Photokina 2008 Coverage

Like all other exhibitors on the Photokina Show, underwater imaging exhibitors arrived a day before the show began to establish and design their booths. This was also a great opportunity for all key players in this domain who haven't met each other since the last diving or photography exhibition, to get together again, to mingle and to catch up. For some of us it was the first time to reveal the face behind the name of well known colleagues.

A very well designed booth was established by Sealife, who prepared ahead a poster as large as the wall behind the booth. Electronic frames were placed around the display, as well as Sealife's housings and accessory products.

Fantasea, Subal and Sealux established colorful and attractive booths as well, showcasing their new and most popular products, such as housings, arm systems, lights and more.

Andi Voeltz, the German distributor of Hugyfot and Light & Motion, arrived to the exhibition's floor not earlier than 10 pm. It was hard to believe that in such a short time he will succeed, together with his colleagues, to put together an impressive structure as the one we found the morning after. This structure consists of two housings hung on both sides of it, balancing each other and enabling visitors to elevate and lower the housings conveniently. "Using this structure", explains Andi with great enthusiasm, "we try to illustrate the feeling of completely neutrally buoyant housings. Visitors can hold the housing without using any strength as it is weightless, exactly as it is designed to be underwater".

While we were all so busy with our booths, Dennis Wilson, the event manager of the underwater photography section, took great care of the logistics and significantly added to the scene by installing colorful projectors on the ceiling, pointed at the different booths. Upon finishing up on designing and constructing the Fantasea Line booth, we were quite certain that we were still missing something. It was not until the blue light dramatically lit our roll-up poster till we knew our work was complete.

A lot was happening outside of the underwater imaging world as well. A great number of exhibitors wandered around, busy with their booths as well as establishing their attractions and perhaps taking advantage of their last chance to pick some ideas from their neighbors.

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