New York, NY.... October 22, 2009 - Review By Len Rapoport

The 2009 PDN PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo ("PDN PhotoPlus Expo") October 22-24 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center welcomed many thousands of attendees into the main Exhibit Hall. Over 25,000 attendees came to this three day show. The shows real estate was a bit smaller then past years shows, so it seemeda bit crowded, but that which I suppose was a good thing of sorts. 

On the 26th Anniversary year, PhotoPlus proved to be the leading photo show in New York and possibly one of the larger national shows of this type. The show gives many die heart "Old Timers" like me, a chance to say hello to old friends and see some of the latest developments in the photographic field.  For many others it is a chance to actually feel, touch and smell equipment and give them an opportunity to ask questions instead of trying to find those answers by doing a google search.  The internet might be a great place to purchase your equipment, but it is hard to make decisions on which equipment to purchase unless you can actually see the equipment.  These shows give us all the opportunity to get excited again and maybe then, open our wallets and purchase something new. I for one, have a list of the equipment that I simply must have.

Some Show Shots

I covered this years show by myself which is always a mistake. There is so much to see and so many companies to interview. It is difficult to cover it all, so as a photojournalist, I must pick my spots and this year was no different then any other.  Fortunately, the new system on the PDN PhotoPlus web site enables an attendee to view all the exhibitors, select the ones they want to see, click on them and they are added to his list.  You can add your own notes and then print your schedule out.   I found this new system invaluable and helped me go directly to the appointments I had.

Kudos to Lou Desiderio and Scott Heath from PR-Synergy who were handling the PR for this years show, while dealing with a number of their own client companies exhibiting at the show, they still put together a great show and a really nice gift bag for all the members of the media. I especially like the new Sun Sniper camera strap we were given, it is a great and innovative way to carry a camera and take the weight off your neck.  Took it into the field this week and just loved using it.  Put this on your Must Buy list, you won't be sorry.

Unfortunately, I only have time and energy to spend one day at the show. I try to see as many of the smaller companies there, you know the ones that produce new and exciting products or offer new services to the photographer. I also make sure to visit some of the great distributors that show all of the cool new photo accessories and equipment.  I generally don't visit the larger company booths, not because I don't want to see their new products, but they are usually so swamped, that I don't want to fight the crowds. The big boys also have the money and ability to get the press coverage while the smaller companies I review, may not have either. I have found that these smaller innovative companies are usually the jewels at these shows and the ones that appreciate my support.

Watch the video below which was taken with my Nikon D90 and will introduce some very cool new equipment that you may not have seen before.  Although the video quality wasn't as good as those shot with my Sony video camera, I found using one camera for both still and video work a great way to do my show videos and save my back. At past shows, I would carry three bags, one with my DSLR, one for my video camera and one for my IPA presentation materials. It was simply too much.  A big thank you goes out to the four Bogen product managers you will see on this video, David Fisher, Doug Feldner, Wayne Schulman and Will Holowk. Not only do these men know their products, but as you can see, they were able to give their presentations in just about 2 minutes each.

Having problems seeing this video? Click here to see larger version on YouTube.

One item I must add to my bag is the Litepanels LPMICROPRO MicroPro LED02 on Camera Light. They are running a $75 rebate on these now, so you can get this one at B&H for $375, great deal if you need the larger light.  This light will add that boost I need to do these videos at future shows. The light is easy to use and offers enough 5600k fill light to enable a user to select a smaller lens opening for a greater depth of field and still shoot at a decent film speed to avoid unwanted noise.  Since this was the first time I shot any real video interviews with my DLSR, I didn't realize that I had to be right on with my focus (unlike my auto focus video camera) and had to be more aware of ambient noise as well.  So there is a trade off using your DSLR for videos, but not carrying an extra four pounds of video gear was an incentive for me to do it this way.

Bags, Bags and More Bags

Since I cover many trade shows held in New York, I have always looked for the hottest items and trends at those shows.  This year I saw more camera and video bags then ever before.  I understand that some of the younger bag companies are owned by previous employees of other bag companies. Importing merchandise from off shore factories, enables many of these talented people an opportunity to build their own company. I personally applaud all of the new blood that is coming into the photo industry, one of the few industries I know that encourages creativity and new product development.

