Last weekend I was up in Bolton, North West England presenting on behalf of Sony UK at the Bolton Photography Session Days Roadshow.
Founded and hosted by Emma Finch and Graham Currey, the Photography Session Days are generally half day events purely focused on giving photographers of all experience levels, a fun time photographing many and varied models in varying locations ranging from Old Theatres, Nuclear Bunker, Lighthouse, Tudor Mansion, Spitfire Hangars, former Cotton Mills (as was the case in Bolton) and more…
With Photography Sessions Days Founders: Emma Finch and Graham Currey
All the photographers need do is to bring along their camera and enthusiasm as everything else is provided such as lighting equipment, backgrounds, smoke machines and so it goes on…
This was my first time seeing a Photography Session Day in action and wow … very impressive. Although run with military precision when it comes timings and organisation, the atmosphere is incredibly uplifting. There’s no rushing around, there’s no feeling of people not getting long enough at each ‘station’ … in fact all I could see for the entire day were the smiling faces of like-minded people clearly having a great time.
At no point did I sense any egos; quite the opposite in fact. All I saw was a group of like-minded people chatting, laughing and taking photographs
Present on the day were hobbyists, keen enthusiasts and working photographers and all in it together helping each other out to make sure everyone walked away happy. It really was quite something to see.
Ordinarily ½ day events, this full day Roadshow was made possible because of the support from Sony UK, Mark Baber (Event and Content Manager for Sony UK Photo Channel) and Mark Preston, and consequently was the largest event to date.
Mark Baber gave a couple of presentations during the day covering the Sony range and some of the technologies such as Eye Auto Focus, and also showcasing a large range of lenses and camera bodies that attendees were able to try during the day.
Rob Fenlon (Atlas Studios), Graham Currey, Me, Emma Finch, Mark Preston (Sony) , Mark Baber (Sony)
The Roadshow was held at the amazing Atlas Studios in Bolton; a former cotton mill that is owned and run by Rob Fenlon and his great team who I must say were top rate! Nothing was too much trouble to ensure that the day ran smoothly, but wow…talk about a great location / venue; so many possibilities for photo and video, you can see why their clients range from companies such as Netflix, Levi, Nike, BBC Sport (and so it goes on…)
If you’re in the UK and looking for a location for photo / video of any scale be it to hire a shooting space for a day / ½ day, a workshop to full scale film crew, I’d highly recommend checking them out:
https://www.atlas-studios.co.uk
I was there having been invited along by Mark Baber from Sony UK and the hosts Emma and Graham, to present a talk that I titled “Portrait to Landscape: How to Keep Creative” which I’m really pleased to say got lots of great feedback and questions.
I did also take my camera along on the off-chance I could dive in during a change-over to grab some photographs of a couple of the models without interfering with the attendees shooting time.
Here’s a couple of natural light shots I grabbed of Pip the Gentleman and Stan & Ollie; both taken with my Sony A7RIV but I borrowed the new 50mm G-Master from Mark … which was probably a mistake because now I want one 😳
There is so much more I could say about the day; not only about all of the photography opportunities that had been created for attendees with such a variety of models but also how well looked after everyone was.
Atlas Studios offer great facilities but also throughout the day Emma and Graham ensured that refreshments were always available, be it Tea and Coffee, bottles of water, snacks and then at lunch time fresh sandwiches being delivered. Everything had been thought of to ensure a smooth running, fun packed, successful day.
My thanks to Emma and Graham, to Rob and the team from Atlas Studios and of course to Mark Baber from Sony UK for inviting me along to present.
I must also mention the models. First class every one of them but not just that…the thing that stood out and was so impressive was how, despite modelling and performing all day, the effort they gave to each and every photographer was as if it was their first of the day. Where they got their energy from I don’t know…maybe it was the buzz of the day, but each and every one of them deserves high praise indeed.
If you’re looking for inspiration and a great time out with your camera to photograph content you may not normally get the opportunity to, I’d recommend Photography Session Days in a heart beat; you need to be quick though because they sell out FAST!
