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PhotoPlusExpo 2013 Booth Highlights and Observations

I had a great day yesterday at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City. As usual, I had photo gear and photo print overload! Below are 14 booths that really impressed me (there were many more, and I will share more in the upcoming days). I want to get these out quickly for those who are visiting the show on Saturday, so I will add more web links in about a day. For now, I’ve listed the company name and their booth number. If you won’t be there for the last day of the show, you can visit other trade shows where these companies are exhibiting or you can visit the show next year if the companies return to exhibit at the show. You may also want to refer to my previous articles here and here on ImagingBuffet.com for more booth suggestions and tips for getting the most from the show.

There are also a number of photo exhibitions on the show floor that should not be missed. Two that are in the same location (near booth #176) are: “My Favorite People and Places,” sponsored by Canon, and another show sponsored by Sony and printed by Bay Photo that showcases many stunning glossy metal prints related to the Space Shuttle and NASA.

1. American Photography/Pro Photo Daily/DART (Booth #266)

I’ve been reading DART and Pro Photo Daily for as long as both have been available. They are outstanding resources with a lot of news and insight from people who have a very long history in the photo and art world. The company also publishes books of Illustration and Photography from contests that they run each year. If you can visit their booth, you can see many of their booths, and I promise that you won’t be disappointed! The range of work and print/binding quality of the books are truly spectacular.

The site to subscribe to their free publications is https://www.ai-ap.com/register/.

2. AcrylicPress.com (Booth #176)

I was extremely impressed by this company’s face-mounted plexi prints. If you know anything about the process, it is very difficult to do right, and the print quality (prints are made with Canon pigment printers) and edges are outstanding. I highly recommend taking a look. They also have 1″ thick plexi products available which are pretty amazing. They are giving away cards at the show with a 50% off special offer code.

3. Black River Imaging (Booth #443)

Black River Imaging has many interesting products, but three that stood out in my mind were their LOFT line of cards and ornaments (these are printed or mounted to a super-thick board material…think paper coaster (and they make those too)), their books, and their new “Folio Collection” of print boxes and mounted prints. The cover options they have for their boxes and books are absolutely beautiful.

4. Canson (Booth #437)

The print samples on the walls of Canson’s booth are truly stunning. As with most companies who make photo papers, the primarily reason to stop by Canson’s booth is to see their fine-art papers on the walls of their booth to better help you decide which paper might be right for your work.

5. Datacolor (Booth #162)

If you are interested in learning more about color management (it can be a bit complicated if you don’t “see it in action”), or if you’d like to see some powerful tools for color balancing your camera, I recommend stopping by the Datacolor booth. One of my favorite products for getting the right color balance in any light is a simple but ingenious item called the Datacolor SpyderCUBE. They also have a product called the Datacolor SpyderLENSCAL that helps you to determine if your camera/lens autofocus is accurate at different focal lengths (some cameras have a micro adjustment capability built in). If you see a real problem with your autofocus and if your camera does not have the micro adjustment, you can speak with your camera/lens manufacturer about possibly fixing the issue. The folks at Datacolor can also give you more advice about this at the booth.

6. Epson (Booth #701)

As usual, Epson has a great booth with many prints on the walls, and a display rack filled with papers that really helps to compare different prints without glass or other glazing in front of them. What I really like is how they’ve displayed groups of the same image, printed on different papers in a few different areas of the show floor. They also just introduced a new paper called Exhibition Watercolor Paper that has a strong texture and a very nice overall look and feel. It’s Mould Made and contains no OBAs (Optical Brighteners).

7. FLORIcolor USA (Booth #1169)

The quality of this company’s boxes and albums are absolutely amazing. They have cards on the display tables with a 50% off studio sample special if you’d like to produce some samples for your studio, or do testing for a fine art project.

8. Fotodiox Pro (Booth #345)

Fotodiox Pro has many products at the show, but their LED products impressed me most. Some are really innovative because they contain white and amber LEDs for good color balance in different lighting conditions. Two products that blew me away were their LED studio lights (Fotodiox Pro LED100WA-56 Daylight Studio LED and the Fotodiox Pro LED100WA-32 Tungsten Studio LED). At full power, the Daylight model appeared to me to be brighter than the sun 🙂 (I’m kidding, but it had a lot of intensity)! Truly incredible. Just ask them to turn up the brightness to full power to see what I experienced. As I indicated, there is a daylight and tungsten-balanced model available. If I were going to purchase one, I’d get the daylight version and use gels to correct for other color temperatures.