Think Tank Photo. Think Tank is one of those newer companies that builds a great line of bags.  They use heavy duty YKK zippers and ballistics nylon on their bags. These bags boast light weight with enormous capacity and so many secret, hidden, zippered and stretch pockets to make any shooter happy and organized.

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We understand that Doug Murdoch and others at Think Tank learned their craft in the design department at Lowepro.  From what we were told they left to do their own thing and I can tell you their "thing" is making great bags. These bags are both innovative and filled with a list of much wanted features by many of the pros that shoot for a living and those that want to shoot for a living. Think Tank's booth was mobbed at the show and I barely had an opportunity to interview Doug, but he promised to send me his Urban Disguise 50 so I won't have to carry my camera bag and my brief case holding my IPA presentation book and papers. He turned to me after feeling some pity as I struggled to show him what IPA does in my presentation book and said "Len, I have a bag for you, you won't have to carry two bags anymore". I can't wait to test his bag out and will follow up with a review at a future date. Imagine, one bag on my shoulder when I cover a show....Boo Yah! Read our review of ThinkTanks Urban Disguise here...

At the Bogen area at the show, we interviewed our friend Doug Felder. We video taped Doug demonstrating some of the unique features of the Kata PR Reporter, another bag we will schedule for a review soon. The PR-420, 440 and 460 Photo Reporter bags which were created for the reporter on the move. This bag is ready to grab and go at any moment. It is easily accessible to a photographer's gear and ready to capture those split-second shots.  This is the only bag I saw that offers these levels of protection.  If you need extra protection for your valuable gear while traveling or in rough situations, you use the Kata PR Reporter with the internal removable insert in place. The insert lets you define the rigidity and degree of protection of the bag. So you can leave it in for a more protective bag or to take it out to make the bag more compact and flexible in tight situations, or if you simply need more room for your gear.

Other bag companies showing at the show, but ones I didn't have a chance to see were LowePro • Tenba • M-Rock • Tamrac, maybe next year.

Publish, Publish, Publish Your Work

Well...if you aren't making your living as a professional photographer, you probably have taken thousands of photos and they are sitting in old albums, boxes and closets in your home.  What to do with them when all your walls in your home are now filled with some of your best framed shots and your relatives tell you they don't need any more photos to hang in their homes.  Well, you can now publish your own photo books and then give them to all your friends and relatives and it is easy to do today. 

Some of the publishing companies that were at the show offered professional photographers a wide variety of products. Everything from twenty page albums for their wedding or special occasion clients, or photo books that look like a fine coffee table book that might be 100 pages or more. Sizes of these books and albums range from Tiny Little books measuring a couple of inches in either direction to humongous books that seemed to weight 5 pounds or more.

We visited a few at the show this year and these are the ones we are featuring in this review.

Graphistudio was founded in 1981 as a small graphic and photographic advertising studio. In 1987, as a result of the enlargement and diversification of the company, it expanded into the wedding photography market. Today they are one of the finest computerized graphics and digital printing companies in this industry.  Their process does not need film and artwork as it is completely digitized. Using digital technology not only improved the quality and competitiveness of their product but allowed them to use up to date creative techniques which are incorporated in their book layouts. I have seen many albums at many shows and keep coming back to Graphi Studio as the leader of the pack. There work is exceptional and relatively inexpensive compared to some of the more traditional album companies that have limits to the number of pages in their albums and difficult to use layout software. I am getting ready to do two wedding album projects, one for my son who married May 2009 and the other for my second son, who marries in November 2009. Graphi Studio will make it easy for me and the boys and their wives to select the albums we want and at a price we can afford. Now all those great photos I have shot over the years, also becomes a project for one of these beautiful books. I would love to have something to leave to my children and to their children to see what my life's works were all about.

