Photography Show 2024
I am writing this the day after an eventful visit to the Birmingham NEC which was hosting the 2024 Photography AND video show (previously known only as the Photography Show). I thought I would tell you about how my day went and what we got up to and more importantly, what I bought!
The day started at 6am with a pick up from Dave and a brief visit to a local woodland. The forecast had been saying thick fog for a couple of hours after sunrise and never one to miss an oppurtunity to wander into the trees in the thick grey stuff we thought we could bag a quick session. Alas, upon arrival as so often is the case we were greeted by nothing more than heavy rain and dank conditions. Dave, ever the hopeful one went for a quick wander while I, the realist, stayed in the car and posted to Instagram lol. Once Dave realised it wasnt on we started our journey proper “oop north”.
Traffic was light and, for British roads, surprisingly clear of roadworks so we made good time to our second stop of the morning, Gloucester Services! Now if you are ever on the M5 and passing through Gloucestershire (yes Americans, its a real word!) please do try to stop at this amazing service station. It houses a farm shop, restaurant, clean toilets and even a shower if you are a trucker or just a bit smelly. I opted for the Butchers breakfast (how could I not…..its literally what I am) and Dave went for the slightly more normal sized Gloucester version. Mine is below.
One of the best breakfasts I have had for a long time and set me up for the day nicely. I had a quick wander around the farm shop while Dave headed outside and when I got back to the car I found him sat inside in his underpants………..yep you read that right, his undies. Now, there was a genuine reason as he had his outdoor trousers on and wanted to change into his jeans, but still, a little disconcerting moment lol.
After he had got dressed again we continued on and eventually hit a bit of traffic and roadworks near our destination. We eventually made it to the NEC but here it got even worse as the parking teams had got themselves in a right mess and there were queues everywhere trying to get into the car parks. Normally in the past its always impressed me how efficient the teams are at the NEC but today they were well off their game and it took us a good while to get parked up.
As soon as we got out of the car we were greeted by lots of, ahem, ladies in tight fitting lycra tracksuits and an equally large amount of well built men in vests and very thin legs. Me and Dave both looked at each other and wondered if we had picked the wrong day! Clearly the NEC was hosting some kind of fitness show as well as the Photography Show and once we managed to tear our eyes away from the lycra clad ladies we started to notice plenty of people who looked more real carrying camera bags and various other photographic gear. Phew!
The bus journey over to the main entrance contained far too many jiggling bits of anatomy for me and eventually my eyes settled on the ceiling of the bus as this was the only thing I could look at without going either red or feeling like a pervert!
I realised when we got to the main entrance I was carrying a couple of knives (nothing illegal) and they were conducting bag searches. Luckily I wasnt pulled to one side to be searched and my two swiss army knives were safe from confiscation and a conversation with the grim looking security team about why I was carrying said blades. Note to self, leave your EDC kit at home when not travelling into the woods in future!
We made our way through the hordes of gods and godesses, desperately remembering not to stare and found the entrance to the show where the finalists of the LCE photography awards were on display. I noticed a few familiar names including Daryl Baker who had won the drone category. A top drawer drone photographer, search him out on Instagram.
As usual the first stand to greet you as you entered the show was the Nikon stand and I quickly headed over to see what they had to play with. I handled the new Nikon ZF and was pleasantly surprised by its heft and looks. It desperately needs a camera grip and there are several ones out there for it which make it handle far better. But overall was impressed by it. I cant afford one but its definately one I will buy in the future. I didnt get much chance to look at any other bodies as it was already swamped with people so didnt get a hands on look at the Z8, which is prbably for the best as I am torn about whether I want it or the soon to be released Z6iii. I guess we will have to see what the spec list will be for the Z6iii before I make that decision!
Next we headed over to the Fotospeed stand where landscape photographer and You tuber Nigel Danson was doing a talk on his recent trip to Antartica. A good talk and some very high quality imagery on show from him made for an enjoyable half an hour or so. After that it was time for a wander and look around. My plan all along was to get a new filter system as I was fed up with my old one and it was starting to look a bit beat up. I was keen on the new Nisi Swift system that uses a innovative push on style rather than a magnetic one rivals Kase use. My mate Dave had put me off the Kase ones as he is currently on his fourth CPL filter after the other three just fell off his camera. At £100 a pop thats not a good investment in my eyes and so wanted something that would be more secure. I managed to buy a full set of ND filters, all the relevant adaptor rings, caps, polariser filter and a Black Mist filter too. The last one is used to soften up the look of a scene, ideal for woodland photography but I also want to try it with astrophotography.
Nigel Danson discussing his last trip to Antartica. I had to put my hands in pockets to stop myself leaning forward and tucking that mans label back in his shirt!
A few hours of browsing, bumping into the likes of Adam Gibbs, Neil Burnell, Stuart Mcglennon, Jack Lodge and Lee Cooper among others was followed by a quick bite to eat and then headed over to the Canon stand to listen to Nick Page talk about images with impact, a thing he is the grandmaster of in photography. Nick is a personal hero of mine in photography, a truly inspiring artist who takes some of the most mindblowing images you will ever see. I relate to him in other ways too, battles with mental health and anxiety being some of them.
While we were queuing to get into the Canon area for his talk up the man wandered himself to have a chat with me and Dave! I was blown away and went all fanboy, gushing about how I thought he was the best out there lol. But after a minute or so of chatting realsied he was just a photographer like us, passionate, enthused and inspired like we all are. A really down to earth, humble guy and a beard I am envious of to boot!
His talk was fantastic and the images on display were simply the best at the show. He overcame his nerves to deliver an engaging, funny and insightful chat. If you dont, you really need to follow the guy on IG.
I dont know what my face was doing in this selfie with the great man!!
After that it was back over to Fotospeed to support my local boy Jack Lodge as he gave a talk on how to take an image from preperation of shot right through to printing it. And with that we were done! Tired but happy we headed home, a little bit more inspired, a little bit wiser and both with slightly lighter wallets! A great day out and will defintely be back for the next one thats in Birmingham (the 2025 show is in London, a bad idea in my book).
Thanks for reading as always!