It's PMA in Las Vegas!

[walterick]

I drove up to Vegas this weekend to hang out with Photo-John and Paul (Smartwombat) and help with shooting the 2007 Photographer's Marketing Association tradeshow. In the process, I met Larry (screen name LRY) who does some pro reviews for the site. Larry and I have a lot in common about the "zen" of photography and the process, not just the end product of, photography. I met Paul for the first time, who turned out to be just as charming in real life as he is online. And, there's of course Photo-John, who is always a pleasure to hang out with, who was MORE THAN GENEROUS in his treatment of us all this weekend, and who was sporting a stylin' new haircut.

While I hope everybody takes the time to look at all our hard work on the 2007 PMA tradeshow I thought I would post the off-topic pictures and stories here so everyone can laugh at us along with us.

The first two are of Photo-John riding a motorcycle game in an arcade at the hotel. He was like, pretty into riding that motorcycle.

The second is a vending machine right outside the arcade that sold Ipods. Yes, an Ipod vending machine!



The next one is for Speedo - a D200 slapped on a 600 f4 for ya dude!



And last but not least a self-portrait taken in the hotel room. That's John's mountain bike getting in the way.



This is all I have for now. I should also mention that these pictures were all taken with John's Sony Alpha which he was so kind to lend to me for this show. I took a lot more tonight at dinner with my own p&s and there will certainly be more to come tomorrow!

Rick

[walterick]

Make sure to check out our PMA coverage here! We'll be adding more info this coming week, including news on the return of film from Kodak and the Zeis decision to begin making prime glass for the Nikon F mount and Canon EOS systems. In the meantime, in the current PMA blog you can read up on Canon's new 1D Mark III, the new 10mp Nikon D40x, and the new Olympus 770SW which is now waterproof, drop proof, crush proof, and freeze proof!

Back to the fun, here are some pictures from dinner Satruday night after the show. It was pretty laid back as most of the stress was off for Larry and PJ who had been working hard since Thursday on covering the show.

1) In the cab racing to the restaurant!

2) In the restaurant. They brew their own beer and though I'm not a drinker I was tempted by the promise of "dark beer."

3) Cheers!

4) This is John, his friend whose name I am forgetting but he looks exactly like Taylor Hicks, and our very own Paul (smartwombat!)

5) My "alternative" take on the same shot (once I fixed the camera's settings lol)

[walterick]

Here's Larry, Paul, PJ, my lime cheesecake, and the entryway to the hotel on the way home!

[poker]

Yes! Finally, I was waiting to see some Photogathering'ish pictures. For a while there I thought you guys actually went to Vegas to work!

I don't recall giving you permission to use my patent for the photo-swirl effect

Glad you guys had fun

[Photo-John]

Here's where the magic happened.

[Old Timer]

I have totally enjoyed your coverage of PMA this year. I think it was a great idea to include a couple of guys from the site. This last ho rah if you like is the icing on the cake. Great job to all of you. Thanks for being our eyes and ears at one of the most important events for camera nuts of the year.

[Photo-John]

This last ho rah if you like is the icing on the cake.

Oh, it's not over yet. There are tons more photos and I'm working on a comprehensive report on the highlights and trends at this year's show. It always takes a few days to get through the hundreds pf photos and digest everything I saw and learned. So keep checking the PMA Gallery and the 2007 PMA Blog. You haven't seen it all, yet.

[walterick]

Hey, that guy lying on the floor has a nice butt.

Still waiting for Paul to jump in with some of his!

And, I can definitely mirror the sentiment about more coming! I'm getting hit pretty hard with school stuff right now but I plan to have it all up by the end of the weekend.

[mtbbrian]

Hey, that guy lying on the floor has a nice butt.

TMI!!!!!!!!!!

[another view]

Looks like a fun time checking out all the new toys. Hey, who's the short-hair?

[walterick]

TMI!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, come on. Like you weren't thinking the same thing

[walterick]

Well, what would any road trip be without some off-roading and a couple of self-portraits

On my way back home, I pulled off highway 93 between Hoover Dam and Kingman, AZ and went searching for the Colorado River. Well, I found it, with plenty of time left over to go bumping up a dirt road to an isolated spot to take in the views. And then, back down the mountain to the River to catch sunset.

Speaking of work, I've got the Zeiss stuff up tonight with more PMA write-ups to come tomorrow after class is over.

[walterick]

Oh, yeah, and there was this Robert Plant look-alike dude playing at the Olympus booth on Sunday.

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. Most of the crowds were gone, there were even some girls singing Karaoke (didn't get any pictures of them, though.) People were also handing out free samples of stuff they had leftover from the show. Cool neato!

[walterick]

Okay, I'm officially putting a "stop" to this thread

Looking forward to PMA in Vegas next year!