Microwave truck towers on display between the central and south halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the NAB show held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Wednesday, April 18, 2012.
East Chicago, Indiana-based photographer, videographer, and lighting technician Guy Rhodes attended the NAB, the largest international digital event for audio, video, film, broadcast and communications.
There’s a certain, unmistakable camaraderie that exists among people involved in all of the fields that I work in. Even if I’ve just met a fellow photographer or lighting designer, working with them on a complex show or shoot within minutes of a first hand shake, there’s always a mutual respect and understanding right off the bat — something that might take months to form with an average person off the street. No, I’m not saying we can’t be on the same wavelength if you’re not involved in a visual profession! But, you might have to wait out front while the in-crowd is ducking into the VIP entrance of my brain.
Naturally, then, huge trade shows where thousands of talented, like-minded creative types gather to geek-out at the latest and greatest storytelling tools are always a favorite of mine. I’ve strolled the show floor of LDI, a trade show geared toward lighting design, three times in the past ten years, each time at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This year, the “LVCC” welcomed me back for my sophomore visit to another great show, NAB. The largest production convention in the world, NAB caters to anything and everything that is video. From cameras and lenses to editing software to extension cords and light bulbs, if it’s involved in the production world, chances are it will be on display at NAB.
Continue reading and see more photos on Guy’s blog.
A visitor to The Stratosphere Tower documents the view looking west over Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday, April 14, 2012. NAB 2012, the largest production convention in the world, was held in Las Vegas the following week.
Also at the Canon booth was the new 1D C 4K DSLR. Put away plans for that new car, because you’ll need about 15 grand (yes, $15,000) before UPS brings this baby to your door. Ouch! On the plus side, the aliasing and moire issues that make my 1D Mark IV cameras a challenge to work with in video mode have been greatly reduced, if not eliminated, on this model (despite “line-skipping” and down-sampling still occurring). And, you can now shoot 60 frames per second at 1080p for buttery, high-rez slo mo shots!
I’m attracted to lines of colored lights like a moth to a bug light in a restaurant kitchen, so this array of Arri L7-C color-mixing LED fresnels made me stand briefly with my mouth agape and eyes glazed over. As with most Arri products, you’ll pay a pretty penny for these (around 7 grand if memory serves me right), but the build quality is unmatched. I own several Arri tungsten fixtures, and they’re tanks! The open white on these at 5600K still won’t beat a 575w HMI outdoors, but again, the potential for this technology taking off even more in the future is quite exciting.
