The Last Tradeshow in America….for awhile

ConExpo is the largest equipment trade show in the United States. Held every three years, in open lots around the Las Vegas Convention Center, it normally draws visitors from all over the world. I have attended ConExpo for almost three decades and shot the last four shows for American Cranes and Transport. Going into the show, the big challenge was that the old lot where most of the cranes were displayed had been sacrificed for the Convention Center expansion. Having shot three shows at the old location, I had a pretty good idea how the light moved throughout the day across the lot and where I needed to be to make the best use of it with the various exhibits. And I had my shooting notes from the previous shows. All that went out the window as the cranes moved to a new “temporary” lot about 1/4 mile away.

With COVID-19 at its infancy in the U.S., I arrived on March 6th and spent the weekend prior to the show, watching the light while avoiding being flattened by the flurry of forklifts and activity as the last minute preparations were made to the exhibits. The weekend was beautiful and had great light. Then for the first time that I can remember at a ConExpo, the weather went downhill fast and we opened the show to rain. Over the course of the week, the COVID-19 count in the U.S. climbed rapidly and ConExpo made the national news as the “last trade show being held in the U.S”. Most of the shooting opportunities were crammed into the last two of five show days because of weather and the show ended up closing a day early as the seriousness of the COVID-19 crisis became apparent.

I love the challenge of shooting trade shows of this magnitude and telling the story. With poor weather and COVID-19, I found the challenge amped up to an extreme. This is the scene that greeted me in the first 5 minutes of the show walking onto the crane lot.

Whitetail

One of the things that wildlife photography takes is patience and an investment of time. You may get lucky in the first hour of shooting or you may go home without an image after putting hours into the effort. This past weekend was a classic wildlife experience. I was in West Texas on a 12, 000 acre ranch with the primary goal of capturing whitetail images. But there is no guarantee that one is going to be successful. Spent 3 days and a total of 23 hours in various parts of the ranch without much to show for it and then in hour 24 this 10 point whitetail came out of the woods following a doe to exactly one of the spots I had preplanned a shot. Sometimes you get lucky….

American Cranes and Transport – July Issue

Was excited to see the July issue of American Crane and Transport hit the stands today. I was asked to share my experience covering the largest equipment tradeshow in the world as a photographer and the article includes six pages of images I captured during that week in Munich. The editor also decided to go with one of my abstracts for the cover which made this issue even more special.

Sharing a passion…

A shout out to the New Possibilities Youth Program of Edmundite Missions, Selma Alabama. New Possibilities seeks to expose young people to new experiences that would not typically part of the usual academic program. This summer’s experiences will include lacrosse, ballet, photography and cooking to name a few. I was asked to speak about my passion for photography and ways to improve your images as a kick-off to the Program’s photography section. We used Zoom and simulcast to classes in Selma, Mosses and Vredenburgh Alabama. With the help of a small exhibit of my work on-site and a couple of slideshows and powerpoint, we looked at a lot of images and talked about taking control as a photographer and not simply clicking when everyone else does; understanding what your subject is and looking for ways to enhance it through looking at light, background, color and more, as well as ways to avoid distracting the viewer as you frame your image. And as we learned, a lot of this comes down to simply moving your feet to get to the best position for your image. They’re off to shoot for the rest of the week and will be submitting their best images next week for review. Thanks again for the opportunity to speak!

New Possibilities youth Program, Edmundite Missions, Selma, AL

Munich on a Saturday

There is nothing like Munich on a weekend. Especially when their beloved Bayer Munchen is playing. Following my trip out to the Bauma fairgrounds, I spent time walking around Munich, one of my favorite cities in the world. As you can see the crowds were out in force with many dressed to support their team. The Z6 is shaping up to be a great travel camera, light and responsive. .

Nikon Z6; Nikon Z24-70f4.5