by Walt Middleton
Special to Torque
Being a gearhead since I was old enough to pick up a wrench has made the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) event at the top of my list of things I’ve really wanted to work. And this past year has given me the opportunity to do so. My reaction is…(excited drumroll)…WOW.
So, my name is Walt Middleton. I am a full-time (for the past 20 years or so) sports photographer. When you watch a collegiate NCAA Championship, odds are good I am there shooting the game. I have been in the outdoor training world and more recently overland training since college. And my two worlds are finally starting to run into each other.
I was asked to go to SEMA this year and “experience the crazy”. As part of that, to also photograph all the Jeeps I saw during the week. And boy did I see some fun ones.
My very first impression was “WOW”!
The first morning of the event, I flew into Las Vegas, stowed my luggage, and then headed to the Las Vegas Convention Center with my camera gear.
I took the Las Vegas Monorail from my hotel to the convention center and it was packed. When I mean packed, I mean shoehorning people in at each stop. I almost felt bad bringing my camera case because it took up at least another person’s spot on the train.
Once I got to the convention center’s stop, I got off, went through a few more barriers and up a few escalators to come out with an expansive view of the outside event space. I was already overwhelmed and this just added to my excitement.
So, the one thing I didn’t do was stop and pull out a camera to take a photo. I should have. From that spot overlooking the LVCC’s South Hall, I was herded down the escalators with the rest of the riders. From there, I decided I should first visit the media work room and get situated. Like most venues I visit, the security and venue workers had no idea where the media work room was located. So, they sent me literally in a circle around the entire event space before I finally found this room.
The media space at most events I work includes event information, media reps from the event to answer questions, typically snacks and water and a place to sit down and work on your computer. Additionally, it functions as a place to stow your gear. SEMA was no different. There was an abundance of places to sit and use provided internet access to file or transmit photos. There was also a handful of people to answer questions and/or point you in the right direction for things. Lots of general event info and plenty of space. All right, I can work with this.
I decided to stow my gear, pull out a single camera and attempt to walk the venue. I knew I had three days to cover this thing so I wanted to get my bearings on the venue and see “stuff.”
Well, in retrospect, I’m not sure why I took a camera on the first day. I did shoot a few images, however, the sheer amount of people, exhibitors, exhibits, vendors, and vehicles of almost all shapes and sizes, as well as demonstrations (vehicle and products), celebrities, old friends, new friends, and everything else was entirely overwhelming. Seriously overwhelming.
I arrived at SEMA around 11 a.m., but my camera’s first photo wasn’t until 2:37 p.m. Typically I document everything, but I was on a sensory overload from the first step off the monorail. My first photo wasn’t even exactly of a rig, it was of my friend Dan Grec from ‘The Road Chose Me’ at the Overland Experience section of SEMA.
I think it was at this point that I realized I was overloaded. Not in a bad way. I just decided not to worry about photos the first day and to really try and get a handle on the venue. I did take more photos but more as a reminder of what I wanted to shoot over the next few days. Then, Dan and my friend Dean Shirley (East Coast Overland Adventures) wanted to walk over to the West Hall — did I mention that there were 4 halls at SEMA? All of them seemed to be the same size as my single convention center in Columbus, Ohio. Huge. Of course, we walked past a large SEMA sign and had to take a photo.
From there we started into the West Hall where SEMA positioned almost every vendor/manufacturer that I had ever heard of in the off-road industry. I know I’ve said overwhelming a few times now, but, it was for me.
I’m glad I was walking with a couple of friends who were good enough to keep me going. We all stopped for some overpriced food, SEMA priced of course, which at the time was very good because we were very hungry, but from there on out for the rest of the day I was kind of in a blur. I took a whole lot of photos of some cool vehicles.
This time was made even better because I was able to meet and speak with some old friends before I made my way to the T.O.R.A. (Truck and Offroad Alliance) happy hour inside the West Lounge. TORA was announcing a couple of awards while I was there so it was a good time, with fun people and a few costumes (because it was Halloween!)
So, this was the end of day one. Time for me to reflect, edit what I shot, and plan for day two.
For day one, I explored most of the West Hall and the Overland Experience area, took 18,500 steps, and saw less than a quarter of the venue. I had a lot more walking to do on day two and three.
Here we go for day two of my SEMA experience. Time to take a photo of every Jeep I see and document the TORA Feature Vehicle Trail outside of the West Hall.
I was excited to get to the LVCC and SEMA on day two as I had only seen the West Hall of the venue. I still had to explore the North, Central and South halls. Not to mention all the outside spaces, the skybridges, lobbies, and atriums.
Preview for day two — I ended up walking 25,895 steps, but who’s counting? Right?
Anyway, first off was the upper section of the LVCC South Hall where there were tools, of every kind you could imagine. I quickly realized I knew practically none of these companies. There were tools of every shape and size here to do just about anything you could imagine.
After a quick walk-through, I ventured into the first flow of the South Hall. Tire companies, tire service companies, manufacturers, pretty much everything to do with tires. While the first part of this area was interesting, it was not on my list of must-see things. So, I quickly did a loop and went on to the Central Hall.
The Central Hall had A LOT to look at as an attendee. Hot Rods, show cars, trucks, there was a lot here to keep my attention. I spent a lot of time looking at the hot rod parts and vehicles but there were very few Jeeps. So, I moved on to the North Hall where I found a few Jeeps but was more interested in the Battle of The Builders vehicles. Every one of these vehicles was spotless and beautiful. And these really made me wish I had more time to work on my own build.
After spending a ton of time checking out some cool vehicle builds, and in general being in awe of their build quality, I moved on to some outside stuff.
First, I walked down the trail of TORA Feature Vehicles outside West Hall.
These consisted of well-built trucks of different shapes and sizes and each one was gorgeous for their own reason. My favorite was the 1957 Willis Panel Wagon.
By this time my day had flown by and I realized I hadn’t really taken a ton of Jeep photos, so now that I was outside the West Hall where the Truck and Offroad area was… I went and took a few Jeep shots.
Next up for me was what turned into the best part of the show. The TORA Reception and Pinewood Drags.
The TORA Reception was about recognizing individuals who have made a difference in the world of Truck and Offroad vehicles. But my highlight was the charity Pinewood Drags. They sold a bunch of already-built Pinewood drag cars in partnership with SEMA Cares, for $20 each. This raised a lot of charity money and was a lot of fun to watch and document.
Now we come to day three. I continued my quest to take photos of Jeeps and boy did I find some interesting ones today. By this time, I was past being overwhelmed with everything and I got down to shooting.
While out at day three of SEMA, I enjoyed seeing and shooting a little of the events going on in the outside space.
So, I spent three days at SEMA, walked well over 45,000 steps, saw countless vehicles from mild to wild, spoke with numerous industry professionals, saw tools I didn’t even know existed, looked over Jeeps built for the trail and this event and met a lot of new friends.
Being a Jeep guy, I don’t typically see the super large pick-up truck builds and they were very cool to see. I also don’t watch drag and drifting shows so that was a first-time experience for me as well. Also, I never imagined the number of tool manufacturers available. Never would have thought there were so many ways to clean your vehicle or wrap your vehicle.
Overall looking back on those three days, I realize as a first-time SEMA attendee, I was overwhelmed every day. Like, I think, anyone would be the first time they came to this event.
The sheer number of new things to look at, and take pictures of, kind of paralyzed me. In my professional experience, I would normally take a few thousand photos per day. I didn’t. I was too engaged with the event and the next thing to see.
But that is just SEMA to a first-time attendee.
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