Exhibitions and Trade Shows
London Wine Fair 2026
New Opportunity
The Handoff
My colleague Ant Upton has been the official photographer at London Wine Fair every year for more than a decade. He and I work together a few times a year on bigger international shows, most often SBC Lisbon, where we are two of a ten-strong team that covers the event.
This year a skiing accident took him out of action. He didn’t want Holly (the client) stuck looking for a replacement at three weeks out, so he sent her four portfolios of photographers he trusted. She reviewed them and chose me.
The brief landed shortly after our phone call, and the event started Monday morning at Kensington Olympia.
3
Days
3500
Daily visitors
45000
Steps
The brief was simple. The execution wasn't.
Three days. Eight stages running in parallel. Masterclasses, tastings, panel sessions, an exhibitor floor zoned into different areas and the addition of new areas championing spirits, beers and ciders.
When the brief arrived it looked quite in depth, and action-packed, but in essence it was similar to what it often is with events like this: cover as much as possible and give them the greatest possible variety of images to use across sales, marketing, press, social, and everything else they will need photographs for over the next twelve months.
They were sensible about it. Nobody covers every simultaneous session at a show that size on their own. They flagged the priority sessions and I built each day around those, with the rest of the time spent walking around the impressive Olympia hall catching everything else that mattered.
What “as much as possible” looks like over three days is unromantic. It looks like 45,000 steps. It looks like reading the next hour’s programme while eating a sandwich at two o’clock. It looks like learning a venue’s quirks on the first morning so the next two days run faster. Kensington Olympia is new to me. By lunchtime on day one I had the routes worked out, the light through the roof noted, and the slower corners of the floor identified.
Highlights
An Olympic Champion at the Olympia
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill attended day one of London Wine Fair 2026 to talk about her new wine Seven Summers, a premium rosé from Provence, at just 7% alcohol.
It was on my list of ‘priority shots’ but as someone from Sheffield, I was always going to be there.
Re-connecting with a university friend after almost 20 years
You know how it is, you make connections with people you’ve encountered over the course of your life over on Linkedin and see their work updates and anniversaries, and somehow the information makes its way into your subconscious.
Then one day, you find yourself photographing an event about wine and you remember your university friend Russell started a wine business, and reach out to see if they’re attending. – At least, that’s how my brain works.
About seven years ago Russell & Gabriella Lamb started developing a lower-strength wine brand called 6PERCENT, born out of their frustration at the after effects of having a few glasses of wine, and the lack of satisfying low-no options on the market, and as luck would have it, They were at the show launching their new Rosé.
Priority Turnaround
Delivered the same night.
The show closed at 5pm on Wednesday. The full gallery was in Holly’s inbox before midnight that same evening. Priority frames, including award winners and anything else flagged for fast turnaround, were delivered within hours of being taken across all three days.
Whether it's your first show or your fifteenth
Tell me about the event you have coming up. I will come back to you within 24 hours.
If you have a conference, trade show, or exhibition booked and you are not certain your current photographer is the right fit for what you actually need, tell me about it. I will give you an honest answer, including when the answer is no.