(You thought I was done? WELL I WAS JUST GETTING STARTED! Actually, I'm almost finished. More here.)

I assure you these were the best Shippuden Sasuke, Jugo, Karin cosplayers at the con. I assure you I've just pissed off all the other Sasuke, Jugo, Karin cosplayers that attended. What if I said these were the ONLY Sasuke, Jugo, Karin cosplayers I encountered? I guess that means I've now just pissed off THESE Sasuke, Jugo, Karin cosplayers. Sasuke, Jugo, Karin, Sasuke, Jugo, Karin, Sask...


Jet Set/Grind Radio Future SUCKS and that's why they're not dressed that way.

Charetta on MySpace
Charetta on my flickr

I split these up into two groups. Photos I took with flash. And those I took without. Why? I wanted to exemplify how the use of flash can change a photo. Perhaps by doing so you'll understand why I try so hard to capture my subjects without it.

The photos without flash are more colorful and naturally lit. But what happens with the flash is it pretty much replaces the lighting and changes the entire mood of the photo. Example:

Taken with flash.


Taken without.

(Well, apparently. More here, etc.)

 
This one's really good.


Sierra thought this girl was cute so I took her photo. I'm sure it's now her wallpaper.

( So I heard you like Mudkips... )

(You can find the rest on flickr.)

I'm not gonna lie, this photo could have been so much better. There's three more on the flickr page. I blame first day jitters!


Meta Knight is going to be in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Thusly I have not diverted from the theme!

( HURT ME MOOORE! )

More on the flickr page, etc.

Would you believe this outfit has something to do with Courtney Love?


So cute!!!

As always, you know where to find more.

This dude was a trip.


Sometimes when I see something it triggers music cues in my head. Right now the theme to the animated series is playing.

( HURT ME MOOOOOOORE )

 

(As a general reminder, you can find find the gallery here. It's worth it to go to the photo pages because I've added anecdotes and notes. The notes feature of flickr is pretty awesome. It's a telestrator for your photos!)

DBZ 4EVAR


The Fuu cosplayer has clearly studied her character!

(I'm still verifying information, that's why. Don't sweat it!)

So uh, yesterday I thought I would try something I've been thinking about for a while. Check these out.

This is easy enough to do. LEave the shutter for as long as possible and you get this neat effect. My Canon A640 lets you leave it open for a maximum of 15 seconds. Rave lights not included.


Done with stabbing motions.


SHOOP DA WHOOP!

( MOAR PLZ )

(UPDATE: The gallery is now open. I'll be posting updates once a day at around the same time. No need to constantly keep checking. And no, not trying to milk this. If anything I want all the shots online bfore the week is over.)


So, Otakon happened. It was my first time attending an anime convention. Not at all what I was expecting. It was better! Cosplayers as far as the eye could see. My goal was to go there and take as many photos as possible. And I wanted to do a better job than I did at NY Comicon. (NYCC)

My biggest regret coming back from NYCC was how blurry the photos were. I attribute this to my not so nerves of steel. I'm always on edge. To remedy this I got a monopod. Constantly holding a camera in mid-air will get tiring. Especially my camera, which has a significant heft to it.

The monopod, while being a big help, did sometimes fail me. The telescoping mechanism collapsed a few times. I'm thinking of either getting a better model or looking into portable tripods. The problem with tripods is that when it comes time to shoot a photo I have to set it up every time. I would need to extend THREE legs as opposed to just one. I can't walk around with it extended, that's a danger to the people around me.

And it WAS awkward extending the monopod every time I wanted to snap a photo. Though not a single person grew impatient with me. In fact I was probably harder on myself than anybody! I made a joke of it and pretended I was the Monkey King by going POWER POLE EXTEND!

The other thing I needed to do was preview my shots better than I did at NYCC. Last time when I transferred my photos to PC I was SHOCKED by how blurry my shots came out. The problem is when you preview your photos on such a small display they look alright. You need to employ the zoom feature and inspect the shots to really be sure. I didn't do this after every shot but I did do it a lot more than last time. This helped because a few times I caught myself and took additional shots.

Speaking of taking additional shots, I've started bracketing. The way my camera works I can set up a timer to take shots for me without pressing the shutter. By doing this I'm able to concentrate more only holding my camera steady. Or rather, the monopod. When I manually press the shutter the camera moves with it. I'll have to work on that. Maybe I can join the armed forces and train to be a sniper. I'll go through five years of that for the sole purpose of taking sharper photos. Good idea?

Is anyone still reading this nerdy long-winded shit?

So that's the technical side of things. The other thing I wanted to do was get a little more intimate with these people. Just a little. (A tiny bit!) So what I did after taking their photo was I asked their name, age, location and e-mail. And you'll find that information (minus their e-mail, duh), in the flickr gallery. You'll also find maybe a small anecdote with each photo.

