Photo Essay: What happened in the day of a photographer covering CES 2023.

The Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, is an annual technology convention held in Las Vegas where companies debut their latest products and innovations. For CES 2023, Mashable had reporters on the ground as well as freelance photographer Mikayla Whitmore to document one long day of coverage, from press events and demos to the Uber rides and free lunches in between. Here's what Mikayla's day looked like, as told to Molly Flores.

8 a.m.:

Picked up my credential badge. No photos were taken because I was still sleeping in my mind.

9 a.m.:

Walked to North Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, one of the main exhibitor spaces for the convention, and met Mashable reporter Christianna Silva. The convention at the LVCC doesn't technically start until later in the day, so it was still a work-in-progress space. 

9:22 a.m.:

The morning interview with MysteryVibe fell through, so we stood at their vacant booth making a plan. Found an empty Starbucks cup smartly balanced in tape so it wouldn't spill on the carpet or products.

10 a.m.:

Got in an Uber with Christianna. The convention is spread across various hotels and centers on the Vegas Strip, and our next stop was the Panasonic press conference held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center — about six miles away from the LVCC. We spent 20 minutes walking to find the Uber, but I was just happy to be outside.

11 a.m.:

Mashable reporter Cecily Mauran arrived and gave a Las Vegas visor to Christianna. We planned out photographing the Samsung and Sony press events.

Noon:

Free lunches were brought out around 11:45 a.m., along with the chaos. The line wrapped around the outside hallway. Thirty minutes passed, but the line stayed just as long.

12:15 p.m.:

Matt Binder, another reporter at Mashable, joined us for box lunch. Christianna and I got the veggie sandwich option; Matt got tuna.

1 p.m.:

We headed to TCL's "Inspire Greatness" press event.

1:35 p.m.:

New products unveiled by TCL: a blocky pair of AR glasses and the expansion of their NXTPAPER products.

2-3 p.m.:

Documented the Samsung press event, which had a lot of buzz but wasn't nearly as exciting as we anticipated. The company didannounce the new Relumino Mode, a new TV mode for people with low vision.

3 p.m.:

Supposed to go to a flying car demo. Flying car demo was canceled because of the weather.

3:30 p.m.:

Left Mandalay Bay Convention Center, got an Uber to the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

3:30-4 p.m.:

Rush hour traffic. I talked about camera gear with my driver.

4:30 p.m.:

Waited in line for Sony.

4:50-6 p.m.:

Inside the packed Sony event, the audience stood shoulder to shoulder. I listened and photographed the event as much as I could, including getting shots of the company's new EV car with Honda, "Afeela."

6:20 p.m.:

Walked through the LVCC all the way back to get my car from the morning. Drove to Caesar's Palace to attempt to see Pepcom, an event that's like a mini CES: one room full of tech on display and lots of free food and drinks. It's primarily full of press.

6:45 p.m.:

Tried to get a Pepcom credential but failed. Instead, Christianna, Cecily, and Matt went inside. After determining it was pretty cool — there were robots and AI headbands — Christianna left and gave me their credential. They snuck back in about an hour later.

7:30-8:30 p.m.:

Took a walk around Pepcom to check out the free food and booths.

9:15 p.m.:

Left Pepcom to go home, which was about a 20-minute walk. Exit signs, long hallways, and fake daylight sky overhead led my way to the night air of the parking garage. 

A DAY AT CES IN NUMBERS: *Twelve hours exploring/photographing. Walked 21,803 steps. Took 3 car rides between properties.