I recently went to New York for the B&H Bild Expo. It’s a huge multi-day photography conference and tradeshow for photographers. I of course took a ton of photos. I’ll share more of those in another post, but here’s a couple abstract squares and the Statue of Liberty (to set the scene).
I went to New York on behalf of BLACKRAPID.com, one of my big commercial clients. I do all the studio photography and videos for BLACKRAPID, and long before I did work for them, I have loved and used their strap. If you catch me photographing a wedding or family somewhere, I’ll be wearing a BLACKRAPID camera sling.
The Bild Expo was advertised all over New York and in neighboring states. The turnout was huge! When we arrived, there were ads like this one around the city.
For this show, I designed the BLACKRAPID booth, photography and graphics, plus the postcards to hand out. I was then hired to go to NY and run the booth and talk to photographers. I was happy to do it because I personally use the products and can talk as a working photographer and honestly answer people’s questions. Looking around the show and comparing booths, I thought ours looked great!
B&H did an awesome job. On the first day, over 25,000 photographers were in attendance! There was a sea of photographers in all directions, on multiple floors.
My wife and I ran the booth, talking and answering questions constantly. We never had a moment to even sit down or eat. Before we knew it, the first day was over. The second day was much the same, crowds of people asking about the brand, and wanting to try on the slings.
Most everyone talked about comfort. If a photographer had already heard of the brand (many were wearing BR straps already), they talked about how comfortable they were and how they were able to shoot longer without pain because of it.
If someone had not heard of the brand, their most common question was about solving their neck pain. Typical straps cause aches and pain points, particularly in the neck.
I had straps to demo and try on, and it seemed that everyone who tried one on, could feel the difference. I even had some big, heavy cameras and lenses to hang on the strap, knowing they’d be heavier than most people carry daily.
There was a calmness to the mornings, as we set up and got ready, with the show floor empty. Then the doors would open and we were flooded with people for the day.
At nights, B&H had dinners and events including a catered boat tour of New York and New Jersey, and a rooftop party. Last time I was in NY, I didn’t get to see the Statue of Liberty. This time, B&H took us all out there on a boat tour.
I even ran into photographer Louis Medes, known for his street photography using an old Speed Graphics camera. I paid him to do a quick street portrait of me, and I took this of him with my iPhone.
I also took a ton of photos of buildings and textures, and other things that caught my eye. I’m still finding favorites in those, but I’ll share more of them in an upcoming post.
So, until next time, America.