What sounds more fun than spending a day with cosplayers? Exactly, not much. And with a Con like All-Con there was no shortage in variety. From the moment we arrived we were surrounded by Dr. Who, Storm Troopers, Derby Girls, zombies and no shortage of Steampunk.
We had a great time, but I never thought walking the halls of a conference could be so exhausting. We ran into some old friends who we hadn’t seen in a long time and a few that we had. We attended a couple of the panels and the costume contest was amazing. Some of these costumes makers went all out. Next year we will definitely get the weekend pass instead of only attending one day. Overall I only had two complaints that I can think of.
First off, this needs to be held in a much larger venue. Utilizing a hotel where vendors have to set up in hallways is just a bad plan. Now if this was a jewelry convention, or an art show it might have worked. But in an environment where you can expect larger than life costumes, maneuverability becomes quickly compromised. I saw more than a couple of people in wheelchairs who appeared to have a difficult time maneuvering in the tight quarters and those of us with strollers had to be patient occasionally and wait for the crowd to thin before heading to our next destination. If asked I would highly suggest utilizing a convention center in the future.
My second complaint is for the most part just personal. It was hard to find clean backgrounds when taking pictures. If it wasn’t overly busy at the moment it wasn’t too much trouble to walk 20 or 30 feet to find some empty wall, but the littered hallways covered in fliers did at times make it a bit difficult.
Three major themes seemed to dominate the con with Star Wars being most prominent. Everywhere you looked Storm Troopers were patrolling the halls, Sith lurking around the corners, there was no escaping the Dark Side. One of the most amazing costumes I saw was Queen Amidala.
Equipment: Nikon D700, Nikon 24-70 Post Processing: Lightroom, Nik Color Efex Pro, Nik Viveza, OnOne Perfect Portrait 2, Photoshop Shot Info: 1/80 sec at f 4, ISO 400
The second and third most popular costumes were Dr. Who and Steampunk. I think at one time I saw 8 different doctors togethers all working to save us from the Silence and Weeping Angels. Steampunk was very popular both by the players and vendors. I think this will soon be a theme for an upcoming photo shoot.
Equipment: Nikon D700, Nikon 70-300 Post Processing: Lightroom, Nik Color Efex Pro, Photoshop Shot Info: 1/125 sec at f 5.6, ISO 6400
We are looking forward to Comic Con later this year. Can’t wait to see what costumes people wear.
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