THE 2012 PHOTO & FILM EXPO – “The Good, the Bad and the Whatever…”

THE 2012 PHOTO & FILM EXPO – “The Good, the Bad and the Whatever…”

By Loftus Viljoen

 Arty Acrobatics – taken by Loftus Viljoen ©2012 with at Canon 7D, Canon 24-105mm lens at the 2012 Photo & Film Expo

The Photo & Film Expo is an annual Expo  aimed at attracting South African photographers, amateur as well as professional, to come and visit  them and view photography related products [or buy it], to get informed about new products, to meet service providers and the most important aspect of the show is to attend workshops or lectures on many aspects of photography . Even if a lecture consists of a slideshow, for example, on wildlife photography – you can learn from the experts by just looking at their slideshows and taking note of their settings and equipment used and then compare it with your own work.

The “photo & film” part is a conundrum because in the modern day we use digital imaging rather than film, but we all do understand that the expression is meant metaphorically to be about imaging in the photo industry. 

One would think that we are looking at a niche market with a limited number of photographers, but with the advent of cell phone cameras and social media like Facebook everybody with a cell phone has a camera. It is said that more than 250 million photos all loaded onto the internet EVERY day and whether these figures are right or wrong what it tells you is that there are globally millions of people being “photo aware”. People are taking more and more notice of what is going on around them and capturing it on camera and sharing it on social media. However, millions of dull, washed out and badly composed photos are posted on Facebook everyday and that is the market that your better class camera manufacturer of supplier should target.

First impression of the Photo & Film Expo 2012 – taken on the last day of the just after 10:00 with a Canon 7D, 24-105mm lens.

For many years I have been writing stories or articles on safaris, destinations and the outdoor lifestyle and have lots and lots of photographs published in those stories in various magazines. One golden theme in my stories over the last year of two is that of “preparation and planning.” 

If I need to do a story on the “Wild Horses of the Namib Desert” [see my blog  http://ngonyamarentals.blogspot.com/2012/10/wild-horses-of-namib-desert.html ]  I  need to research my topic and for that I spend hours and hours researching on questions like “where did they come from? How did they manage to survive in the Desert? How is the First World War relevant? Etc..etc….” After asking those type of questions my interest is aroused and I need to find them and photograph them myself. I need to interview the locals face to face to get more behind the story and now this is where planning and preparation comes into place. I first need to work out a route on my laptop and GPS. Are my laptop and GPS good enough to make a trip to a very dusty area? O yes, what about my camera, batteries, lenses, cleaning equipment, lighting [flashes], support systems like tripods and beanbags. If I don’t have the equipment what equipment should I take along – back to the internet and start researching again. What is the most economical way of acquiring the equipment I need to take with – rent or buy? Next we go onto the vehicle and what type of accommodation  and the list of what you need to go and photograph the Wild Horses becomes longer and longer. Then it becomes a matter of the costing – what is this whole exercise going to cost. 

You may now ask me what has this planning and preparation have in common with the Photo & Film Expo? As a matter of fact – quite a lot. 

I do not go to shows and expos to view products - that I do only to kill time between the real reason why I am there. I need information and I need someone to share their experiences with me. The main reason for me to visit a show is for the workshops they offer – this is a source of information and knowledge. When I do my planning of safaris or photography projects I do it so far ahead as 18 months in advance some may be sooner or some may be later – so if I want to go to the Masai Mara and Serengeti  I will visit  Gerry van der Walt, Morkel Erasmus, Andrew  and the guys at Wild Eye and learn from them or if I want to visit visit the Caliso celebration [I bet you haven’t heard about this before] and the Kuomboka festival of the Lozi King in Western Zambia I will talk to guys who have been there – and because very few Westerners have ever visited these celebrations I have to mentally prepare myself by asking the right questions on similar experiences. I will attend lectures or workshops on what may come in handy in my planning for the next 18 months period. And should any of those projects not materialize I, at least, have built up a knowledge base. 

