FOCUS ON IMAGING 2012 NEC BIRMINGHAM 4 - 7 MARCH 2012

Longridge, the leader in mount cutting  equipment, will be showing their unique SprintMat cutting mat at Focus, a vital element in the presentation process.

SprintMat is design engineered for bevel cutting photographic and picture mounts, providing the best possible support for blades whilst cutting. SprintMat fibres are aligned in the direction of the cutting edge during manufacture in order to reduce drag, wear and deflection on the blade. This provides the photographer with a clean mount cut every time, and a superior, flawless mount finish with minimal effort.

‘In the urge to create the perfect image, it’s often forgotten that a correctly prepared and mounted print can mean the difference between winning or losing, whether it is for business, competition or just for show,’  says  Christopher  Longridge.  ‘Our investment in the design and operation of SprintMat provides the basis for photographers to achieve what they want – perfectly presented prints every time.’

SprintMat will be available for sale on stand during the show, either as part of the new Autograph and Signature systems, or in packs of 20. See www.longridge.co.uk

How to make £6,000 a shoot from family photography ….
4/5/6/7th March Focus

Click here to buy tickets

Martin Oliver is back with an updated version of his sell-out talks from last year. Packed full of wit and self-deprecation they’re all about how to make big money from taking simple natural-light family portraits. And they’re actually fun to listen to….
There will be three separate talks a day (repeated every day for four days):

Talk 1: BUSINESS SKILLS £35 10am-12pm (double session!)

• How to target and attract fantastic clients
• How to make great profit (by actually understanding the figures!)
• How to manage your workflow (and get to bed before 1am)

Talk 2: PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS £25 1:30pm-2:30pm

• How to make the most of natural light and everyday locations
• How to get portraits and family shots that always sell
• How to make your post-production fast but effective

Talk 3: SALES SKILLS £25 3:30pm–4:30 pm

• How to double your sales without using stealth
• How to present and price your work for profit
• How to make simple collages that sell big

Each talk stands alone although the best overview will come from attending all three (and there’ll still be time to see FOCUS between talks). To buy tickets click here

Please book early, many clients were turned away last year. Martin will also be selling his training DVD and CDs at a reduced rate at the talks.

Who are the talks for?
These talks are ideal for those planning on starting a family photography business as well as newly established photographers who want to make their family portrait business more successful and rewarding. (If you came last year: the first talk is brand new, while the last two talks are an updated version of last year’s talks)

About Martin
Martin Oliver is an award-winning photographer who runs a family portrait business with clients that regularly spend over £6000, sometimes up to £15,000. He is well known for sharing all his knowledge in a lively, honest way. He has had his work shown in magazines, books and exhibitions all around the world including at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Visit www.martinoliver.com for more examples of his work.

“I could literally give you a massive bear hug right now! Thank you so much for your clear, humorous, and honest talk. You are exactly where I want to be. I now feel like something has clicked and I’m excited to put it all into action. Thanks again!”
Charlie Brown Photography

“The best seminar I have been to by far! Very organized, great delivery – didn’t yawn or look at my watch once! Inspirational stuff.”
Sarah Clarke Photography

This year Graphistudio is upping the tempo at its ever-popular free seminar programme with a line-up of industry greats. Graphistudio’s commitment to its constantly-growing portfolio of professional photographers is part of the company ethos and the seminars provide a great way to reach out and help their clients achieve new career goals. Always buzzing with activity, the Graphistudio stand becomes the focal point as the seminars lift off and the award-winning names share their know-how. This year’s line-up includes Andrew Younger, Paul Wilkinson, Adam Alex, Andrea Barrett, Dave Stanbury and Catherine Connor and all will be giving hour-long sessions throughout the event. Martin Baynes, Graphistudio’s UK sales and marketing director, will be introducing exciting new products and showing the updated GraphiSoftware v4.0. For full programme see below or click here for PDF version.

A newcomer to the world of coated inkjet media will be making its first appearance at Focus on Imaging. Visitors will be able to see their broad range of quality coated canvas, photobase and other media designed to help bring images to life.

