New Seminar dates announced…

Following are the seminars which I will be presenting in early 2008:

Beginners Guide to Wedding Photography
Nikon House, Kingston: 28 Jan 2008

Whether you are a beginner or are in need of fresh and innovative ideas and techniques to kick start your next season, then this is the workshop not to be missed. I will deal with all aspects of wedding photography – from enquiry to marketing yourself; pre-wedding meeting; contracts and term & conditions; equipment required; key shots; pricing and much much more. I will also be demonstrating in detail how to use off-camera flash. For more details and to reserve your place, please visit www.nikon.co.uk/training

Event Photography Uncovered
British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP): 03 Mar 2008

All aspects of Events Photography will be covered during this day long seminar. From printing on-site to selling online, which products are more profitable, pre-selling for corporate events, equipment required and much much more…

For more info & bookings, please contact Sara Lovelock on 01920 860188 or by email academy@bipp.com

Oz

Nikon Solutions Expo, London

The show everyone was waiting for. Held at Olympia, London on 27 & 28 November. Record numbers of photographers visited to see the stars of the event…D3 and the D300 and they were not disappointed with what they saw.

DISCOVERY AWARDS
The event also held the first “Discover Awards” for students. 20 of the leading universities and colleges participated in these awards and a total of £50,000 worth of prizes were awarded to students and their university / college by Nikon UK. Students from as far as Dublin & Edinburgh attended the awards. All credit for this award must go to Dave Robins for planning and organising this wonderful event and to Nikon for supporting the rising stars of the future.

TRADE SHOW
All the big guns of the industry were present at the trade show. These included Apple, Epson, Lexar, HP, SWPP, MPA and many more

SEMINARS / WORKSHOPS
Pre-registered photographers had the opportunity to try the D3 and the D300 at the fashion, portrait, wedding & sports zones. I had the great privilege & joy to assist Martin Graham-Dunn, at the portrait & wedding zone, who is one of the most respected photographers of our generation and is now running his own photography training academy in Spain. We demonstrated the use of off-camera SB800 Speedlights in a variety of ways i.e high key, low key and mixed lighting scenarios. Images shot at the zones were wi-fi’ed across to a central hub and the images were then accessed by the likes of Epson & HP to make large prints within seconds of them being shot. Photographers were instantly able to see for themselves how good the D3 / D300 performed under certain lighting conditions and were also able to judge the speed and the quality of the printers too. The turnout was tremendous at our fashion / wedding zone and it was great to see many fellow photographers and some old friends .

Team Nikon at the Nikon Stand

Visitors at the show.

Fashion zone: Me shooting Katie (along with the dozens behind me!!)

Auditorium filling up for the Discovery Awards

The heart of the show: The Processing Hub. With so many networks at Olympia, the performance of the WT4 wireless transmitters with the D3 and the D300 was superb. Credit for this goes to our super whiz kid James Banfield.

All in all it was a tremendous event and a huge success. Visitors to the show were well up from last year. Many many thanks to Nikon for organising this wonderful event and for giving me the opportunity to be part of this exciting showpiece event.

Oz

DP Pro Magazine

An article and my exclusive images shot using the Nikon D3 have been printed in the DP Pro Magazine this month. These are the very first images shot using the Nikon D3 in the UK. Link to the full article is as below:

dpp04_070-076.pdf

This camera is an absolute joy to use and work with. If you are serious about your photography, then this is the one to get. Worth every penny!!

Oz

Nikon Solutions Expo, Bristol

Held at the British Commonwealth Museum in Bristol for the first time. This event was extremely well attended by photographers from the surrounding areas and from as far as Devon! Today I presented on the use of off-camera flash using Nikon’s Speedlight flash system. For this we had a full studio setup with backgrounds, lightstands, reflectors and a pretty model. The images were shot using the D3 and sent wirelessly to the plasma screen using the WT4 transmitter for immediate viewing of images for all.

We also had a trade stand for Foto SF which attracted the attention of a lot of photographers and I was very pleased by the interest shown by all.

Some images of the show of our trade stand and of me presenting.