 The guys from Wild Eye

Having my mind set on what I need to look for I started my preparation to visit this Expo  on a hiccup - my application for media accreditation had gone astray. In the meantime I also found it difficult to get a proper and downloadable program from the organizers website. I even had to go and try and get one from Nikon [but they only had a program available relating to the speakers and activities at their stages]. PIX magazine also went out of their way to assist me.  It is very frustrating  to plan your workshops and the days on which they are presented if you cannot find a program – this only became available a couple of days prior to the opening of the show. That is not all, I planned my trip [bear in mind that I had to travel a distance of 60 kilometres everyday to get to the show and another 60 kilometres back] and then to find that the printed program was wrong and certain days’ programs were changed around.  This meant a waste of my time and the organizers should have a close look at their programs and planning next year so that this does not happen again. I missed out on a couple of workshops as a result of this. If I can plan my trip according to the published program the least the organizers can do is to place a notice board at the entrance advising visitors of the change in the programs or on the social media where people can see it. It is like a bride changing the venue of her wedding and not telling her photographer about that.

Setting up a studio with Sean Nel from Outdoor Photo

On my visit on the Thursday of the show I was surprised to find so few people around at the show and I also noticed that by 17:00 the show seemed to be deserted. Some of the exhibitors I spoke to also found that Friday was quiet attendance wise. I would not have skipped the Expo on Friday if I knew beforehand there was a change in the programs so when I turned up on Saturday I was surprised to find the change and disappointed to have missed some workshops that were supposed to be held on that day. Saturday seemed to be very well supported and the workshops on the Nikon and Abode stages were full to the brim. The program of events was set up in such a manner that certain speakers will talk on the same subject and this would give you the opportunity to plan on which day you will attend their workshops.

On the one day I specifically made effort to attend one of the Adobe workshops and despite them having  excellent speakers I found the content of the lecture was disappointing – it was the same content with the same photos that I have seen earlier this year at other workshops [and I could find the same content on the Adobe Learning TV on the internet]. The same happened at the Nikon stage presentations – there was no new content for some of the speakers [and they are excellent speakers] and it may have worked for first time visitors, but unfortunately it did not work for me. I guess that is the problem if you are going to have the same people year in and year out presenting the lectures – you will hear quite a lot of self promotion whether it is a book or a DVD having much the same vibe and talk as last year or at other workshops prior to the Expo. Yes, there were new speakers with a new approach to the presentations which I did find helpful. At the training stage there were a couple of stuttering  presentations where the studio setup did not work – the backdrops were too close to the models and the presenter not getting the effect he/she wanted or where equipment that was supposed to promote a product failed and which did not give me any confidence. I also saw quite a lot of people leaving “boring” lectures. On the mezzanine level there was a stage setup for what I assume to do with movie-film industry and this seemed not to be operation or otherwise I missed any activity there completely.

Something that I was not prepared for, and was pleasantly surprised with, was to find a couple of vehicles that were specially converted and rigged for wildlife photography. After absorbing the overwhelming Nikon banners  as I entered the Expo my eyes floated over the hall while I was descending on the escalator when I saw a Toyota Landcruiser safari vehicle rigged or prepped for wildlife photography. After taking a couple of photos of it and making a mental note of what in it would ideally suit me  if had had to rig it I walked in the direction of my first workshop for the day.

Diagonally across it there were two other vehicles also rigged for wildlife photography belonging to a tour operator specializing in Namibian parks and this was interesting to see to what lengths operators would go to make their guests comfortable. 

Most of the photography I do is wildlife and people are much surprised to see that I do other types of photography like events, arty, destinations, landscape, weddings as well.  Especially when you do photography for publications with an accompanying article in many instances you are restricted to a certain word count and then your photos need to tell the rest of the story. A couple of years ago I did a trip to Liuwa Plains in the northwest of Zambia and came back with 4 stories on a freelance basis  all of which were published. Having done research previously I knew that we travelling through the Kingdom of the Lozi King of Barotse land. The point I am trying to make is that you need to alert and aware even while you are busy with your planning and preparations and that it why I went to the Expo with an open mind. 

