Rangefinder Magazine, a professional photography publication

Rangefinder Magazine
June 2006

WPPI Trade Show

Anyone lucky enough to have attended PMA or Photokina knows that, for photographers, attending these shows is like being the proverbial kid in a candy store. These two giant shows, though, are strictly exhibitions where no selling is allowed. Indeed, generally speaking, they are not open to working photographers as they cater to retailers and wholesalers.

Over the years, there have been many photo trade shows held in different regions of the U.S. For one reason and another, with a few exceptions, most have come and gone. What’s more, none of them have been touted as national shows that might draw top people from the companies exhibiting.

If you really want to know about a product or service, having the owners, engineers, developers or marketing people in attendance can be a great advantage. This caliber of people definitely attends PMA and many will be found in major shows such as PhotoExpo East in New York.

Now you can add another trade show to your list—WPPI. Presumably every Rangefinder reader knows that WPPI is Wedding and Portrait Photographers International—the association started 26 years ago by Steve Sheanin, the current CEO of Rangefinder Publish- ing, and his father, Hy Sheanin. The annual WPPI Convention and Trade Show is just that: a combination of seminars, workshops and presentations accompanied by a trade show.

Over 9000 people from about 30 countries and 50 states reg- istered to attend all or part of this year’s five-day event. It even appeared that word of the trade show got out—we encountered at least one passerby on the Strip who asked if the public could at- tend. (They can.) Even professional photographers not involved in weddings or portrait photography would still find the trade show a valuable venue to learn about the latest trends in equipment. True, they’d probably bypass the dozens of album companies. However, WPPI attendees naturally gravitated to these companies to sample their newest designs. Likewise, several photo labs and online picture-hosting companies drew large crowds—especially companies like Pictage that gave live demonstrations of their prod- ucts’ capabilities.

The good news for returning attendees this year was that the trade show was located in three ballrooms at the Paris Hotel instead of being crammed in two smaller rooms in Bally’s. This meant that the 300+ exhibitors had more space, and the aisles seemed wider. There was never too much over-crowding, except perhaps at booths occu- pied by well known retailers such as Samy’s and B&H Photo.

One of the benefits of WPPI is that exhibitors are allowed to sell products. Anyone looking for a bargain probably did well, since many companies offered special discounts for attendees. There was even a scramble in the last couple of hours of the three-day trade show, as people went looking for last-minute bargains from retail- ers that did not want to ship products back home.

As we traversed the show floor, it was fascinating to see people trying out the latest offerings in camera bags from companies such as Think Tank Photo and Tutto, and then invariably wheeling away their new purchases. Admittedly, I did not see anyone physically taking out a studio flash outfit, but there were certainly plenty of companies, including Hensel, Bowens, Speedotron, Norman and Dyna-Lite, displaying their lines.

As an aside, one interesting phenomenon is the rekindling of interest in continuous lighting instead of flash. The advent of cool fluorescent lighting has enabled companies such as Westcott and Savage to develop lighting heads that are far more practical than the traditional tungsten lighting units. One salesman noted that younger photographers are attracted to them because they are eas- ier to set up than flash, and the photographers appreciate the more natural light. Speaking of younger photographers, several vendors commented on how pleasing it was to see so many young female photographers checking out new products and services, a new trend as females become the majority in this historically male field. Another area where there appeared to be a lot of interest was in diffusers for on-camera flashguns. Long-time companies such as LumiQuest and Photoflex exhibited their latest models. They’ve got more competition now from startups, such as Gary Fong with his revamped Lightsphere II diffusion system and Jerry Hughes with his Softlight Reflector, which is made from flexible plastic and can be stuffed in a pocket when not needed.

In conjunction with the desire to improve the quality of light- ing, there were several companies displaying camera brackets and tripod accessories to improve off-camera flash. Two lesser-known companies seemed to do brisk business with their systems de- signed by photographers for photographers. Just Rite and Really Right Stuff are two family-owned companies that make their own products in small workshops in Michigan and California, respec- tively. Both companies have established themselves as premiere suppliers of thoughtfully designed support systems.

Of course, for many photographers the chance to see the newest cameras is a major draw in attending any photo trade show. WPPI did not disappoint. Right inside the entrances to the main exhibit hall, one could not miss industry giants Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm and Kodak. Nikon was demonstrating a beta version of its upcoming Capture NX, which has been totally revamped and should please photographers who use RAW. The new D200 was attracting inter- est, and rumor has it that a lucky couple of dozen or so attendees were able to buy the hard-to-come-by camera from vendors at the show. Likewise, Canon was demonstrating its brand new 30D cam- era, which seems to be much easier to find for immediate purchase.

The major news on the Canon stand was its new line of printers aimed at pro photographers. They include the imagePROGRAF iPF5000 with 12-color Lucia pigment inks.

Companies supplying studio props, background drop cloths and related equipment were liberally sprinkled throughout all three exhibit halls. One company that is new to the photo business was hard to miss, even though it was at the far end of the main hall. Portrait Weavers is a North Carolina cotton weaving company that has been producing beautiful wall tapestries and other woven products for many years. It has now developed a technique where it can weave, not dye-print, photographs into carpets, blankets, pillows and more, for a very reasonable cost. It has a 54x70-inch blanket, for example, that wholesales for around $60 and uses eight miles of cotton. Judging by the crowd of photographers around the display each day, it would seem that many have found a potential area for making additional sales of images—better yet, they cannot be copied on a computer.

From cotton weaving to Photoshop Actions is quite a step. However, for those who like to do their own work on improving images, there were several companies, including Nik Software and Kubota Image Tools, demonstrating numerous plug-ins and action sets. Adobe’s Julieanne Kost, as well as other Photoshop gurus such as Jack Davis, conducted their always-popular tutorials. Not to be outdone, Apple had a large booth with more than a dozen Macs set up so attendees could gain hands-on experience with Aperture. Oh, I almost forgot—Kodak and Fujifilm both introduced new films at WPPI, for those (now in the minority, I suspect) who still use film.

Few would challenge the assertion that the WPPI Trade Show has become the largest photo trade show in the U.S., attracting pro- fessional photographers from across the nation and even overseas. If you did not attend this year’s show, you can still check out infor- mation on a good number of the exhibitors by thumbing through their ads in the March and April issues of Rangefinder (you did keep your copies, didn’t you?). Direct links to exhibitors’ websites can be found at the Resource Center at www.rangefindermag.com.

Now is the time mark your calendar—even if you never shoot weddings or portraits—as you’re sure to find a visit to next year’s show worthwhile. It runs from March 26–28, 2007.

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. He has been using a camera as a professional for 27 years, a computer for 17 years, and has combined his knowledge of both for the past five years. Readers can contact him by e-mail at John@johnrettie.com or by snail-mail c/o Rangefinder.