Smile For The Camera

My final photo from the Photography Show is this shot of a model that I took using a new speed light that this stall were demonstrating.

It was a bit different in design to normal speed lights in that it comes with an external  battery pack and its bulb is much brighter than normal bulbs. In fact it is more like a small portable studio light. There were various modifiers of different sizes that were available to buy.

 It took me a couple of goes to get the photo almost right. The first effort was a bit overblown, as the power had been tired up a bit too much, while the second attempts too dark. But this one is just about right.

Don't Be Afraid Darling

There was an interesting little scene near the entrance to the Photography Show.

It was a reenactment of life in the 1940s. There was a Nissan Hut and a little garden scene, which I am showing here.

The people that take part are all fans of vintage, and really enjoy dressing up and pretending that they are living in that era. They call themselves 'Timeline Events'.

Of course they were attracting lots of attention from all the photographers that were coming in and they were all queuing up to take photos. The 'actors' were only too pleased to pose for everyone.

I caught them on the way out, when there weren't that many people around, which made it a lot easier to get the shot without having to dodge other people.

Shopping For Lord Vader

I didn't think Darth Vader had time for photography, as he was so busy trying to rule the universe and eliminate all the Jedi knights, but I spotted one of his Stormtroopers out shopping for camera equipment at the Photography Show.

He must have had a lot of money to spend, as the Stormtrooper has a shopping trolley to fill. I don't know what currency he'll try and use to pay for the cameras, lenses and lighting equipment, as the stalls only take Sterling, Euros or credit cards.

Apparently the Stormtrooper's name is Eric and he has become quite well known on the Internet, as his visits to Earth have been documented by a photographer called Darryll Jones. If you want to see what else Eric has been up to, then pop over to Eric's page.

A Brucie Bonus

This furtive looking chap is world famous American photographer Bruce Gilden. He was at the Photography Show today, talking about his life behind the camera, together with some commentary over quite a few of his well known photos that he's taken in New York, Haiti and Japan.

Bruce is well known for being quite an aggressive photographer on the streets of New York, where he almost pushes the lens into a person's face. He is also a Magnum photographer, and has had several books published of his work.

It was interesting listening to the stories of who was in the photos and how they ended up there. He also talked about his three wives and his health problems, now he has reached the age of 69.

Sitting Pretty

I took this shot of  the posing model at the Photography Show last month in Birmingham. So I thought I would see if I could give it a vintage look. The sort of photo that reminds you of Hollywood during the 1940s.

Bridal Shoot

A shot from the photography show that I went to the other day.

This model was posing for a lighting demonstration, so of course, almost everyone was standing facing her. I just thought that I would try it from this angle.

The Force Is Strong In This One

For the next few days, the NEC in Birmingham will be full of photography enthusiasts, as it holds the relaunched and rebranded Photography Show.

Today was the first day & so Gail and I popped down to see what was going on and how much money we could try not to spend!

Of course it was packed.  And there was a good buzz in the air. It seemed a lot different to last year's Focus on Imaging. Plenty of brightly lit stands showing their wares. The Olympus stand looked enormous, and it was good to say hello to top tog Damian McGillicuddy, who had just completed a demonstration using one of Olympus's latest cameras.

During the time we were there, I was looking for something unusual to photograph, other than people trying out cameras or looking at the latest kit. So I was quite surprised to see Darth Vader and one of his Stormtroopers there in full menacing stance.

They of course haven't mistaken the West Midlands for Tatooine and were about to destroy it with the Death Star, but were posing, as part of a studio lighting demonstration.