SEMA 2023 w/Integrity Auto Repair

Time is an illusion, so let’s not dwell on the fact that it took me over 2 months to get these photos edited and this article written up. All jokes aside, this is the largest gallery I’ve ever put on the site and once I removed any duplicates, or shots that I didn’t feel really needed to be in there – this was everything that was left. There is just SO much going on at SEMA – it’s really hard to capture everything. I mean we missed an entire section (Toyo Tires tent), but that just means I gotta try harder this year!

I knew I was attending SEMA early on, but it still didn’t feel real until I stepped out of the car and onto the “show grounds” on Day 1. But for the sake explaining how I got there, we’re gonna have to rewind things back a year. My previous job was working for a great local marketing and media company, but I was looking for something else. It had been a few years and there was just something else pulling at me, I couldn’t explain it. One of our bigger clients was a local dealership and I got to be around cars all day and had the opportunity to create some really amazing material for them. I knew I wanted more of that, something in the automotive industry because aside from this site – I really do live for this stuff. During this time when I was thinking about what the next move would be, my car needed some work done on it and I had to find a shop I could trust. I was still working full time, and weekends became family time so it all came down to looking for a shop that could not only do the work, but one that I could possibly keep as my “go-to” place when the car needed something. I thought back to meeting one of the owners at a carshow/auto-x event and looked them up online. Shortly after I messaged the shop, I ended up speaking with the owner on what my car needed and scheduled an appointment. Having a vehicle that you know every inch of and then trusting someone else to treat it the way you have can be nerve-wracking. Even though my car is an “okay” 23 year old vehicle – it’s still mine, and all the while you remember hearing about horror stories from how a vehicle got returned after going to a shady shop.

I ended up leaving my previous job in mid-August and had to get my car worked on one more time so I dropped it off. On the way home from leaving the car there I picked up my phone to mindlessly scroll through social media and saw a post that the shop I just left was hiring. I had a whole trip planned for me and my gf because I knew next thing was going to be me diving in head first. Shortly after coming home from a week in Colorado, I started as a Service Advisor at Integrity Auto Repair. My background is as much customer service as it is photography, but the “goal” was for them to have me create content and push our name throughout the internet. Timing is a funny thing though, what turned into what was supposed to be a short position as a service advisor turned into a little longer. But when I could, I would step out into the shop, grab photos, come home and edit and post and share and do the things. Once we reloacated our location to Edinburg, TX – it was pretty much a month of helping the advisors, then full-time behind the camera. Most of my day is spent out in the shop documenting what our technicians are doing, obviously with intent to showcase our servies, push out offers, you know the drill – but getting an up close view at what some of these guys can do, and the amount of knowledge they have has been incredible to witness. It was almost at my one year mark when the owners pulled me aside and asked me for some information, and because you can’t keep a trip like this a surprise – they had to let me know it was to get me a pass and ticket for SEMA. For those that know me, I mean REALLY know me, know that I am not the type to get excited and jump for joy. But inside I couldn’t believe that in 2 months I’d be on a plane heading to a huge automotive trade show, with the sole purpose of capturing photos and video.

The morning routine consisted of waking up pretty early, grabbing an energy drink, and heading to Resorts World. Did I mention I’ve never been to Vegas? Yeah…two birds, one stone. We’d take an escalator down from the main casino area and hopped in a Tesla to drive into the Boring Tunnel. I’m incredibly thankful the owners had done this trip and knew the ins and outs of all this beacuse this method was clearly the way to get in and out of the show stress-free. So there I was, outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and the first few cars already pulled me away. Like a moth to a flame, my legs carried me towards the first group of cars I saw while almost getting clipped by a Tesla en route to bring back another group of people. Everything else about the event was almost a blur. Each day was dedicated to one part of the convention center, and with the event welcoming more than 2,200 exhibitors with more than 160,000 people – “overwhelming” is and always will be an understatement. In classic “Bob” fashion, I had no idea where I was going or where I went – I am seriously the worst to travel with. But if there’s a camera around my neck I almost go into autopilot and tune out the everything else in the world except for what I want to capture in that moment.

I grew up looking at car magazines since I was a teenager. I’d look at the ads for car parts and dream of one day owning anything from some of the top names in the industry. This event brought back all of those memories of talking to friends, arguing which intake would be best, what body kit flowed better, if clear alteeza tail lights will ever go away. There’s such a massive variety of vehicles all under “one” roof , and there’s something for everyone. You also get to see some of these big companies in person and talk to people representing them. I got to talk with one of the reps at the fortune auto booth to learn about some really great features on the new line, and talked about a trade in program since I’ve been running my series 500 gen 2’s since 2017 – so yeah, it’s about that time! Not only were the amount of cars overwhelming, but people that were are big names in the automotive industry can be, for someone like me, a bit much, haha. I’m also not big on name dropping either, but if you follow me on my personal Instagram page you’ll see some of the people I got to talk with briefly, and even grabbed a photo with – something I’m not particularly big on either.

Regardless of all the “Bluetooth Driveshaft” and spotty weld jokes, this event has always a dream of mine to attend. My 14 year old self couldn’t have imagined that combining my love for cars and being able to click a button to capture a moment in time would lead me to this place. Aside from the people I met and seeing some incredible cars, I’ll always associate SEMA with my first slot machine “win”. Making friends with the lady serving up strawberry/lemonade aguas frescas at the casino while I transferred images from my camera to my phone to edit and post. Seeing the Fountains of Bellagio. Burger King, for the first time since the 8th grade, at 2am (that Hershey’s pie <3). Huge thanks to the guys at Integrity Auto for bringing me along for the ride. Enjoy the rest of the gallery of images!


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Words and Photos By : Bobby Villarreal