Year In Review 2018

The year of 2018 was very busy and eventful year for me.  This was the first full year I spent in Dayton, Ohio after moving up from Virginia.  You would think that just moving to a new area would have me slow down, but it was very busy as I tried to incorporate myself into the photography and cosplay communities in the area.  I went to three conventions this year, one group shoot, did seven individual shoots, got published, went on vacation, and started a cosplay and photographer meet-up group. So, let’s talk about some of these events.

Cosplay and Conventions

I went to three conventions this year, two in Ohio (Ohayocon and Matsuricon) and one in DC area (Katsucon).  I will say I was not impressed by two of the three major conventions in Ohio. Ohayocon was nice, but I didn’t feel like there were a ton of cosplayers or a central location for cosplayers to just show off their cosplay.  As for Matsuricon, while I had several paid shoots during that convention, it felt small and underdeveloped.  However, I did meet some lovely cosplayers and had some great on-on-one sessions. Sadly, I still compare the Ohio conventions to Katsucon, which is considered a go to for several top cosplayers, and it is hard to compete with that environment. 

Because, I was missing the camaraderie of the DC Cosplay and Photographer group, I started a similar group in Ohio called the “Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati(DCC) Cosplay Photo Shoots”.  The group is currently 140 members strong on Facebook and 60 members strong on Meet-up.  We had our first event in June with 9 people attending, by our last meet-up in November we had 17 people attend.  Overall, I think that is fairly good for the first year the group is in existence.  Managing the group is a lot of work, with the hardest part finding locations to shoot.  Overall running the group is fulfilling and I’m looking forward to next year.

Portrait Photography
This year was a busy year for me doing several one-on-one sessions and one group session. I want to talk about the group session first.  The group shoot at the farm was interesting for me, because I got to work with several models in one day in a decent setting with all my equipment.  I liked the group session, because it was very similar to how I shoot at a convention but without the gear limitations. I am going to try to attend more group shoots next year, because it is a nice way to meet models and build a strong portfolio.

                       

I did seven one-on-one sessions this year.  I started the year with a very cold shoot out in a field of concrete corn with the lovely Vida Muerta.  Followed up by shoot using a large flower headpiece (which I made) with Lady Chappell.  From there moving on to very sparkly shoot involving a pool of glitter with Star.  Then two very creative shoots with a rubber duck headpiece (which I made) with Cora Mandragora and Lady Chappell.  I’m excited to say the rubber duck headpiece pin-up inspired shoot I did with Cora was published in the November 2018 Issue of Delicious Dolls.  Being published was the highlight of my year. 

Vacation

Vacations for me are a time to relax and work on some landscape photography.  I enjoy landscape photography, but don’t do a lot of it at home. This year’s vacation was South Dakota visiting the National Parks with my mom.  This was a nice week-long trip, and I highly recommend South Dakota especially the badlands for beautiful landscapes. The only thing I regret from the trip is not waiting out the thunderstorm in Badlands National Park, because apparently the sunset after the storm went through was gorgeous according to the park ranger the next day.  But I did get some lovely pictures during the trip and will probably go back at some point.

Overall, I had a very good year and am looking forward to another busy and exciting year.  You can follow my photography journey here on my blog, on my webpage, Facebookpage, and now my Instagram account.