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Gloucester UK 5/6 December


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#1
morticiaskeeper

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Following on from the new website a couple of months ago, I've now got an exhibition!

For 2 days, a selection of my prints will be on display (& hopefully sold) at The Flying Shack, Gloucestershire Airport.

Just to celebrate, I've bought another Yongnuo 565 to do some onsite portraits.

I know the majority of you are nowhere near, but if any of the UK contingent happen to be on the M5 this weekend, please pop in and say hello.

#2
Merco_61

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Congratulations! Exhibitions are lots of work, some expenses but, most of all, a huge boost to the self-esteem.



#3
morticiaskeeper

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Thanks

#4
deano

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Congrats on the exhibition and good luck with sales.  Could be a great Christmas present.



#5
TBonz

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Very cool!  Congrats!



#6
morticiaskeeper

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Thanks for the encouragement, here's how it went.

The display boards were set up for me in advance, so I went down on Friday evening to set up. Initially, I wanted to mix it up a bit, so people wouldn't just look at one subject, so I laid things out in a very random pattern, then went home.

During a restless night, I figured that it was all wrong, so I turned up early on Saturday. The club owner, Mike, had sat staring at the display for an hour, and he wanted to change it too! So it all came down again.

This time, the four boards each had a subject. From left to right, board one was portraits. Board two was scenes, with the 18 x 12 Owl at the top. Board three was Microlight aircraft belonging to the club and board four was aircraft - Vulcan, F16, C17, F15, SU22, MV22, Red Arrows etc...

The small coffee table in front had a framed Meteor, built at the airfield on which we were standing, a T6 Texan, Red Arrows and Korean Black Eagles.

I also had tripods holding various cameras and lenses, ax well as two speed lights, one with an Octagon softbox and one with a bounce umbrella.

Sunday morning started with the Owl taking flight! The glass survived, but the frame did not :-(. Hasty repairs, involving a stapler, lots of tape and superglue, got the frame back together. We even found a tin of wood stain and covered the whole frame to hide the repairs!

The response from the public was encouraging, but there weren't many people there. The weather made the whole airfield quiet until Sunday afternoon, and I couldn't really blame people for not venturing out in the strong winds. A sunny winters day would have made all the difference.

But...

I sold enough prints to make a small profit, and I took a couple of nice portraits, uploaded onto my site.

I also learnt a lot, show more animals, more sunsets, tell the syndicate owners that they were flying when you took that shot :-). Everything must be mounted. Some were framed, others mounted, a few just there on the board. Although mounting them all would have cost more, it would have been worth it.

Try to take shots that fit standard mounts! Every mount was custom cut, if the pictures had fitted commercially available mounts, it would have been much cheaper.

Enlarge the popular subjects. I knew the Vulcan would sell, yet I only framed it in a 9 x 6. The orders were for 18 x 12.

In deference to the people who ordered prints, I will wait until I have delivered to them before I put the whole exhibition on line.

It was an experience, a lot of work and thinking required, but just a little more luck with the weather would have made it a quite profitable event.

Edited to add, rather than messing about with slave flashes, invest in speed lights with the CLS/AWL system, it's sooooo much easier when shooting!