Sihl Direct UK has begun trading from its sales, admin and warehousing facility in Altrincham and enjoys the backing and support of the Diatec Group. The company is already well-known in the inkjet printing market as a leading provider of coated media through OEM, distribution and reseller channels. The company has a reputation for quality, consistency and reliability and Sihl Direct UK has been established to service the UK large-format printing market directly from its UK base. Sihl Direct’s branded media are available through both selected partners and directly to the end user.

Ian Turnbull is Operations Director of Sihl Direct UK and he explains: ‘Focus on Imaging is an excellent show for Sihl Direct to make its debut. Our broad range of canvas and photobase media are of exceptional quality and we invite visitors to the show to see this for themselves. The quality of coating on inkjet media can make a huge difference to the overall viewing experience for printed output and our media has been tested extensively with all major printers and in a range of environmental conditions.’

He continues: ‘The Diatec Group has a massive manufacturing operation and we are ideally suited to developing a broad range of popular, high-quality coated media products and delivering cost-effective solutions to the market. Even though we are setting up this business from scratch, we have the confidence and backing of a known and trusted name, coupled with the full support of a multi-million pound international corporation.’

Products now available from Sihl Direct include a broad range of specialist materials for most wide format inkjet printers and ink technologies, such as canvas, vinyls and films as well as a comprehensive stable of photobase papers ideal for high quality photographic and fine art reproduction.

Turnbull concludes: ‘We have the manufacturing capability to deliver very high quality materials and substrates with high service and support levels at cost-effective prices. We are actively encouraging both resellers and end users looking for the best quality at great value to get in touch with us to discuss their requirements and discover what we can offer. For more information, please contact us at info@sihl-direct.co.uk or call us on 0161 927 9051.’

The Pixel brand produces a wide range of professional camera accessories, such as wireless flash triggers and wireless remote controls. They’ve recently announced a professional wireless E-TTL flash trigger for Canon bodies – it’s a high-quality professional unit featuring a high-sync speed up to 1/8000s and supporting up to three groups. Each group can contain multiple flash units and every flash unit can be set individually to a different power level. You can even adjust the flash power level via the camera menu when used with a compatible flashgun and camera body such as the Canon 50D and Canon 580EX II. Pixel King provides excellent performance and user experience but at a very reasonable price.

Flash mode supported: E-TTL, TTL,
MSync mode supported: 1st curtain, 2nd curtain, high speed sync
Max sync speed: 1/8000s
Compatible flash units: flashgun, studio light and outdoor studio light
Canon 580EX, 580EX II, 430EX, 430EX II, 320EX II, 270EX Ii, 200EX II, Metz, Sigma, Sunpak, Nissin

Pixel King is also available for Sony cameras and a Nikon version will be announced in February. For more details visit www.engito.com

Are you interested in gaining a professional qualification in photography? Would you like your photography reviewed by highly qualified professional photographers? Do you want to work as a professional photographer but are unsure on how to start? Are you a professional photographer wishing to join a network of fellow professionals?

Images left to right from top: © Graham Portlock ABIPP; Roz Collins LBIPP; Anton Artemenkov FBIPP; Peter Wolfes LBIPP

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, then the British Institute of Professional Photography can help you.The BIPP is an internationally recognised, not for profit, qualifying organisation with over 100 years of experience of supporting photographers. We have over 3,200 members worldwide, covering every discipline of photography.

We are providing Portfolio Reviews at Focus on Imaging at the Birmingham NEC from 4 – 7 March (Stand G11). Portfolio Reviews provide a unique opportunity for photographers to gain face-to-face advice on their work from highly experienced photographers with a wealth of industry knowledge. Information about the photographers providing reviews and booking can all be found on the website: www.bipp.com/focus

Start the year off right and take advantage of this fantastic offer to whet your appetite before Focus! For a limited time only, when you order any prints (6 x 4” are only 12p) claim  an incredible 30% off SimLab Self-Mount Albums. SimLab Self-Mount Albums are easy to assemble with self-adhesive pages, simply mount your prints for a ready-to-go album. The albums are available in three size options, ranging from 20 to 40 pages and can be ordered with, or without, a presentation case. Use these 30% voucher codes:

For a 12×12 Album: Album12x12

For a 10×10 Album: Album10x10

For an 8×8 Album: Album8x8 which is discounted down to just £17.50 ex vat.

