I happened to be in my husband’s office, when something out the window caught my eye. I went to grab my camera and started shooting.
“What are you looking at?” Wolf asked.
He looked at what I was shooting, and turned to look at me with that “what are you seeing” look he sometimes gets.
“Look at it upside down” was my reply.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
Last year, it seems that fall and the changing of the colors went by too quickly to be appreciated. This year, though, weeks after the leaves started changing, the beautiful colors still remain. It’s given us a chance to go out and enjoy the area.
Burg Katz
Burg Gutenfels
Hopefully, we’ll be able to enjoy the wonderful colors of fall for a bit longer before winter sets in. Hope you can, too, wherever you are.
The greatest (photo) show on earth is approaching: Photokina. Every two years, hundreds of thousands of people converge on the Kölnmesse in Köln, Germany, to spend days perusing the latest and greatest in the field of photography.
The show runs for six days – Sept. 23-28. And trust me, if you can, plan to attend all six days. There is so much to take in that, if you want to take your time and not have to rush (and have time to take a lunch break), it will take every day.
A few hints beforehand:
1. Exercise to get yourself ready to do a lot of walking. The Kölnmesse is large and break areas are not a priority there.
2. Don’t bother to bring bags to carry handouts. There will be plenty available there. I still have bags from Photokina six years ago that I use today. They’re practically indestructible.
3. English language books/brochures are available at most stands. However, you may have to ask for them as some keep them behind a counter.
4. And, speaking of brochures and handouts: there are tons of them. From the last Photokina, I brought home over a foot high stack of material. See hint number 1 – after a while, it gets heavy!!
5. There are plenty of food kiosks there for sandwiches, ice cream and such. There are also several sit down restaurants. Personally, we prefer to make sandwiches to bring with us. It not only saves time, but money.
6. The last day of Photokina, many of the vendors sell their wares at a greatly reduced price. Make sure to inquire early to reserve something if you want it. Some of my buys over the years: half off on a Monostat monopod; almost half off on a Peli watertight case; half off on various handpainted backgrounds; and, at the 2006 Photokina, about half off on a set of four Dedolight studio lights (and various accessories).
Many people bring their cameras to Photokina. There is always something to photograph, from the handpainted women to the occasional modeling session. My favorite at the last Photokina was the modeling session of the nude woman on the motorcycle. Not that I am into nude modeling, but I would have loved to have had my camera to take a photo of the men standing ten deep trying to snap a picture with whatever they had with them. Not to mention them hanging off anything they could climb/grab to take a peek.
Yes, I think this Photokina, I WILL bring my camera!
B&W had a couple of booths; one with their wonderful filters and another with their waterproof outdoor cases. We bought two of them – one smaller one for Wolf’s computer disks and another for our important papers and my CD and DVD photo back ups.
The most wonderful thing about Photokina is that, on the last day at most booths, you can buy their products at a reduced price (usually 20% off). I didn’t come home empty handed. In addition to the B&W cases, I bought a few books from the PMA booth and a Logan mat cutter so I can mat and mount my fine art prints. I also found a nice looking hand painted collapsible background that I had to have. I grumbled to myself about paying 100 euro for it, but it turns out that I spent less than what Wolf did.
The last item on my list was to look at continuous lighting systems. What I have in my studio is functional, but I wanted something a bit more flexible for my flower photos. We looked at the Dedolight booth at their line. Nice professional lighting, but expensive!
As I joined Wolf at the Dedolight booth with my backdrop purchase (the booths were near each other), he was handing over the credit card for the four lights and accessories he just purchased. I’ve only had a short time to try out the new lights, but as I told Wolf – “I’m in love”. The lights are definitely the cat’s meow!
A couple of tidbits from Photokina:
Yes, it was six days of pure delight. As we left Photokina on Sunday, our last glimpse was of an overhead banner announcing the dates of the next Photokina – Tuesday, September 23 to Sunday, September 28, 2008.
Mark your calendars!
At the Epson booth, I checked out the new 3800 printer that they have. If you don’t need or want the roll paper function, this is a great printer for you.
I visited the Tamron booth in hopes of hearing that they would release a line up of digital lenses, but was told that they have no plans on doing so.
I drooled heavily upon seeing the new Carl Zeiss wonder: a 1700mm/4 lens. It weighs in at 256 kg (564 lb.), and has 21x magnification. They had it suspended (and out of everyone’s reach) from the rafters by cables. Wolf swears that it was a fake, but I don’t think so…
And, of course, I visited the Fuji booth. They didn’t have an actual S5 Pro to handle; the mock up was behind glass, but they did have a lot of information on it. The rep told me that it would be out by February – maybe a bit sooner, depending on production times. I’ll probably wait for a few months after it comes out before I order mine.
For those of you who are Nikonians – it was a nice surprise to see them there. I have ordered their tripod leg wraps as it looks like we’ll be heading to Tirol again this year over Christmas.
One sample I received that I’m really using is a Spudz (www.alpineproducts.com). It’s a lens cloth attached to its pouch which clips onto wherever you put it. Why didn’t someone come up with this idea before? It’s really handy!
And, another surprise, Adorama was there. I had always wondered why B&H and Adorama never had booths – after all, they’re also well known on this side of the pond. The rep told me that they always checked out Photokina; just would spend time with the other companies at hotels. This year, they figured it would be just as cheap to get a booth. I had finally ordered the one thing that I had always wanted and which only Adorama makes – their Tuxedo Vest. Having just worn it at a wedding I shot, I must say that it’s terrific! I had enough room for extra batteries and CF cards, along with an extra lens.
Photokina concludes in Part 4…