“HAVING
FUN” - THE
2013 CANON SA EXPO & COMPETITION
By Loftus Viljoen
There are two major photography events that the photography
community and consumers every year eagerly wait for and place it at the top of
their photography social calendar.
One of these major events is the annual Canon Expo &
Competition and this year was the third time that Canon hosted it.
For those of you who have read my articles, blogs and
reviews would know that it is old news that I do not go to shows or expos to
buy equipment or something – my main purpose is to explore and feel equipment
that my local dealer does not have and [this is a big AND] I mainly go to Expos
to get information and learn from the speakers at the Expo. As photo and travel journalists my partner,
Naomi Myburgh and I often get invited to events or are commissioned to do
certain photo shoots and/or to write the article or story to accompany it. Many
times we also have do “spec shoots” hoping to sell our photos or stories to any
interested party. As such we sometimes need what is called “media
accreditation” to get access to event, certain information or details or
vantage points at the event. A good example of such event was this year’s
Zwartkops Airshow where you had to go through a process of being accredited as
part of the media corps. Apart from bring accredited you also need to do your
research before the event begins and you need to pick up a story line that
no-one else did. And after all that rickmarole your Editor may choose not to
use your story or any of your photos. Unless there is a “show stopper” or a
launch of a long anticipated product at an Expo, Editors of magazines are
generally [and I emphasize the word “generally”] not interested in Expos/Shows
and as a freelancer you will be wasting your time at Shows/Expos. We have had
many requests to cover an event or spec articles turned down because an Editor published
a year or five ago a similar story of that event [-this is a tip for Event
Organizers; you need something special to attract the attention of Editors and
Joe Public].
At all events where you have to pay an entrance fee you will
have to go through the process of media accreditation so it is very refreshing
to go to a major event where the entry is FREE and you do not have to go
through a process of accreditation and if you need any information it is FREELY
available. Did I mention that entry to the Canon Expo and Competition is FREE?
As they did in
previous years the build up to the third annual Canon Expo kicked off with a
photo competition which is growing in popularity and making it one of the major
photography competitions in the country with a Canon 6D and 24-105mm lens
as prize for the winner in each of the 4 categories.
The four categories were:
1.
Let the Light in
2.
Save our planet
3.
Unposed portrait
4.
Better in Black & White.
To qualify for entry [and only one image per category was
allowed] the image had to be shot with a Canon camera. The opening day for the
competition was 16 September 2013 and the closing date a minute before midnight
on the 1st of November 2013. A total of 3058 entries was received.
The quality and standard of the competition submissions seems to get better
every year and all entrants waited with abated breath to find our if they made
the “finals.” With only a couple of weeks before the Expo opens the public get
the opportunity to “vote” for their favourite photos [also only one vote per
category] via internet, email or you could vote on the first day you attend the
Expo.
When I attend an event as part of the media I want a
schedule or program of what is happening where and when so that I can arrange
my own plans accordingly. Last year I attended a certain event which was held
over a couple of days where the organizers changed the schedules without having
the courtesy of advising me or any of the media about the change. And, even if
my entry was free I still had to
travel to the event at my own costs, pay my parking and generally when my
camera costs are calculated it works out that for every shutter speed click my
camera makes it cost me money. So you can understand why I get upset when Event
Organizers change the programs without notifying me about those changes.
During the period from mid September-December the attention
of South African photographers is focused on two major photography events i.e.
the Photo & Film Expo and the Canon
Expo Competition. This period gives the photography consumer and community
basically a two and a half months of photography related activities –it is as
we have a “photography window” for that period [very similar to the transfer window
they have in European soccer]. The two Expos have one common goal and that is
to create photography awareness.
Both these Expos
takes place in the Johannesburg [Gauteng] area in the heart of South Africa’s
economic hub. Camera Dealers and Online
vendors have recognized this window, done their sums and stocked their
“shelves” with certain cameras/equipment as “show” specials while riding out
the window period created by these Expos. More than once you will probably find
the camera or equipment cheaper “Online” or at your local camera dealer than at
the Expos.
On social media and everyday conversations with consumers I
often find a misconception that the consumer believes that big brand names like
Canon and Nikon “controls” the prices of their cameras and equipment. The
simple truth is that both Canon and Nikon in South Africa import their stock
from the country of manufacture [and for arguments sake let’s say Japan] at
factory prices in a currency like the US dollar or the Euro. So when the Rand
is weak against those currencies the price of the landed equipment will be
higher –these higher costs will eventually be passed on to the end consumer. Both Canon and Nikon [and others as well] do
not sell any cameras directly to the public – they all work through a network
of dealers and it would be very naïve of Joe Public to think that Canon or
Nikon would “undercut” their dealers. Canon, for instance, would use the “profits”
of the sales at the Expo to cover their costs of hosting the event and
distribute the “net profit” between all its authorized dealers in the form of
rebates or some sort of distribution scheme. I understand that only on the
first day of the Expo sales exceeded R1million.
This year something peculiar happened in or about this
window period: a photography survey request was sent to various photographers
and the idea was to see the latest trends and preferences of photographers –
unfortunately the survey was in my view lob-sided and biased toward wildlife
photographers with the questions to favour the sponsors of the survey, hence
the requirement of having the respondent’s phone number and email addresses
[this obviously give them a data base of interested
persons and the opportunity to bombard me with emails on so-called special
deals]. To encourage the respondents to complete the survey a first prize of a
photographic safari for a couple of days were offered. My view is that you
would have had a much better and wider sample of respondents if the first prize
was a voucher of a certain amount were the winner could choose Canon/Nikon
according to his/her own preferences . The prize would be drawn at the Photo and Film
Expo. The results of the survey was published online at http://www.photosurvey.co.za/results/
As always these “survey results” should be taken with a
pinch of salt, but it revealed that only 4,96% of the respondents go to an Expo
to buy something – the vast majority go to Expos for the same reason as I do:
“We want to learn something.”
