Back in The OC to speak at the 2010 PMA convention. Brings back a flood of memories of great times of my days as a staff photographer for the Orange County Register in the ’80s.
DAY 1 – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20: 6:55am flight through Dallas. John Wayne International Airport is much bigger and better than I remember. Blue Pixel’s Kevin Gilbert picks us up and we head straight to the Anaheim Convention Center. Hand off updates of the presentations to Jamie Horton for run through of my three talks that I’ll be doing at the Sony booth. Sony Senior Product Manager for Digital-SLR Cameras, Mark Weir gives me the first glimpse of the new Sony prototype lenses the CZ 24/2 and 500/4 G. Sony Alpha product manager Kristen Elder shows me the super-cool new super-compact APS-C concept camera. A smaller camera that I can take everywhere. Can’t wait to get my hands on one of them. El-Deane Naude shows off Sony’s new VX2000 camcorder with dual card slots and XLR inputs. Gotta get one of those too. Then run-though of the product launch I’m doing tomorrow at the press event to kick off PMA. I really dig the new and improved intelligent sweep panorama on the Cybershot TX5 and product manager Hiroyuki “Tommy” Tominaga tells me it actually stitches together up to a HUNDRED images to create a panorama image on the fly. Whoa! I’ll be on stage in between announcements by Brennan Mullin, Senior VP of Sony Electronics, personal imaging and audio business and Masashi “Tiger” Imamura, Sony President of Personal Imaging. TALK ABOUT PRESSURE!!! Director of the Sony’s Artisans program, Kayla Linquist is kind enough to lie to me and say I was funny. My wife Fazia is mortified. I think I’ll have to go with my wife’s call on this one…
DAY 2 – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21: Started out the day making the product launch announcement for the Cyber-shot LX5 Showing off it’s rugged good looks by breaking it out of a block of ice, sticking it in a dust chamber, dunking it in a tank of water and dropping it from five feet onto the stage. Why they thought of me to do that…well, I guess you can figure that out. Managed to nearly hit Sony’s CMO with a chunk of ice, yet I somehow didn’t have to hitchhike home from the show or use the ice pick on myself. Gave two talks on Location Portraits and the Art & Soul project in between fellow Sony Artisan’s Andy Katz, showing Images of India and Wine Country and Matthew Jordan Smith, showing his Polar Bear Fashion and Fashion Week in New York. American PHOTO’s Russell Hart stops by to introduce me to their new photo editor Chelsea Stickel and we talk about an upcoming project. Then did two lighting demos with models Yuki and Stephanie and then headed off to a Sony press dinner. Great dinner. Got to talk with a lot of people about the projects I’ve been doing over the last year.
DAY 3 – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22: No press event today, whew! Gave three talks today and two model shoots. Yuki is really amazing (a great discovery by Matthew Jordan Smith) Cristina Mittermeier joins the fun, Saving the Planet One Pixel at a Time. My wife Fazia helps transform Yuki into and Indian bride for Cristina’s shoot. Kayla Linquist and I talk with Sony’s Linda Barger and Erin Georgrieff of Paine PR about ideas to promote the ‘Art & Soul’ project. Derrick Story, Tim Grimmer and Yvonne Petro of Lowepro show me their cool new line of bags. Andy Katz surprises us a lovely gift of a bottle of 2007 Katz Cabernet. Sony Artisans dinner at Napa Rose with Steve Sommers, Veronica Garcia, Mark Weir, Michael Kenny III, Kayla Linquist, and the rest of the crew from Sony.
DAY 4 – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23: Finally got a good night sleep, so I’m feeling great for the final day. The day flies as I give all three talks again and more lighting demos with Yuki as a super-hot version of “Minnie Mouse” and surfer Glen channeling ‘Jeff Spicoli’ even though he wasn’t born with ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ dropped. Gary Pageu from PMA stops by to check out my talks. Dinner at Roy’s.
DAY 5 – WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24: Flying home today. On my way to LAX, I drive down Sunset from the 101 past the Andaz Hotel where I will be shooting ‘Art & Soul’ for The Creative Coalition next week at the Oscars. They already have a giant Moet Oscar Week ad covering the entire side of the hotel…I know what I’ll be drinking next week. Just enough time for a final lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Cholo with our friend James Russell before heading home on our flight to MIA…