 I probably enjoyed my Sunday visit to the Expo the most with the aerial acrobats and the Cortina pop-group being the highlights. I was able to photograph the acrobats doing their thing and finding the best setting was a matter of trial and error in a very short time as their show lasted only a couple of minutes. I did not have any intent photographing them as my focus was capturing a couple of photos of the Expo for purposes of my article, but after looking at the finalists of the Image-of-the-Year Competition it inspired me to do something different with my photo hence the glowing metallic look.

I also took a cursory look at the underwater  cameras and accessories as I used to dive myself and had a Nikonos underwater camera [yes I owned a Nikon before] but unfortunately drowned it on my first dive with it. That put an end to my underwater photography aspirations.  The equipment nowadays for underwater photography is much better than what we used to have. 

Equipment or accessory wise I found a camera strap called BlackRapid which takes off all the strain around your neck because it hangs over your shoulder with the camera on your hips. It has quick release buckles which prevents the camera from slinging while you are walking.  See www.sunshinecompany.co.za for more info. I have seen them in photography magazines from abroad but did not realise they were available in South Africa.

One of the common talking points around a campfire when on safari when it comes to vehicles is the Landcruiser vs Land Rover debate and when you are with photographers you will always find the Canon vs Nikon debate.  

The 2012 Photo & Film Expo has once again flamed the debate on social media as to the absence of Canon at this Expo. Normally this debate is started by one or two Canon users as they feel intimidated or insecure when entering the Expo. It is very much like the Lion King story of Disney – when someone uttered the word “Mufasa” Ed and his mates would go in a state of shivering. Nikon signs, banner and bags are up your face all the time and Nikon goes out of their way to aggressively market their products. I did not feel threatened using my Canon 7D at the Expo neither did any Nikon rep try and convert me to switch brands - I know the guys at Nikon and I know the guys at Canon: they are all great guys. Some Canon users would regard it as arrogant or stupid or non-supportive of Canon not to be there. The CES show, for example, is the largest electronic show in the world with more than 120,000 visitors and thousands of exhibitors and last year Apple was not officially at the show – who are we to tell Apple that they should be at that show and likewise who are we to tell Canon that they should have been at the Photo & Film Expo. The Photo & Film Expo is about photography and not “mine-is-bigger-and-better-than-yours” or a Mexican standoff between Canon and Nikon. Feel free to chose what brand you want to support. You are in the business of taking photos not the processes involved in manufacturing or marketing it. 

You need to spare a thought for the organizers, apart taking flack from me on their scheduling of their workshops or lectures or the contents of it, they also have to deal with people who want to know why certain brands, like Canon, are not officially represented at the Expo. I know that they are trying hard to get Canon and other brands as well as new exhibitors on board but it is sometimes very difficult  as Canon, for example, have a completely different marketing agenda and this Expo does not fit into that agenda. The organizers have nothing to do with the Canon vs Nikon debate – they are only interested in getting the market leaders in photography on their Expo. 

I take a close look to what is going on in the photography market and I do check out  the specs between the various makes of cameras and lenses and mostly those of Canon and Nikon and I am on an internet data list who keeps me informed of the latest developments. I check the TIPA Awards and the comparisons done by DP Review and others on the different products and some years you will find Canon to have the better product on certain levels and some years it will be Nikon. 

Having a Canon or a Nikon camera doesn’t make you a better photographer - those skills you need to learn. Know your equipment and its functions and master it – preferably before you go on a photography safari or photography shoot. I know what the functions on the buttons and dials on the various cameras do and how to assist guests going with me on safari or shoot with their equipment and getting the basic settings, but the fine tuning is up to them. 

In conclusion this year’s Photo & Film Expo had its hiccups and highlights and although this is the only Expo in South Africa that I will visit for more than one day. In the future I will take a closer look at the speakers and their topics or workshops and if there is a hint that I have attended a similar lecture or workshop before I will avoid it. 

©2012 Loftus Viljoen