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| ISO 400, Focal Length 18mm, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/20 |
On January 26 and 27, I attended my first
convention in Ohio, Ohayocon, and have to say it is very different vibe from
the Washington, DC conventions I attend. First, I have to say getting my
badge/wristband went relatively smoothly, parking didn’t seam to be an issue at
the convention center it was held at, and the vendor room (after I found it)
was spacious and didn’t feel congested. However, I didn’t feel like there was the same
level of energy, at this convention compared to the previous conventions I have
gone to. I was expecting the convention to be similar to
something like AnimeUSA, small but lots of energy, collaboration, and, meeting
new people and a fair bit of cosplay. I felt it was a little more like AwesomeCon (DC’s comic con) where people go panel to panel and there isn’t much
cosplay but without the excitement and big-name guest of a comic con.
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| ISO 400, Focal Length 18mm, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/125s |
I must admit I was expecting to see a lot of
cosplay and photographers roaming around, since there were all these photo meet
ups posted on the schedule but it didn’t seem like that at all. I went to a few
locations were the photo meet ups were supposed to take place and didn’t see
large groups of people, and it wasn’t obvious if a meet up was happening. Case
in point, I went to the Lolita meet-up at the convention, since I like shooting
Lolita, however when I arrived at the location there were Lolitas roaming
around but no organizer or lead photographer. I even asked who the organizer was, and no one
spoke up. I found it rather odd. I did end up taking some group shots for the Lolitas
and some individuals for those that asked. Also, I’m used to conventions having an “it”
spot or a hang-out spot where you could find most of the cosplayers. If there is one at Ohayocon, I wasn’t able to
locate it.
The other thing I found a bit odd, in
comparison to previous conventions, was the lack of business card exchange. Usually, I come home from a convention with a
stack of business cards, so I can tag cosplayers in hall shots. I came home with only one person’s cosplay
card. Now, I will admit I messed up
slightly by not have my big stack of cards with me, but really my stack of about
30 cards was basically sufficient.
Usually, I go through at least 150 cards if not more at convention. Also, most people I took hall shots of didn’t
ask for cards or turned them down when I offered them. In addition, I didn’t seem to see a lot of
photographer.
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| ISO 400, Focal Length 18mm, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/30s |
For the convention I brought my Canon 70D, my trusty 18-200mm lens, one 430 EX–IIIRT
flash, and a bounce attachment. I figured
this was my first time at this convention, I would check out the cosplay scene,
go to a few of the meet ups, and focus on hall shots. I was expecting to
take significantly more photos then I did. Overall, I ended up taking 112
photos and editing and posting 55 photos, which is significantly lower then
other conventions where I’ll post around 180 or more photos just in edited hall
shots and that is when I’m doing one-on-one shoots as well. I was able to capture a few nice cosplays such
as this Jedi photo above. I have to say
the middle Jedi is just nailing it. It all comes down to her eyes and the
intensity behind them. While all the
cosplay’s in this group are exception and I would like to work with each of
them individually sometime, the middle one is just nailing it for me. I will also say this little Lolita (above left) was
perfectly capturing the cute and innocent vibe. I also like the girl doing Honey Lemon from
Big Hero 6 (right). You can see all my edited photos from the convention here: Ohayocon 2018.
Overall, I wasn’t that impressed with Ohayocon.
I’m hoping the other conventions in Ohio and the surrounding area are better
and more along the lines of conventions I’m used to.
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