The Photography Show 2024: The Recap!
Wow - What an incredible 4 days that was!!!
After some time to slow down and reflect on my time at the show I’ve decided to write this blog as a type of journal, to recap what went on and how I felt my talks were received and the general vibe of the show. If I’m honest I’ve been staring at a blank page for a few minutes really not sure where to start as it’s all been quite an overwhelming experience… so I guess I’ll start at the beginning!
On the Friday we drove from the south coast up to the midlands finding a beautifully quiet camp site nestled in the trees. A perfect sanctuary from the hectic few days that were coming… firstly a couple of detours to fill up our LPG and finding a different route due to an accident causing the A34 to come to a standstill, but once we made it we slowed down, got grounded and relaxed. However I wasn’t fully relaxed of course, having spent the last few months putting my talks and presentations together, anxiety was building - Were my talks the right length for the time slots? Were they engaging and interesting? How would my work be received? How would I be received as a speaker? - so many questions running around in my head!
Fast forward to Saturday morning and I took an Uber from the camp site to Birmingham NEC, arriving early to get my pass and get my bearings. First stop, the Fujifilm stand! It was amazing to see the team all greeting me with huge hugs - honestly it feels amazing to be a part of the Fujifilm family as it’s just that, family!
I caught my buddy Jack Lodge on the way in, also with a jam packed schedule of talks so was great to see him for a catch up before all the craziness took over! My first session was starting at 12 so I took the opportunity to catch another member of the Fujifilm family, Mr Whisper doing his talk on street photography and storytelling - absolutely awesome to see him doing his thing and hearing about his journey and some epic projects he’s worked on along the way! Onto catching Jack on the Canon stage - his methods of landscape photography through the seasons was thoroughly engaging! I’ve known Jack a long time and we’ve shot together and worked together and so good to see him doing so incredibly well!
Then my time came! Honestly, I needed 5 minutes of quiet which anyone who knows and was there, there was no where to take a quiet 5 min breather, so the toilets it was! I collected my thoughts and headed into the Masterclass Suites for my lesson in Composition. Entitled ‘What is composition?’ I wanted to take the participants through all of the rules we get told but also more importantly thinking about where you position yourself and HOW you want to show the subject to the viewer. I took them through this with examples of my work and the rules that jumped out from these compositional choices and where I’d broken rules too, allowing the opportunity to consider if it worked or not and how there’s no right or wrong but it’s all for us to question and consider when approaching our subject, and how experimentation is key! It was an incredibly engaging group and we had a fantastic 30 mins with some brilliant questions at the end! Post masterclass I had a few people come up to me with some lovely feedback mostly around my enthusiasm and way of talking, and this was just what I needed as recognition - I must have done a good job!
Onto a short break before my next session, a talk on the Fujifilm stage! Focused on my seascapes this was entitled ‘Unleash your creativity with the X-T5’ - taking everyone through my story, the kit I use and why, and breaking my work down into sections of different creative approaches and why it works for me unleashing my creativity along with how others can approach things to unleash theirs too and potentially breathe new life into their work! It was such a great turn out with all seats taken and rows of people stood at the back too - once I got over the initial nerves of presenting my work and talking to a crowd, I had an absolute blast! There were great questions again and similar feedback about my passion for what I do and enthusiasm when speaking and again this was just what I needed to hear!
Another quick break before moving onto the Shoot to Inspire stage, where I was talking about my life travelling the uk and freelancing, entitled ‘Travelling the UK as a multi genre photographer’. My message being you don’t have to pick one genre, following your passions you can make a career out of building a transferable skill set across genres, and being able to share an insight into personal projects and travel around the UK. This was a different approach for me, usually speaking either about landscapes or seascapes so being a mix of genres I wasn’t sure who this talk would attract but again all the seats were taken and it was jam packed with people having to sit on the floor or stand at the back! I couldn’t believe it! Again, I found once I flowed into it and talked with passion my nerves eased and I felt comfortable engaging with the crowd. The questions and feedback were great and I came away from my 3 sessions feeling great. All the hard work and months of prep were paying off!
I went home very exhausted but very happy and content. Getting back to the campsite just in time for a beautiful home cooked meal made by Carol, before showering putting on my pjs and having my feet up all by 7pm - the perfect sanctuary after a manic day!
Onto day 2! A repeat of the travel in but this time I was not feeling as nervous being more aware of what was coming - again the masterclass and the talk on the Fujifilm stage - both going incredibly well and this time feeling a bit more comfortable knowing what to expect and flowing into it even easier than day 1. The afternoon then led onto something a little different for me, I’d been asked to moderate for Adventuring Beth - someone I’d followed on instagram for a few years with an approach on stage more of an interview but with a relaxed conversation style. Something I’d never done before but meeting Beth about 20 mins before the talk, we instantly hit it off and knew it would flow naturally. We chatted on stage for about 30 minutes and I learnt a lot from her approach to her work and social media and found we had a lot in common! Feeling grateful for this opportunity to become friends with another lovely person along the way.
I met so many wonderful people who some I already knew and those I hadn’t yet met but had perhaps talked to online or worked with and only corresponded via email and there’s nothing quite like meeting in person! Making a human connection face to face is a different experience altogether.
My overall experience from the show was a huge feeling of overwhelm. Overwhelm of the busyness, the noise, just the general amount of people! But also an overwhelming sense of achievement and gratitude. Overall, I had such a blast! I’m feeling really grateful to every single person who came to listen to me, smiled while I was talking, asked me engaging questions and offered kind words of feedback! I’m also feeling grateful for the shows organisers who I’d been chatting with around what we could do on the main stages long ahead of the event, and the backing of the brands supporting me through this who honestly feel more like family, Fujifilm, 3 Legged Thing and Aquatech.
From getting huge hugs and support from the 3 Legged Thing team right before going on stage to getting to meet Aquatech in person and talk about plans for the year and getting to share more of my work with them was amazing! Of course, not forgetting getting those Fujifilm hugs every single morning too! Also getting to catch up with the Guild of Photographers is always special, another team that really do feel like family and have supported me for as long as I can actually remember in this journey! (Along with many other creatives - way too many to mention!)
So a HUGE thank you to the shows organisers themselves and these brands supporting me allowing me to be in the position to have this opportunity to share my photography and my passion! Everything I’ve worked so hard for really feels like its paying off in moments like these.
Lastly, if you’ve never been to the Photography Show before, I’d highly recommend it to any photography enthusiast. Its jam packed with brands where you can try before you buy and get great discounts, but on a more human note, its filled with incredible, inspirational people. Creatives who are sharing their journey and experience, as not only an insight into how they do things in their world but also sharing as a tool to help inspire you too.
Hopefully see you all next year to do it all over again! ✌🏻
Last but not least: Thank you for all the BTS photographs sent to me and the ones I’ve used here from Amy Bates, Shanice Meddings and Matt Wegner - Memories to treasure forever - I truly appreciate it!