Last week took me up to Manchester for the next leg of the Wex Summer Roadshow, and what a great couple of days it turned out to be.
I travelled up the day before so I could arrive fresh rather than rolling in as the shutters were going up, which is always the better way to do it when the store is a few hours away.
Good company for the journey too, but more on that shortly.
Manchester is a great store as well. There's a lot going on in there, plenty of space, and a real buzz about the place from the moment the doors opened.
The team at Wex Manchester
I have to give a mention to Guy, the store manager, who was just so incredibly welcoming from the off. The whole team were brilliant, friendly and dynamic and genuinely engaging with everybody who came through the door.
Photo by Ben Kapur
It's one of those things you notice when you visit a lot of different places. You can always see how the person leading a team influences the team itself, and Manchester is a really good example of that. Great atmosphere, great people.
Portraits on the shopfloor
As with the other roadshow dates, I spent the day on the shopfloor doing what I always do, which is classic portraits with minimal kit. Nothing that needs a studio or half a van to transport.
Here's what I took along this time:
the Westcott X-Drop Pro background system
my vintage grey backdrop
the Westcott FJ400 II
the Westcott X-T1M multi-brand remote trigger
my Fuji
That vintage grey backdrop gets a lot of attention wherever I take it, and Manchester was no different. Loads of people came over to ask about it, which is always great to see, because it's such a big part of the look and yet it's the least technical thing in the bag.
What struck me at Manchester was how many people came over specifically to ask how I do the portraits. Not just what I use, but how it all fits together and why it looks the way it does. So we shot quite a few portraits across the day, and I'm really grateful to everyone who was kind enough to stand or sit in front of my camera for me.
I even edited a handful of them and emailed them across afterwards, which is always a nice way to round things off. There's something about handing somebody a finished portrait rather than just a snap on the back of a screen.
TTL to manual, and why I keep banging on about it
The thing that got the biggest reaction, as it has done at every stop, is the TTL to manual function on the X-T1M trigger.
It works like this. You take one shot in TTL and let the camera and flash sort the exposure out between them. With the Fuji, if you've got face detection and eye focus switched on, that's largely where it's metering from, so it's exposing for the skin, which is exactly what you want for a portrait. Have a quick look, make any small adjustment you fancy, then hold down the group A button on the trigger. It flips over into manual and remembers the power it was using in TTL.
That's it. One shot to get you there, and from that point on every frame is the same consistent exposure, shot after shot. No light meter, no guessing and chimping your way towards it.
For anyone who's been put off by the idea of manual flash, it's a lovely way in; you get the consistency of manual without having to do the maths first. It was great fun showing people how it worked and watching the penny drop.
Filming it all
I travelled up with Ben Kapur, who lives locally to me and is filming the majority of the roadshow dates and producing the content.
Ben's an incredible videographer. He shoots for some seriously high end clients, and the speed he turns work around at is something else. He's also a photographer, but it's the video work that really makes you sit up.
One evening he sat me down and showed me how he works in DaVinci Resolve, and I think that's now going to be my video editor of choice. The speed of it and the functionality on offer were enough to convince me on the spot.
An overdue catch up
The other highlight was getting to meet up with my great friend Dave Jagger, who I've known for a good number of years now through photography.
We got to spend some proper quality time together during the day and then headed out in the evening as well. It was very much overdue, and it was lovely to just sit and catch up properly rather than the usual quick hello at a trade show. Those days are worth the drive on their own.
Then it was the drive back home the following day, tired but with that good kind of tired you get after a day where everything just worked.
Where I'll be next
The roadshow rolls on, and here's where I'll be for the remaining dates:
Milton Keynes, 14th August
Nottingham, 15th August
Norwich, 21st August
Belfast, 3rd September
Glasgow, 11th and 12th September
Photo by Ben Kapur
If you're anywhere near one of those, do come along and say hello. Entry is free, and you'll find me on the shopfloor throughout the day with the backdrop up and the light on, so there's no need to book anything or wait for a set time slot. Just wander over.
And if you fancy being in front of the camera, bring it on!
Here’s the ( LINK )
Hopefully see you there,
Glyn
