Focus On Imaging

I managed to thread myself through the Monday morning traffic yesterday to get to the NEC in Birmingham for the annual Focus-On-Imaging show for all things photographic.  The M6 was at standstill again with warning of long delays.  Luckily for me, the queue to get on the M6 was so long that I managed to divert and go through Coventry, avoiding much of the pain.

Focus 2010 was for me a rather underwhelming affair. The stands of ‘trainer extrodinaire’ Damien Lovegrove, my printing and presentational product supplier Loxley Colour and framing specialists Ultimat stood out amongst the weathered crowd.  2009 saw off some well known names in the photographic industry, not least Spicer Hallfield who had a massive stand last year.

But there was plenty of spending being done yesterday, with a noticeable amount of people walking around with new A3 printers.  I think the price point for these have reached a level where they are becoming much more appealing.

I myself splashed out on a light shaping honeycombe grid for my urban portrait work and I also have a new Bowens beauty dish to try out in the next few days for portrait work.

I will be incorporating some of Loxleys exciting new products for 2010 into my own product range for this year.  Loxley have some fantastic offerings – their canvas prints really are top quality and will look fantastic on living room walls throughout the country.

www.paulhurstphotography.co.uk

Focus ’09 has come and gone, and it turned out to be another great show.  I turned up on Tuesday to check out the latest products and services from all corners of the photographic trade, from camera equipment makers through to album and frame manufactures, and everything else in between.

All my preferred suppliers were at the show, Nikon for my camera equipment, Spicer Hallfield for albums and Ultimat for my frames.  Spicer Hallfield were showing their new Eye products, and the ‘Lace’ range of portrait albums really caught my eye as a gorgeous product I can incorporate into my female portrait products.  Watch this space !

Of course, you can’t go to a show like focus without investing in some new equipment, and as well as some other bits and bobs I succembed to a fantastic new Nikon lens, extremely fast and sharp which will be well used for my future portrait work.

Having picked up some great inspiration from the show I am now raring to go with this years portrait work, and I hope to create some amazing images.

I attended the annual Focus On Imaging photographic show at the NEC this week and had a great time spending money on new kit and speaking to very knowledgeable people, including the great Keith Trainor and the superb Damien Lovegrove from Lovegrove Consulting. Looking forward to next years event already.