People Gallery, which this year was in the welcome area. I was filled with pride, happiness & excitement as I came across my photograph of Jacob the Starling on display! It was such a privilege to see my photograph surrounded by so many amazing photographers work, many of whom I know via Twitter/Instagram.
On the day's agenda was a talk/demo by Andrew Appleton on Dance Photography, a talk by Ben Cherry about following Berwick Swans from Russia to Europe & the "Turning Pro" masterclass. Shopping wise, my main goal was to upgrade my camera, sort out a subscription to N-Photo & also to find a lens accessory to help with a shoot I'm doing with a family next month.
Though expedition & dance photography are miles apart in many respects, Andrew & Ben were very inspiring & informative. Andrew also had a dancer with him, named Alexa Hilton, so as an audience we had the chance to get some shots as she warmed up & then did some moves as Andrew took her photograph. As Andrew mentioned numerous times, dance photography is all about timing & well my timing was slightly off when trying to capture Alexa doing leaps, but I did get a few nice shots of her warm up!
At 2pm I attended the "Turning Pro" masterclass {I attended the beginners one last year} I listened to the first two sections which were very interesting but due to personal reasons I had to head back to my hotel not long after 3pm. I was disappointed as I missed the rest of the masterclass & missed out on meeting up with a few photographers I know via Twitter but it was out of my control. Even though I had to leave earlier than planned, I did managed to a few things off my shopping list; I upgraded my Nikon D3200 to the D7200, I was going to buy it from Nikon but I couldn't get near, so as I wanted a trade in price for my D3200, I went to London Camera Exchange & ended up getting it from there. I got a subscription to N-Photo sorted & came away with a free Manfrotto backpack! I also found a toy that wraps round my lens which will be perfect for my family shoot.
Back at the hotel, I uploaded the few photographs I'd taken to my iPad. Unboxed my D7200, boxed up my D3200 & put the batteries for both of them on charge. The rest of my evening was spent catching up on notifications/messages I'd had throughout the day & planning out Sunday's visit to the show...
Day two coming soon...
Louise
{I've posted a number of my favourite shots from the show to my Instagram, if you'd like to have a look at them @l.e.sphotography }
I set off on Friday lunchtime & after 3 hours or so down the M6, I arrived at the hotel around 5pm. I then spent part of the evening finalising the talks & stands I wanted to listen to/visit, I did this using The Photography Show app & the paper guide that I'd gotten with my N-Photo magazine.
The show is held in Hall 5 & is open from 10am - 5pm each day. In correlation to the show, Capture Birmingham is also on, which gives photographers the opportunity to do photo walks around the city {I didn't take part in these though} An added bonus is that MCM Comic Con is also on at the same time & these two shows work really well together as everyone in Cosplay is happy to have their picture taken & the photographers are usually on the look out for an interesting subject to capture!
Armed with my app, paper guide & list of kit I wanted to get {having a list definitely helped me not get caught up buying kit I didn't need!} I headed over to the NEC, walking passed a group of Stromtroopers as went to the entrance. While waiting for the show to open, I had a wander round Loxley Colour's The People Gallery, which this year was in the welcome area. I was filled with pride, happiness & excitement as I came across my photograph of Jacob the Starling on display! It was such a privilege to see my photograph surrounded by so many amazing photographers work, many of whom I know via Twitter/Instagram.
 |
| "Jacob" on display in The People's Gallery |
On the day's agenda was a talk/demo by Andrew Appleton on Dance Photography, a talk by Ben Cherry about following Berwick Swans from Russia to Europe & the "Turning Pro" masterclass. Shopping wise, my main goal was to upgrade my camera, sort out a subscription to N-Photo & also to find a lens accessory to help with a shoot I'm doing with a family next month.
Though expedition & dance photography are miles apart in many respects, Andrew & Ben were very inspiring & informative. Andrew also had a dancer with him, named Alexa Hilton, so as an audience we had the chance to get some shots as she warmed up & then did some moves as Andrew took her photograph. As Andrew mentioned numerous times, dance photography is all about timing & well my timing was slightly off when trying to capture Alexa doing leaps, but I did get a few nice shots of her warm up!
 |
| Andrew Appleton's Dance Photography Demo |
At 2pm I attended the "Turning Pro" masterclass {I attended the beginners one last year} I listened to the first two sections which were very interesting but due to personal reasons I had to head back to my hotel not long after 3pm. I was disappointed as I missed the rest of the masterclass & missed out on meeting up with a few photographers I know via Twitter but it was out of my control. Even though I had to leave earlier than planned, I did managed to a few things off my shopping list; I upgraded my Nikon D3200 to the D7200, I was going to buy it from Nikon but I couldn't get near, so as I wanted a trade in price for my D3200, I went to London Camera Exchange & ended up getting it from there. I got a subscription to N-Photo sorted & came away with a free Manfrotto backpack! I also found a toy that wraps round my lens which will be perfect for my family shoot.
Back at the hotel, I uploaded the few photographs I'd taken to my iPad. Unboxed my D7200, boxed up my D3200 & put the batteries for both of them on charge. The rest of my evening was spent catching up on notifications/messages I'd had throughout the day & planning out Sunday's visit to the show...
 |
| My new Precious! |
Day two coming soon...
Louise
{I've posted a number of my favourite shots from the show to my Instagram, if you'd like to have a look at them @l.e.sphotography }