A HIGH FOR THE SOCIETIES

The end of January witnessed another annual Societies Convention at the Hammersmith Novotel in London, topped off on the Friday night by its regular awards giving. Though ostensibly an event to celebrate the artistic achievements of its photographer membership, the evening also included a section of awards given out to the trade for products and services.

The prize giving came towards the end of the Trade Show element of the Convention, which ran Thursday to Saturday and saw a commendably busy show floor on the Friday afternoon we visited. Attended by hardware manufacturers including Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Rotolight and Elinchrom, print was also represented by PermaJet and PhotoXport, while Cameraworld was among those offering the inevitable show deals.

On the night the award for Best Professional Lighting went to Elinchrom while Best Professional Lab was won by Digitalab, who also received awards for Best Professional Customer Service and Best Professional Frame. Best Professional Paper went to PermaJet (see also page 12), while Best Professional Camera went to the Canon EOS 5D. That wasn’t the only award for the exhibitor, as it bagged Best Professional Lens for the Canon 70-200mm and Best Professional Printer for its imagePROGRAF PRO-1000. A new category of Best Professional Retailer was won by Wex Photo Video, while theimagefile bagged Best Professional Website and One Vision Imaging took Best 2020 Convention Stand.

The next annual Convention is scheduled to take place from Wed 20th to Saturday 23rd January 2021, with the Trade Show element again running Thursday to Saturday. www.thesocieties.net