Review of my First Ohio Convention

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.  

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. 

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.