A Grand Day Out

The lovely people at Nikon UK organised a Nikon Professional Users seminar at Salford Quays last week with three different 90-minute lectures during the day and the opportunity to have your kit cleaned for a small donation to their charity of the year, Born Too Soon. It's amazing what you can learn in three hours. I opted for two seminars: an introduction to Nikon's creative lighting system and a Nikon system tips and tricks.


It was an excellent day and, as always, much was learned. I've never really liked flash photography preferring available light but in recent months I've been asked by friends to take some portraits and capture a few family events, which meant getting my head around flash. I'm using a Nikon SB-900 flash and whilst generally satisfied with my efforts I needed to get a little more knowledge under my belt. John Clement ran this seminar and what an eye-opener it was. As a result of John's excellent presentation I picked up some interesting ideas and need to sit down and research flash photography in more depth. The tips and tricks session was also excellent if only for a neat little trick to ensure you only take pictures once your subject is in focus.


One important lesson was gaining knowledge of the Nikon Professional User network, a service provided by Nikon UK to pro kit users. Lots of benefits including a quarterly magazine and invitations to training events with discounts when fees are charged.


Thank you, Nikon, for a very informative and entertaining day!


Whilst at Salford Quays I took the opportunity to visit an exhibition of Harry Hammond's 50's and 60's monochrome images of popular musicians at The Lowry. Great pictures of The Beatles, Cliff and the Shadows, Adam Faith, Billy Fury and a host of other great performers. Well worth making the effort for. The exhibition runs to 10 April 2011. Here's one of his Beatles pictures to whet your appetite:

© Harry Hammond

More later this week - I hope!