Asuka Book USA is an international company located in Bend, Oregon. Asukanet, started manufacturing coffee table books in Japan in 1995, and continues to print and bind books for clients worldwide. They are one of the first companies to offer professional quality coffee table style printed books either hard or soft cover for photographers. This is one of the other publishing options we found and will suit those photographers who want their works published in a fine, commercial quality book. Visit their site to see their entire line of fine books.

Publish & Sell Your Work Online Professional photographers have known about stock photo agencies for years, but for many serious amateurs who have commercial quality images, they have no clue that the slides and negatives sitting in boxes in their closets could become income producers. Publishing your work on one of the many, new breed, internet stock photo agency sites on the net now offer the masses a way to generate monthly income with their images.  A photographer can either sign up at a site that will do most of the work for them, from marketing, pricing and selling the images to those that enable the photographer to use their services, traffic and expertise.  Those sites let the photographer have a bit more freedom to do your own thing which includes pricing and the photographer then receives the bulk of the fees paid for use of their images. This becomes a great option for a pro with stock photo experience and needs large storage of their files and traffic coming into the site to expose their work. Depending on the level of help a photographer might need, the type of images they have and other factors, there is a company out there that can help them make real money...if they have the type of images that sell. It is a bit of a challenge if you have the thousands of older slides and negatives that must be scanned and processed to the new digital formats. For the many that are now shooting digital, it is relatively easy to get started and make money faster.  Most sites only require the user to upload their stock photos or other images to their web sites.  The process is relatively easy to do and the big job is to tag each image with key words. If you are going to price the images yourself, they offer complete guides to make that process relatively easy to do.  The photographer's photos become part of the sites stock inventory and these images then begin to be money makers.  If a photographer is shooting straight stock and they have a mass appeal, then they may want to upload them to the stock sites that offer them at a low cost. Many sites offer royalty free images at a cost of $1 up. These can be simple stock shots and may do very well at these low prices, because they can be used by so many more individuals on web sites and other small projects.   Other, more important work may be priced much higher and these may have limited rights, those are the ones you might see that are shots with high production value or photos that would be considered rare or of specific interest. I for one have both types of images and will begin to classify them and use one or more companies to market them. One important tip, always carry a model release pad wherever you go. If you shoot a photo with a recognizable person or possibly copyrighted materials, you may need a release. I try to offer people that I shoot, a free photo to encourage them to sign the release. I will promise to send them the photo or, if they prefer, may offer a small payment or a gift for their signature. Most people are honored or flattered that you would even want their image. It is always a good idea to carry a small photo album with samples of you work and where they are being published.  This will give them some idea of what you do with the images and the quality of your work. This will assure them that they don't have to be concerned about the use of their image in an unprofessional manner. I always carry a mini-portfolio and copies of some of my work from the IPA web site.   Watch for my next installment of this article where I will offer you further information and advice on selling or publishing your work online.  Some Companies To Be Featured  ~ Fotolia ~ Pays out between 30-61% on your photos sold and has web sites in 14 countries. ~ ImageSpan’s LicenseStream ~ They charge a very modest yearly fee and a small percentage of sales and collection of payments. They are a popular image storing and selling site and they code each image. They then scour the web looking for your images and reports any unauthorized postings of those images.  License Stream is more for the pro that has a large body of work and wants to store them and sell them and control the use and license themselves. ~ Vimeo ~ Vimeo is a video hosting site.  It is a place for people to showcase their own work and receive feedback on what they have accomplished. Similar to other social networking communities, but unlike YouTube, Vimeo offers the ability to display your noncommercial videos in larger sizes and better quality then you can get on YouTube.  You can even use music that may not be allowed on YouTube and you aren't limited to a maximum size of only 10 minutes.  Great way to display your prize videos and they have a free program and a low cost Pro service.  Be sure to read their press release on our site. ~ Animoto ~ Animoto is a video creation platform that lets anyone quickly and easily create pro quality videos other photos, video clips, music and text.  See their press release on our web site for more information.

We urge all of our members and visitors to visit the company web sites above to find out more about the products seen here and their other exciting items.

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