Hundreds of photography students at colleges and universities across the UK are getting to grips with cutting edge digital camera technology in a unique nationwide roadshow organised by Hasselblad UK.
Having visited six of the eleven venues for Hasselblad UK's Educational Studioday Tour 2010, the roadshow has now passed the half-way point and can already be hailed as a success - offering hundreds of students and local professionals the opportunity to 'get their hands on a Hasselblad'.
Kicking the tour off was the visit to UCA Farnham, where two packed sessions got a first hand look at the new H4D camera, shooting in both a portrait and still-life studio environment and processing the images through Hasselblad's very own Phocus software.
The tour then moved on to Wiltshire College, again with packed out sessions of enthusiastic students, with the addition of a group of the college's fashion students who volunteered to model their latest designs, providing the photography students interesting and vibrant subjects to shoot.
Hasselblad's David Summerfield presents Wiltshire College's winning fashion student, Amanda, with her prize, accompanied by Dr. Ian Smith, Photography Programme Leader at Wiltshire College
Next up was the trip further down south for the University of Portsmouth, and then to Kent for UCA Rochester, again very well attended by enthusiastic students, all eager to experience Hasselblad's H-Series digital cameras - many for the first time!
Completing the first half of the tour were the University of Westminster in Harrow, for the busiest event of the tour so far, and then to Thames Valley University in Ealing for an equally well attended day.
Chris Russell-Fish, Hasselblad UK MD explained: “We are using the roadshows to increase awareness and dispel any previous misconceptions about Hasselblad pricing and service. This is about winning hearts and minds – and there’s nowhere better to start than with students – tomorrow’s professional photographers. We want young photographers to engage with Hasselblad quality solutions from the very earliest opportunity.”
Early indications are that this objective has certainly been reached, with many students really appreciating the opportunity to find out more about Hasselblad and their latest products, and whilst many students are in awe at being able to 'play' with such high-end cameras, they go away appreciating how the Hasselblad medium format quality is far superior to that of 35mm DSLR's, and how they are in fact just as easy to use - if not easier!
David Summerfield, Hasselblad’s Roadshow manager said: “Reaction has been outstanding. We’re not hard-selling anything. We are just giving students and tutors the chance to play with and test-drive this amazing camera in real time on real shoots. The later courses are really filling up too after students use Twitter to tell friends and colleagues to register for one of these events”.
The remainder of the tour's events are:
22nd March - Northampton University
24th March - De Montford University
14th April - University of Wales
16th April - Gloucester College
20th April - Edinburgh College of Art
Places are strictly limited for each event, so click here as soon as possible to secure your place and avoid any disappointment.
You can also follow the tour on Hasselblad UK's Twitter page - www.twitter.com/hasselbladuk