What I saw at the PMA expo

1) Without doubt the best thing at the PMA Image technology expo was the "Talking Shop" Talk by Ken Duncan. Not sure that the apple Aperture team would be so happy he barely mentioned their product or even apple. Still he was full of enthusiasm and wonderful insights into his passions, including why you should get up early and not stay in bed.

For me three other things stood out in the show
2) The Photobook has come of age, not just those very expensive things that are becoming the staple of wedding photography, now the quality is being passed down to a broader market. Anyone with some great photo can now consider producing there own personal books for around $100 each. Most services let you upload via the net, but frequently required adhering to their photoshop or PDF templates. I was most impressed with the momento, which is Australian based, and have already downloaded their free software (not a yet another photoshop template by the way) and it has a wonderful feature called ACE layout (which stand for Aesthetic Composition Engine) which helps you create pleasing layouts, even automates the process.

3) LCD photoframes, where you load up your photos into a smallish TV screen that looks like a normal framed photo. The Melbourne Flickr group had an impressive 1200 photos on display, including this one of mine, cycling across twelve screens. It drew quiet a crowd.

4) Specialist Inkjet papers, from glow in the dark to canvas and many quality variations of laser and inkjet paper stock, from the big traditional photofilm and printer firms. Expensive but now suitable for home use. So now you can expect to double the price actually paid for that new inkjet printer on consumables in the first cycle of ink (OK this may be a slight exaggeration but not too much of one). Yet no one from the main players could help me much with the issue of prints fading.