Kid in a candy store describes it better. This was my first time attending the event and boy was it cool. Met with some really cool people, got to check out some cooler sessions, and got to take pictures. I’ve been to quite a few expos over the years and this beats them all in terms of presentation. Nikon’s yellow gift bags, for some reason, were a hit and seemed to be in every other visitor’s hands. Good, good advertising!
So…
1. The Knot booth gave out nail filers as a promotional tool. Clever.
2. Dropped by Pictage booth. Didn’t know about them.
3. As well, LiveBooks. Very cool service.
4. Kelby Training booth was all the rage with live demos, discounts on books, seminars, and subscriptions. Wish I could afford to become a member. Senor Kelby is a true media mogul.
5. Clickbooq offering $100 off if you sign up by Nov. 30, 2007.
6. Contests: a) Mobile World (deadline - 11/15/07) for you mobile photogs [moi among them] and b) Digital Photo Pro (by 12-17-07)
7. Lynda.com had a nice area where you could sit, put on the noise canceling headphones and enjoy free lessons.
Guess who. Mr. Garrick Chow himself. If you’ve seen Lynda.com podcasts, you’ve seen him. Otherwise, you probably have read any of his many books. Assuming. We used Chow’s QuikPod to take this picture. He mentioned playing with the thing all day.
8. Apple’s Aperture demos were simply fantastic! Nicole has been raving about it and how it has changed her work-flow but watching what Aperture can do makes me want one. Comparing it to Photoshop may not be wise; the application makes for a great accompaniment, though. it won’t be long before Aperture becomes a serious competitor to Photoshop; that is if Adobe just sat there and did nothing for the next decade. Good luck with that cuz Adobe is, simply, un-fuckable!
Regardless, check out the online tour of Aperture and give it a try. Better yet, catch a couple of free Lynda tutorials. Even better, get a load of these plugins.
9. Something made me stick around for the next guest speaker at the Aperture booth. I’m glad I did because I was blown away by her pictures. ‘Her’ is Sara France. She is a wedding and events photographer who, without any training or schooling, came into photography and never looked back. I’ve seen many wedding pictures by many talented photographers. They were all very well produced and shot but seemed, I felt, staged and sometimes boring. Not France. She is truly an out-of-the-box photographer and her portfolio speaks for itself. She spoke about her work methods, shared some stories regarding some of the pictures on the slide show, and how she has been mostly using Aperture to keep everything organized and smooth. A savvy marketer, she has been using Apple’s computers and gadgets to furnish her studio and life.
When you get married and if you’d like to hire a photographer, hire her. You will thank yourself forever! If (when) I do and I can afford it, I’d hire her without even thinking about it. That’s how much she’s impressed me. So much so that I had to meet, chat, and take a picture with her. Tip: If she detects the bride and groom to be are not in love, her calendar becomes full. Meaning, if it’s not there she won’t be able to capture it. So, get in love. 
10. All of that is cool. But the real star of the Expo, the traffic stopping, the ooh and aah inducing super model was:
Admitting I was stupid for not noting the booth and photographer’s name, who was demo-ing the cameras, this dog (he/she…who cares) was so well behaved and complying it makes professional humans look bad. Despite dozens of flash bulbs going off within seconds, a couple of feet away from its face…
…the model maintained composure and…class.
All in all, a great day at the Expo coupled with the beautiful day it was in NY. Only one more stop. And off I went walking, 17 blocks uptown to my favorite restaurant, Bombay Express, on 51st and 9th. If you’re in town and want to grab some Indian food (in fact: Bangladeshi) you have to eat here. You’ll never eat anywhere else. I was feeling silly for walking all the way up there to eat a late lunch only to find 3 more people walk in, sit down, order, and proceed to talk about how much fun they had at the expo. Listening to their conversation I wished I’d caught Joseph McNally’s presentation because they were raving about it. What’s worse, I walked right past him a couple of times and didn’t have the balls to ask for a picture with him. Note to self: Balls - Don’t leave home without them.
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