Leopard Compatibility Update

Filemaker has released a downloadable update to make Filemaker Pro 9 and Filemaker Pro 9 Advanced compatible with Mac OSX Leopard. We recommend all users of Filemaker Pro 9 and Filemaker Pro 9 Advanced download it from www.filemaker.co.uk

At present, the Trial version of Foto SF will NOT run on Leopard. This will be updated within 14 days. However, the full version of Foto SF will run on Leopard.

DSLR User Magazine

A review of the Nikon D3 has been printed in the December 2007 issue of the Digital User Magazine. The review showcases some of my images and my experience of using the D3. I was fortunate enough to be one of the very first users of this camera in the UK.

PDF file of the article can be downloaded as below:

d3.pdf

Oz

Foto SF at Nikon Solutions Expo

We are pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at Bristol and London events. We would love to see you there and would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the datatbase. So come along and try out Foto SF and see how your business can be organised effortlessly.

Nikon Solutions Expo, Manchester

The Velodrome, Manchester was the venue for the first of the Nikon Solutions Expo events this year. The stars of the show were the  debutants, D3 and D300 pro cameras. Photographers from the North East turned up in great numbers to get a preview of these cameras. I had two presentations during the day demonstrating the D3 and how this camera is going to be an indispensable tool for all Nikon pro photographers.

The show is specifically designed to demonstrate all aspects of photography to the professional photographer and will give visitors the opportunity to check out real world applications including the latest hardware, software and printing solutions as well as Nikon’s complete photographic range, including the recently announced D3 and D300 Digital SLR cameras.

New this year is ‘Expo on the Road’ – a series of road shows in Manchester and Bristol that will showcase the latest products and services from market-leading partners and offer a series of free seminars designed to help visitors improve their imaging skills. The first show is at the Manchester Velodrome on 14th November, offering outstanding opportunities for all-action cycling shots. This will be followed by the Bristol show at the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum on 21st November before Solutions Expo.

This two day professional photographic show boasts an extensive expert-led seminar programme along with a range of master-classes to provide guidance and tips on how to improve photographic skills. Leading manufacturers and partners such as Adobe, Apple, Epson, Hewlett Packard and Mitsubishi will show their products and solutions as part of an active demonstration of workflow.

Photographers will also have the chance to try out their skills photographing Capoeira, a fusion of dance, music, acrobatics and various fighting forms which is quintessentially part of African Brazilian culture. There will also be a fashion show, for those wanting to concentrate on editorial shooting and fencing for those wanting to master action shots! Johnsons Photopia will also be providing a studio set up which will include everything a pro could want or need.

Chris Hoare, Nikon’s professional business manager said: “Expo has grown at an amazing rate and this year is set to be bigger and better than ever before. We have worked hard to incorporate an extensive programme of hands-on activities and seminar sessions to ensure photographers get the most out of the event. The D3 and D300 will feature heavily at the show and will also be seen around the country when Solutions Expo takes to the road for the first time for a series of road shows which will culminate in this London event.”

Visitors to Solutions Expo should also make a trip to the gallery which will be exhibiting work from the next generation of photographers who have entered Nikon’s new student competition, the Discovery Awards which aims to celebrate the work of students and colleges around the UK.

Ensure you don’t miss out – register now for your FREE place at
www.solutions-expo.co.uk.

SWPP & MIPP Convention, Malta Nov 2007

It was a privilege to be invited to the Society of Wedding & Portraits Photographer (SWPP) and the Maltese Institute of Professional Photographers (MIPP) to do a presentation regarding my off-camera flash work using Nikon’s Speedlight flashguns. I was in Malta from 31 Oct to 6 Nov and thoroughly enjoyed my stay. The Convention was held at the fabulous Radisson SAS Hotel where we were also staying. During the Convention, I met some great photographers from Malta and the UK who had travelled there for the Convention. It was my first trip to Malta and certainly will not be my last. The people of Malta are extremely friendly and hospitable. I have made some good friends over there and look forward to meeting them again in January 2008 in London for the SWPP Convention.

Many thanks to Juliet & Phil of the SWPP and Stephen, President of the MIPP for organising such an event. A big thank you to Nikon UK for sponsoring me for the Convention.

Here are some of images of the trip.

With Scotland’s greatest….Mr & Mrs Gordon Mcgowan