Focus on Imaging

A busy week with a visit to the ‘Focus on Imaging’ show at Birmingham and my first paying clients at the small studio I’ve set up at home.

The show rolled round first. We picked on the last day for our trip to Birmingham which I think was a wise move given the numbers who’d visited the previous weekend. I was surprised how few dealers there were in the arena with most the space taken up with large printing displays, framing companies and photo book printers. This suited me as I was looking for a few options to offer my new clients, particularly with framing and book options.

Having quickly filled a bag with handouts and samples I suddenly found myself at the phototraining4u stand with Mark Cleghorn halfway through a photo critique of an apprentice working her way through a training year with him. I’d considered joining his the scheme earlier in the year after watching some of Mark’s tutorial videos on the Lastolite site. Normal price for the first year is £199 but the show price was £99 with a scratch card discount of £50. A clever piece of marketing here, me thinks, as someone else signing up with me had spookily won a £50 discount on her scratchcard.

I must say that since returning and using the site I’ve no regrets whatsoever. The video tutorials on lightroom alone have made a huge difference to the way I post process and the studio lighting demonstrations have been really useful. I’d recommend it to any keen amateur like myself.

Moving on it was time for a quick lunchtime beer (Smithie was driving) and then a trawl around the rest of the display stands. I resisted some of the studio equipment offers but did come away with some Ilford pearl paper which I’ve been really impressed with and I now wish I'd bought more. The show price was £12 for fifty A4 sheets.

All in all a really good day, outstanding value at £8 a ticket and I’ll definitely be going back next year.