I've always posted my photos with captions and added a personal touch. I think you'll like the way I've done it this time. I showed it to someone else (before making it live) and they said they really liked it and it made the gallery a lot more interesting. These people work so hard on their costumes, you know? The least I can do is get them a little recognition. I want you to know who they are. I want you so see how far they had to travel.

What I've also done is link to their MySpace profiles. This way you can learn more about them and if they have something to promote it helps them out a bit.

Three exceptions:
1) They need to have one. Duh.
2) Must be over eighteen.
3) Must not be a private profile.

Otherwise I didn't link to it. Of course, if you're reading this now and want me to link to it anyway then I'll be happy to accommodate your wishes.

Jesus Christ I don't expect anybody to read all that. Even worse there are no photos in this entry!

As much as I try to avoid motion blur, I think it adds life to this photograph.



My cousin really like playing as Voldo. He spotted this guy from the floor above.

Hey, pictures! This time we get a look at the Charetta and Letterist performances @ Alphabet Lounge.

This I really like this concept. I should do more close-ups of people playing.

Let's Begin.

In 2006 I attented the first annual NYCC and it was good. I captured nice photos. (Here and here.) This year, NOT SO MUCH. I don't know what happened between last year and this year but IT APPEARS I'VE COME DOWN WITH A NASTY CASE OF PARKINSON'S. Oh my God, EVERY single picture is blurry. The shots you see were doctored by lonesome under Paint Shop Pro X for over a week. The shots I didn't put online are even WORSE. It probably helps that I had the BRILLIANT idea not to use flash at all. I was like, "Hey, I'm indoors! Why use flash? DUUUUUR!" This is one of those cases where knowing too much can be a bad thing. Just goes to show I'm still an amateur. And I'm hating myself over this.

The worst part is that these shots looked GREAT on the LCD preview. I'm really starting to hate that LCD preview shit. I always have a few photos in the set that looked GREAT on LCD but were a blurry mess or DARK on the computer. It doesn't even matter that I bracket the shot. There's always a lemon.

Lesson learned, man.

This is why you see me taking so many photos lately. I can't just take out the camera whenever a convention rolls around. Like drawing, or ANY talent I suppose, you have to CONSTANTLY PRACTICE.

I'm not happy with these photos because I know they could have been better. I'm not expecting to get famous off this shit or anything but I KNOW that I MYSELF can do better than this. I'm determined to redeem myself at Otakon. I'm getting my tix over the weekend. I AM going.

And I'll fucking take my tripod with me and I'll fucking use the flash, God damnit! Or at least PRACTICE indoor shooting CONSTANTLY.

I MUST DO MY BEST! I can't fail myself again.

As a sidenote, I recorded video @ NYCC. THAT actually came out very nicely. But I refuse to edit that footage until I get a Matrox card. And I can't get the card until my tax check gets here. So you'll have to make due with more photos until then.

I mean, these photos are FAR from shit but I'm not swelling with pride over them either.

Leeloo

( More photos after the jump. )

Who still buys phone cards?

(Ugh. Two fucking pages of this garbage. My apologies.)

[No, because if I do that this guy will RAPE RAPE me.]

I used to play the popular MMO World of Warcraft (WoW). I got into it while working for Geek Squad. It was a perfect fit for me at the time. Retail leaves you with very little free time for yourself. Your schedule is different every week. You can't plan for shit unless you take your vacation days. And I almost never take vacations. I even refuse to take sick days. I was fucked, basically.

My guess? It's fucking Gonzo from Sesame Street warning us of the dangers of pouring liquid down a drain.



Out of all the clip art in the world, THIS is what they go with? Whomever makes the signs in this hospital is fucking looney toons!



How hard was it to find a picture of a drink bottle and make a red circle line thing going through it like the Ghost Busters logo?

You know you're in a fancy fucking super market when you see all THREE of these guys. Usually it's only Chocula. Or sometimes him and Frakenberry.



But BOO BERRY? He's rarer than those fucking Charmander cards. I think the last time I saw Boo Berry I was still wearing pajamas with feet! And cereal still had fucking toys in them.



What's up with that? Why don't they give out toys anymore? Remember that shit? I remember when they would package Cap'n Crunch with those sticky wall walking octopus things. You would throw it high at the wall and it would slither down like a pimp. I loved those things. Wash it with dish soap if it gets dirty and you're ready to rock again.



Now they just have puzzles on the back. BULLSHIT!!

I don't understand the people working at the scrap yard. I think they just burn shit for entertainment value. And I see this about once a week. It's on my way to work afterall.