Following up from the awesome first Wales & West Photography Show at the ICC in 2022, I was keen to revisit again this year, mainly to take in some amazing talks, great sponsor and camera brand stalls, as well as an impromptu opportunity to shoot some portraiture.

There were a number of organised model photoshoots happening over the three days the show was being held, but I only managed to get to one of them on the Saturday, which again was being held in the perfectly atmospheric underground car park of the ICC, which when lit with some Rotolights provided the perfect backdrop and setting for these portraits.

The show was again a big success, I managed to capture a couple of talks on the Saturday which were both inspiring and motivating, I then tried out some lenses and new camera offerings from Fujifilm and Canon. Iconic Magnum photographer Martin Parr was in attendance and gave a brilliant presentation about his work. So after also making some purchases I came away feeling the visit was super worthwhile and gave me a much needed boost in terms of inspiration and ideas.

My portrait photography shown here were lit this year via some upgraded Rotolight Neo 3 Pros and AEOS 2 Pro LED lights, with talented portrait photographers Stephane and Sam heading up the shoot. Although I only managed to capture some quick photography of the three models featured, it was inspiring to be able to work fast, and capture some dynamic and atmospheric portraiture in an urban setting.

Continued below…

Having managed to purchase some Rotolight Neo 3 LED lights after last years show, it was interesting to try out the latest lights on offer here, even though they are small in form factor, they are super lightweight for their power output and easy to take with you on a location shoot, making vibrant and even spread lighting a possibility, even in the most challenging of locations.

Again there are a mix of edits to my shots by using both colour and black and white shots which both work well with the industrial location as their backdrop, but I’m definitely leaning more towards the black and white photos as my preferred choice for this set of images.

It was good to catch up and chat with some familiar faces and photographers, even though there are a lot of us out there, it seems it is quite a small community, and one that is really welcoming and great at offering advice when needed.

All photographs on the day were taken on my Canon R6 paired with the Canon RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM lens. Having the benefit of the zoom capability allowed me to achieve some wider compositions and then move in closer via the zoom, It performed well considering its F4 aperture mainly due to the excellent combination of in camera and lens stabilisation, allowing for some very decent low light shooting.

A big thank you to photo shoot orgnanisers Stephane James and Sam Nash, the models featured here and other photographers that were in attendance, it was great to chat with you.

With a combination of some talented models, great lighting, some bubbles and an interesting location, I hope you enjoy these photo’s and any feedback you may wish to leave is always greatly appreciated.

All photographs were captured on Saturday 16th June 2023 at the ICC Wales & West Photography Show on a Canon R6 paired with a Canon RF 50mm f1.8 STM lens. © Hall Photographic 2023 - All Rights Reserved.

Check out more about the models featured by clicking these links.

Instagram links:

Taurai @mau5_head12

Anastasiia @nastiamativ

Mallu @mallucamerini