9. Innova Art (Booth #1149)

Innova Art always has impressive paper samples (they make a range of fine-art papers), and this year they had a few items worth mentioning. First, they have a beautiful new fiber inkjet paper called FibaPrint® Warm Cotton Gloss 335gsm. The thickness of this paper is truly impressive, and the overall look and feel of the ink on paper is beautiful. They also have a new easy to use system that allows you to easily mount any print on either a 5×7, 8×10 or 11×14 thick block with a series of holes on the back for easy hanging or display on a table. Their inkjet-printable cards are also worth a look.

10. Josephine Herrick Project (Booth #1067)

This organization has been helping others through photography for over 70 years. They are also featuring a new Benefit Photo Contest that’s running on Phoozl.com, and that’s juried by acclaimed photographer and author Robert Farber. The contest will help raise money for the organization, and you can read about the contest on their site here: https://jhproject.org/2013/10/phoozl-announces-photo-contest-benefiting-the-josephine-herrick-project/

11. Kenko Tokina Co., Ltd. (Booth #1127)

Kenko Tokina has a wide range of products that you can try out on the camera bodies that they provide, or on your own camera. I was very impressed by the look and feel of their two newest wide angle autofocus lenses, the Tokina 11‑16mm F/2.8 ATX Pro DX, and the Tokina AT-X 12-28 PRO DX (available for a number of different camera bodies). If you’ve been thinking of purchasing a teleconverter, they have some nice ones under the Kenko brand name. The Kenko-brand variable NDX Neutral Density Filters are also impressive. Their Zéta brand filters are also very interesting, and they claim to have “zero reflection,” which can be an issue with filters, especially when shooting at longer focal lengths.

12. Red River Paper (Booth #255)

Red River Paper has many impressive paper samples at their booth, and what really stood out in my mind were three new surfaces: San Gabriel SemiGloss Fiber paper (300 gsm), 80lb. Polar Pearl Metallic, and Blanco Matte Inkjet Printable Canvas. They also have many inkjet-printable cards on display that helps to compare the different options. They are participating in a free print program with Canon, and they have cards at the show to learn more about how you can get a free print of your image printed on one of their papers.

13. ShootProof (Booth #443)

ShootProof provides websites geared primarily toward the wedding/portrait/event markets. I was very impressed by the look and feel of the sites (the bottom left of the galleries allows you to switch views easily), and I like their pricing model. Since they charge based on the number of images that are “live” at any time, you can save by “archiving” previously posted galleries for a very small fee per gigabyte.

14. White House Custom Color (WHCC) (Booth #147)

White House Custom Color had a number of books and some small accordion books on display that are really spectacular. I especially liked their press printed books with hinged bindings. They are very elegant and sturdy. I also liked going through the 30+ printed samples on the table at their booth. They also have a very useful print sample pack with many examples of their prints (photo, inkjet and press printed).

 

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PhotoPlus Expo 2013 Selected Booth Presentation Schedules and Tips for Getting the Most from the Show

As I mentioned in my recent article about the 2013 PhotoPlus International Expo + Conference, being held in New York City this week (10/23-26), there are many opportunities to learn about almost any photo-related topic right on the show floor at exhibitor booths. Here are three specific booth schedules, some links to read more about them, with a few other suggested booths to visit that usually have good presentations:

1. Adorama (Booth #1037) Adorama’s booth serves as a store as well as a place for presentations, and their lineup this year, which you can see below, is very impressive.

2. Canon (Booth #121) Canon’s booth is always huge, and I always enjoy their lineup of speakers. Below is a chart with the schedule of their speaker presentations for the 2013 show.

This year, Canon will be screening movies made with different Canon camera models. In addition to this content, I read this on the press release for the show: “…on Friday, October 25th and Saturday, October 26th the Canon Theater will also feature select films and behind-the-scenes footage from the Canon’s “Project Imaginat10n” Film Festival. Canon U.S.A., Inc. partnered with two-time Academy Award® winner Ron Howard for the “Project Imaginat10n” Film Festival, which will kick off with the global premiere of ten short films at Lincoln Center in New York City on October 24, 2013. For more information visit: https://www.longliveimagination.com“

To read the whole release, which includes some excellent information about perks for CPS (Canon Professional Services) members, visit this page.

3. Moab by Legion Paper (Booth #750)

I believe this is the first year that Moab by Legion Paper (makers of many papers, including Entrada Rag and Slickrock Metallic) is having presentations in their booth. Here’s a quick look at the speaker schedule, and you can read the full descriptions in the press release linked below.

