Not that a life in photography often intersects with normal.
But after the photo industry’s annual gear-gasm at the Javit’s Center in New York City, the event known as Photo Plus Expo, well, being back home for even a day is blessedly normal. The tough thing about the three days was that it was matched with some of the most splendidly fall weather the Big Apple has seen of late. The light, the wind, and the weather was NYC at its best. Leaving the light and going inside Javits was a bit of an effort, truth be told.
Gotta thank my buds at Nikon and Adorama for including me in the proceedings at their respective booths. Spoke each day there, and always had some gracious, fun photo folks gathered round. In between, I got a chance to intersect with many, many friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while. That’s the saving grace of expositions like this. Photography has always been a lone wolf sort of thing, and digital has exacerbated the feeling of loneliness. I mean there’s the chattiness of the internet, but it’s not quite the same as giving your fellow staffers a bunch of shit over the hypo tray after a day in the field. Email lacks a certain immediacy, not to mention the capacity for winks and heartfelt hand gestures. But PPE presented some good catch up time.
In between hey, how are ya’s? I wandered. Some gear was interesting. Some of the stuff , as usual, made me wonder. Whaddaya gonna do? Photogs tend to be creatures of impulse, especially when confronted with gear. I’ve got a garage full of stuff accumulated over the years that I thought, at the time, I just hadda have.
Anyway, today, back to normal. Back on a plane. Bound for Orlando and a One Light Two Light seminar day, tomorrow. All best, and more tk….
Joe,
I caught one of your presentations at the Nikon booth (informative and entertaining as usual) and stood by you for part of Heisler’s talk for the other guys (like a copy boy hoping some of the magic would rub off). I do appreciate that Nikon ran things with a little less of the “hard sell.”
Let me know when you’re having a garage sale: one man’s trash..
Welcome back to Orlando. We’ll try to have nice weather, but it won’t be quite as crisp as NYC in Autumn.
Your high speed sync flash demo was inspiring, Joe … having shot with only available light for the last 10 years, I’m planning to pick up your books on lighting (Sketching Light and Hot Shoe Diaries).
Someone just told me of your blog and also “Cooking With Mr. C.” on Facebook, also a blog. I just “Liked” his Facebook page and came to your blog. It looks good. Denise
Even though the internet has it’s flaws, I have been learning from guys like you, who are willing and gracious enough to share their expertise! Having spent a ton of money on a 4 year degree that is useless, this is my only way to learn a new skill… Joe you’re an awesome dude that I enjoy learning from and I hope that you continue to inspire old farts like me!