The results also answers the frequent question
that I picked up on social media “Why don’t you have an Expo in the Western
Cape?” or wherever. The results show that the vast majority of photographers
are based in the Gauteng region [in fact it says 63.5% whereas the second place
is the Western Cape with a mere 12,9%. The costs involved setting up an Expo
are enormous and the economics just don’t justify setting up an Expo on the
same scale in Cape Town. I have seen the
equipment and props set out by Canon for their Expo and it could weigh easily
in excess of 30 tons and I can tell you the costs of transporting it to Cape
Town will not justify the expenses and then you need to think of all the
support staff [accommodation, transport and food and other logistics]. Sorry to
give you bad news, Capetonians and others, but I think it is very unlikely that
an expo on the scale of Gauteng will realize. Your best bet is to attend the
Canon Roadshow when it comes to Cape Town and make sure that you ATTEND it.
So far the buildup to the event.
That brings me to the week or two preceding the Canon Expo:
Canon posted their program [and something about Canon SA is that you can always
rely on their programs and plan accordingly] with their speakers list and the
first thing I noticed was that all the speakers this year were local. Going
through their topics I was able to pick the day I wanted to attend.
A couple of days before the Canon Expo I picked up a vibe that
they will be having a photo booth which spelt out “Having Fun with Canon.” I
have done many photo booths at weddings and at Mystery Murder Dinner Parties
and it is always fun and laughter so this Canon Expo was going to be fun. For
this purpose Canon encouraged their visitors to bring along their cameras.
I decided I will have
some photo fun and early morning on the first day of the Expo I took out some of
my own photo booth props and posted a photo of myself on the Expo Facebook site
and, while we were at the Expo, we thought we may just as well have a
portfolio/profile shoot.
In the busy street in front of the Sandton Convention Centre
where the Canon Expo was held we popped off a couple of photos.
As we entered to foyer to the Canon Expo we immediately
noticed that they did not have photos of last year’s winners as they had the
previous year. It is actually a nice touch to see the previous year’s winners
so that you could compare them against the new finalists’ photos.
There was not a big crowd around and as we entered to expo
hall I noticed on the right they had a series of printers and they did split up
the equipment to have it all over the place. Also on the right they had a photo
booth but very “commercialized” – so I put on my funny glasses and fake moustache
to spice up the photo.
In the centre they had guys with skateboards and bikes doing
tricks and this gave me the opportunity to play around with high ISO and
capture the action shots. The lights in the Hall was not so great so my 7D had
to do the trick.
No sooner or later I had to rush to the presentation by Tyme
Photography on wedding and the fun started with drums and whistles we had to
blow but it gave us the rhythm that even wedding photography is and should be
fun and later Marlene Neumann continued with her presentation with the same
theme “Have fun” live life so the vibe I picked up in the pre-program stage was
there.
Mark Mansfield on Aviation photography was, as always, good
and it always amazes me that the most common questions at any Expo or course
relates to the camera settings for certain shots. Mark gracefully explained why
the shutter speed has to come down to capture a “prop disc” on propeller type
of airplanes and how much preparation and work goes into aviation photography
before a single shot is fired. But Mark
did not fail to tell us that aviation photography is fun.
In between the
presentations I still had to find time to rub shoulders with the presenters as
I know the most of them personally. And in between that I paused to take photos
of the action in the centre.
On the other side of the hall Andrew Beck took us into a
glimpse on the life of a wildlife photography guide and once again the matter
of camera settings came up. I could relate to Andrew’s presentation because I
did a couple of photography safaris myself and do quite a bit of wildlife
photography. It is amazing to hear that there are still people with the most
expensive camera gear but don’t know how to use it. As a safari guide it may
sometimes become a nightmare because need to constantly remind your “customer”
of settings and composition that you may lose out in taking some awesome shots
yourself. Taking us through the processes of being a guide make you realize
that it is hard work with a lot of preparation involved.
This year, equipment wise, there was not anything that
gripped my attention as the 200-400mm lens did last year. The idea of having an
“action centre” with bikers and skate boarders doing their thing was not bad as
it gave action photographers and wannabee action photographers an opportunity
to take some “action” shots as you can see in this article, but placing the
camera/lens display and Canon staff between you [the photographer] and the “action”
was not a good idea as I found that the staff was moving constantly in front of
you just as you were taking the shots.
The kit I took the 2013 Canon Expo was my 7D with the 50mm
f1.8 lens as well as my Canon 100-400mm USM IS L-lens.
It would have been nice to have a FREE sensor clean at the
Expo though.
For the purposes of the “Having Fun” theme of this article I
decided to cartoonize the most of my images herein in the post production
processes, and cartoons are usually fun to look at.
My overall impression of this year’s Canon Expo was that it
was good, but not as good as it was last year and despite the “Fun” theme I was
missing something. Maybe I was expecting something to “Dream On” to follow up
on last year’s inspiring 200-400mm lens like someone who was using the lens and
did a presentation on that lens alone – someone who has pushed the lens through
it phases like a wildlife photographer or action photographer telling us and
showing us what the lens could do under local conditions and on various camera
bodies [including cameras released this year]. I would have loved to hear the
lens’ performance under low light conditions and what it could do during the “golden
hour” for wildlife photography.
Comparing this year’s Expo to this year’s Canon Roadshow I must
say the latter stands out and I am looking forward to next year’s events.
Loftus ©2013
