Anime Expo 2026: booth and convention photography for Shepard
Anime Expo is the biggest anime convention in North America — a few hundred thousand people through the Los Angeles Convention Center over four days — and for 2026 I was on the floor shooting exhibitor booths for Shepard, the show's official exhibition services partner. This is a different job than the cosplay shots that fill everyone's feed: it's trade show and booth photography, documenting the build-outs so exhibitors and the show organizer walk away with clean, usable images of what they actually put on the floor.
An exhibitor spends real money on a build — the Jujutsu Kaisen 5th-anniversary cityscape, the Toho Animation archway, the Beyblade X tournament arena, the My Hero Academia tower, the Frieren crystal arch, the Warner Bros. Anime floor, VIZ Media's reading lounge, the Bandai Gashapon hall, and the Capcom gaming tent — and Shepard needed each one documented: the whole set, the branding, and enough of the crowd to show what it drew. The show spills outside too, where the sponsors take over the block: Peacock wrapping the arena for The Five-Star Weekend, the DoorDash lounge, and the food-truck row.
Anime Expo fills every hall the Convention Center has, plus the outdoor spaces — exhibitor floor, artist alley, tabletop and gaming tents, the AX beer garden, food trucks wrapped around the building. Over the four days, the booths, the activations, and the turnout all came back covered.
Whether it's a trade show or convention, a brand activation, or a festival, the job doesn't change: document what a team built, prove the scale, and deliver it fast. Producing a convention, expo, or activation in Los Angeles? Tell me about your event.
