The Societies
Like many wedding and portrait photographers I am extremely enthusiastic about training, developing my knowledge and skills, and also about keeping up to date with what’s happening in the photographic industry.
Last weekend was ‘The Societies’ annual conference and trade show, held at The Hilton Hotel on the Edgware Road and I went along for two whole days. It’s called ‘The Societies’ because it’s made up of a number of different societies representing different genres of photography, my particular strand is The ‘Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers’ or the ‘SWPP’
The first day I went was on the Sunday and it was primarily to look around the trade show, in particular I wanted to look at alternative web / image hosting sites SmugMug and Zenfolio. I have to say both of them are excellent products and the staff there were absolutely brilliant! – I ask a lot of questions and they were very knowledgeable and helpful.
I also had a god look at the GF Smith album stand, where again the guy I spoke to was extremely helpful. It was also interesting to see that one of their sample books was devoted to images of Nikki one of the models I photographed on my training weekend with Denton Photography back at the beginning of December.
It was also on this day that I met with a potential wedding client who is getting married in Hampton Court in August. Pleased to say we had a great chat (and some very nice coffee) and the booking was confirmed. A big thank you to Tasha and Karim.
In the afternoon I purchased a couple of strip soft boxes for a number of studio lighting projects I have in mind and also spent some time watching demonstrations by legendary Dutch photographer Frank Doorhof, who was quite amazing.
The second day was the Monday and this was a whole day 1000 AM – 4.00 PM with the absolutely brilliant Australian / Greek photographer Jerry Ghionis (one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world). I have to say it was a brilliant day but I nearly didn’t make it, as I drove down the M11 that morning it was snowing heavily and starting to settle, the traffic was crawling along really quite slowly and I was feeling terrible (had a dreadful cough and sore throat). More snow was expected during the day and I thought I may never get home (feeling a bit sorry for myself) On top of that it was a hire car and the low fuel warning light was flashing! (Ughh!). I came very close to just turning round and going back home, but… hey I didn’t, I soldiered on and got there just in time and so glad I did!
Jerry is a very inspirational speaker / photographer and gave significant nuggets of information and advice throughout the day. I learnt a lot, made some (very untidy) notes and came away very inspired to try out a few new things.
A view from the 23rd floor of the hotel looking out on to the Edgware Road
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Tony is the owner of Tony Sale Photography a much sought after wedding and portrait photographer based in Essex. He is known for his particular style of putting couples at ease and of mixing traditional, documentary and artistic genres to ensure the perfect capture of your special day.
He is also a great lover of coffee so if you fancy discussing your wedding or portrait photography over an Americano, Flat White, Skinny Latte or whatever else is going do get in touch – phone 01787 474923 or email tony@tonysalephotography.co.uk