Link to a full press release from Moab Paper, which includes descriptions of what each of the speakers will be covering.

4. Unique Photo (Booth #547) Unique Photo’s booth is often filled with people thanks in part to their body-painted models, booth presentations and “trade show store” filled with gear for sale.

Quick Tips for Getting the Most from Booth Presentations at the PhotoPlus Expo

1. Take a photo of the schedule that’s usually posted at exhibitors’ booths with your phone or camera so that you can do some research on the speakers and better schedule your time.

2. If an interesting link or other information comes up on the screen, take a picture of it instead of writing it down.

3. Get to the booth a few minutes early. Many have seating set up, which can make the presentation 10 times better!

Additional Suggested Companies Who Often Have Excellent Booth Presentations

• GraphiStudio (Booth #905)
• Midwest Photo Exchange (Booth #155).
(Last year, Datacolor did a number of good presentations in the Midwest Photo Booth. Check Datacolor’s booth this year (Booth #162) if you are interested in their color management product line.)
• Nikon (Booth #401)
• Sigma (Booth #537)
• Sony (Booth #519)
• Topaz Labs (Booth #267)

 

 

 

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PhotoPlus Expo Returns to NYC This Week, and a Quick Review of the Mobile App

One of the highlights of my year is the PhotoPlus International Expo + Conference, held in New York City. This is the 30th Anniversary of the show, which is being held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center from 10/23-10/26, 2013 (trade show runs from 10/24-10/26). Over the last 20+ years I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of the event in many ways, from being an attendee (like most of the 20,000+ people who are expected to attend this year), as an exhibitor, as a speaker and as a member of the Press. All of the experiences have contributed to my love for photography and my overall education. It’s also been a place where I’ve met and have had a chance to catch up with many of the people whom I respect and with whom I’ve become good friends.

Quick Review: PhotoPlus Mobile App

This year, the company who runs the Expo built a new app for iOS, Android, Blackberry and other Smartphones to make the experience of finding everything at the show a lot easier. I downloaded the iOS version for my iPhone and found it fast, easy to navigate and extremely useful. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go to the main website in the past and hunt around to find the trade show hours, or information about the Keynotes, seminars, special events, etc. The fact that all the exhibitors are listed both alphabetically and by product category (with their booth number just under their name) is fantastic, and you can even press the star in the top left of just about any page to add it to your Favorites (a list of Favorites will then be visible on the page for each category (Exhibitors, Seminars, Special Events, etc.), as well as under the Star on the main page of the app (you can find it just under Special Events)).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is even an option to view “Exhibitors with Show Specials,” and if you click through, the specific show special will be listed. If you are really organized, you can press the “Add to Agenda” button on any exhibitor page to bring up a calendar where you can insert the item into whatever time slot and on whatever date you choose.

To download the PhotoPlus Mobile App, visit this page: https://app.photoplusexpo.com/landing/

Quick Tip for Testing Lenses and Cameras at the Show

The ability to see different papers, print processes, try out different cameras, lenses and other equipment on the show floor are main reasons why many people come to the show, and I highly recommend bringing a few extra SD and/or CF cards to put in any cameras that you’d like to test out. Also have a safe and dust-free place for your current lens to go while you are testing a lens (or better yet, just keep a body cap on your lens, and place it in a small zipper bag to keep dust at a minimum while you are testing lenses).

Related Articles

Below are articles with my “First Day Impressions” and “Second Day Impressions” from last year’s show (Oct. 2012). The vast majority of the companies listed in the articles below will be there again this year, so this information can be very useful for planning your walk through the trade show.

https://imagingbuffet.com/2012/10/26/photoplus-expo-2012-first-day-impressions-from-the-show-floor/
https://imagingbuffet.com/2012/10/27/photoplus-expo-2012-second-day-impressions-from-the-show-floor

And here are links to two more articles from past shows:
https://imagingbuffet.com/2009/10/23/photoplus-expo-new-york-city-1st-day-observations-5-trade-show-booth-suggestions/
https://imagingbuffet.com/2010/10/29/2010-photoplus-expo-review-day-1/

As in the past, I’ll be posting my thoughts and sharing photos from the show floor on Facebook and Twitter. I will also be sharing links to information like booth presentation schedules from different exhibitors. The amount of information you can learn at the talks happening on the show floor is truly incredible. You can keep updated by “Liking” my page here and/or by following me on Twitter here.

Enjoy the show, and if you see me running around the show floor, please say hi!

Link to the main page for the PhotoPlus International Expo + Conference.

Link to a PDF with a pricing guide for the show.