Simlab album and case

View the price list at www.simlab.co.uk
Visit SIM2000 & SimLab at Focus on Imaging – STAND C42

Last week the winners of the first national ‘On the Move’ competition for disabled photographers received their awards from Mary Walker of Mary Walker Exhibitions, organiser of Focus on Imaging. The event took place at Calumet Photographic’s London showroom in Drummond Street where an exhibition of selected competition entries runs until Saturday 4 February 2012, generously sponsored by Calumet. Entry is free.

Left to right: Mary Walker, Mary Walker Exhibitions; Jacqui Jones, Mobility Choice; winers Nigel Holland and Henry Butt; Tom Molloy, DPS

Nigel Holland from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire won the over 18 years category with his Top Fuel Bike clever panning shot, and a dramatic wave splashing against a pier won Henry Butt from Peterborough the 12 to 18 years category. Both receive a Merlin Annual Pass for entry to a range of top UK attractions and a top-of-the range Calumet camera bag.

The competition is organised by The Disabled Photographers’ Society and Mobility Choice, the charity behind the annual Mobility Roadshow. Welcoming the guests and congratulating the winners, Jacqui Jones, Executive Director of Mobility Choice said the standard of entries had been very impressive. She announced that the competition will continue, with the launch of On the Move 2012 on 21 June at the annual Mobility Roadshow.

Left to right: Steve Pringle, Calumet Photographic; Jacqui Jones, Mobility Choice; Tom Molloy, DPS; and Lynese Fairfull, Calumet Photographic

Presenting the awards Mary Walker praised the winners for their passion. ‘Pictures of this calibre confirm my faith in photography as an art form. I believe it is passion that defines great art and so many inspirational pictures in this exhibition exude just that.’ For more information on the the DPS see www.disabledphotographers.co.uk

In the works since 2005, Animoto was founded to help people better share their stories and express themselves through online media by innovating technologies in the field of video production. Using the latest in entertainment post-production technologies, Animoto is designed to bridge the gap between the high production values of film and television, and the more ‘amateur’ feeling of most user-created videos and photo albums. The heart of Animoto is its newly developed patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyses and combines user-selected images, video clips and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film. So, can a slideshow really change your business? Perhaps when it’s a really good one like their examples, or as they say ‘Yes, when it’s not a slideshow’. Stills, video, music – Animoto represents convergence in a neat package relevant to any photography business. http://animoto.com

The newly released gather-up of OnOne’s ‘plug-ins’ is Photo Suite 6 and it breaks new ground in the ‘I don’t need Photoshop’ camp. It would be pretty easy to scoff at the idea of professional photographers not using Photoshop any more – but hold on just a moment… If you’ve got Adobe Lightroom to edit out all the dross and get the hardcore RAW processing done to a high quality threshold and you’re wanting to make final tweaks and add style to ramp up just the end set of images, then size, sharpen and save them out for the client, perhaps Photo Suite 6 can do just that? The killer reason why Photo Suite 6 takes the game on a few major steps comes down to the fact that no more is it ‘just a bunch of plug-ins’. It is, in full Photo Suite form, a central application all of its own that is a standalone solution to many of the key areas of image manipulation that we all tackle on a very regular basis. Essentially, OnOne is latching on to the idea that really rather a lot of photographers are well and truly into their RAW processing and image library management software but don’t want to turn themselves into top-end image retouchers. Photo Suite 6 is seriously capable, so sit down, relax and catch one of their demos at Focus to see just how powerful it has now become. http://www.ononesoftware.com/products/suite