It’s done. For another year.
The 25th Anniversary PDN/PhotoPlus Expo ended on Saturday, with a lot of dealers selling out of product. Seems that even with the economic conditions, a new piece of gear seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.
And quite honestly, the dealers and manufacturers were giving some pretty good show specials.

Overall, we saw less of the independent manufacturers, the folks with some wilder ideas. I think that is where the economy has hit this industry. Those who have a strong idea, may not have the dough now to develop it.
Some of the best of the indies were there however, and their goods were moving. Just Rite Brackets were doing amazing business, since they were also selling their product at the booth.

The training seminar attendance was down, which is a shame because learning the best ways to use the gear you own, or are considering, is worth the price of admission 10 times over.
The old ” give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime” applies here.
By the way, Bobbi Lane delivered and excellent seminar on creative lighting. Nothing like hearing from a true pro. And she gave props to one of my lighting heros – George Hurrell.

OK, here we go with some snaps from the day:

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LitePanels LED lights, the best made in our opinion, gave a nice break to the crowd.

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Even Aperture was doling out a 50% savings on ALL books at the show. If they were shipping, I would’ve become so broke. But you did have to carry them home.

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California SunBounce was giving product away daily.

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Vincent Versace preps for his Nikon presentation.

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Canon Sales Rep Amy Kawadler was a’meeting and greeting all the photogs.

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Melissa Gaul, technical evangalist from Adobe, was hanging at the booth. OK working HARD at the booth. Next time you open Lightroom, watch for her name in the credits. #3 we think. Have to give kudos to her.

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Leaping Lizards! Microsoft drew a puzzled crowd with the performance. But thanks to the Nikon D700, we caught them mid-leap.

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Canon and Nikon brought out the big guns and let everyone try them on for size. Almost felt like a rifle range.

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Drobo was on hand with he new version of their storage solution, now with Firewire 800

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And the book folks were there. Blurb, Asuka, White House, Graphis, and more. Wait to you hear what we’re going to with them all.

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Can you figure this one out? Well a video is coming, and you will totally dig this item once you see the demo.

All photos © Damon Webster. but you knew that.