CCC Forum

A few of us have attended this event in the past couple of years and it has always been an enjoyable day out. The show runs from 16 - 18 January 2015 and entry is free if you register by 24 Dececember 2014. The venue is the same as in previopus years, the Hilton London Metropole Hotel in Edgware Road. For those who do not have to work that day, going on Friday 16 January would avoid the weekend crowds.

There are free demos and the exhibitors always have special offers, so if you do have any money left after Xmas there will be an oppounity to grab a bargain.

http://swpp.co.uk/convention/exhibitors/

Reply here if you are interested and give your preferred date(s).

A group will be going from the club to the trade show on Friday, 16 January. Some people will be travelling independently, but there is a small party meeting at East Croydon Station at 9:30 if anyone is interested in coming along.

Note that pre-registration for free entry has closed, but I do have a spare ticket if anyone wants to use it.

A very enjoyable day out yesterday with half a dozen club members visiting the show. There were a lot of exhibitors and show only deals available, although I am not aware of any major purchases.

On the Park Cameras stand, there was a rep demonstrating the latest Lytro Illum camera, which allows the point of focus to be adjusted after the shot has been taken. An interesting technology, but one which is still in its infancy and not yet ready for the mainstream although the rep reckoned further developments are planned over the next couple of years.

https://www.lytro.com/

I finally got my hands on a 7D MkII, which is certainly a well specified and versatile camera. The Canon rep did rather surprise me when he agreed that for those who do not shoot sports or wildlife, or video, that it offers relatively little advantage over the older model other than improved noise characteristics of the sensor.

Damien "Big Dog" McGillicuddy was again at the show doing live shoots with Olympus camera gear. He was using inexpensive Yongnuo flash guns and triggers to demonstrate how to achieve professional results comparable to what is possible with equipment costing many, many times more. He is an entertaining speaker who is always worth watching, even if the patter does not vary that much year to year.

Interesting views about the 7m2. I finally decided to go with a 5m3 and 1.4 extender from HDEW. I am going over to pick it up this morning Just a shame I won't be able to do much with it whilst my arm is in plaster... But I can always use the time to read the manual instead... That would be a first ! LOL

I popped back to the exhibition on Sunday morning to hear some of the Adobe presentations (Lightroom & Photoshop) that I didn't have time for on Friday and have a final look round.

It was educational, there was a very good demonstration of extreme re-touching that I also found a bit depressing. Though it was acknowledged that an extreme edit might involve 5-8 hours of expert effort, it surprised me just how much could be realistically changed in a post-edit process. It did leave me feeling that a photo taken under difficult conditions might be criticised by some for the imperfect results not being made perfect with suitable software manipulation afterwards. Perhaps the question is whether significant image manipulation should be acknowledged in some way, or just accepted as an alternative way to obtain a desired result. Happy to see this degree of manipulation being used artistically (and in advertising), not quite so sure if it's implied the post-processed image is a true capture of a scene or happening when it's not.

Ah well.

Graham