Katsucon 2024 Wrap-Up

This is a very late wrap-up of Katsucon 2024, but I have been busy with war college; thankfully, I graduate in June.  Because of college, I didn’t have my normal Katsucon session schedule because, I needed to balance schoolwork with my post convention photo editing workload.  Also, my husband and I brought our niece with us, it was her first big convention, and we needed to make sure she could enjoy the convention.  I would like to give a special shout-out to LifeofCosplay for showing my niece the cosplayer's perspective of Katsucon.

We arrived on Friday afternoon, instead of our normal Thursday evening, which meant I did not have any Friday sessions scheduled.  I didn’t get out onto the floor until after 3:00PM because I had to be on a teleconference till 2:30PM.  I took a few floor shots and went to the cosplay met gala runway show since I knew several people walking the runway.  This year’s gala was moved to the Cherry Bloom Ballroom, where they were supposed to have a stage but didn’t.  The lack of a stage with non-ideal lighting in the room did not make for good runway photos.  While I photographed the whole show, I was not happy with the images.  This was for two reasons, one I put myself in the wrong spot, and the lighting was just not working.  Is the ballroom a better location, probably; is the lighting better than the atrium, no.  The lighting in the ballroom had a bit of green/yellow tint to it due to the overall color of the room, and the carpet didn’t help matters.  I hope next year they get a stage.   If you want to see the images you can click here. 

On Saturday had 6 sessions booked, which were my only 6 sessions for the convention.  This was a dramatic decrease from the 20 sessions I normally book across the convention.   Most of these sessions were in the morning, which is the best time to shoot at Katsucon, and two in the afternoon.  No matter what, I will not do evening sessions, as the convention is too crowded to do good evening sessions.  I’m also reconsidering late afternoon sessions because if it is too windy, everyone moves inside, and it is hard to find a decent, uncrowded location.  This year I also noticed a lot of meet-up groups taking over spaces photographers normally use and some of the more out-of-the-way spaces, making it, in my opinion, harder to find a good location.  Now let’s talk about some images.

I had the pleasure of working with SkuraShounen and StrawberryTarot again this year.  The last time I worked with them, they were a wedding Bowser and Princess Peach. This year, they were Itsuki Shu and Mika Kagehira from “Ensemble Stars!”.  I love working with these two cosplayers and what made this session special was it was also a surprise engagement session.  Sadly, I couldn’t get the gazebo for the actual engagement but at least it was in front of the Cherry Blossom Ballroom doors.  One of my favorite images from the session was taken down on the atrium level near the fountain.  I chose this location as it was similar to the background in one of the reference images they sent.  To bring it closer to the reference images, in post-processing, I added some glow and light flairs to give the image that dreamy look.  

ISO 100, Aperture F4.5, Shutter 1/125, Focal Length 27mm

Next up, we have Isantheon doing Rolan from Balder’s Gate 3.  I have worked with her previously as part of the D.C. Cosplay Photo Shoot Meet Up group, but sadly, she moved out of the area, so I haven’t been able to work with her recently.  Thus, it was good to see her at Katsucon and be able to do a session together.  I love her makeup work; it is stunning work and always on point.  My original goal was to shoot this cosplay down by “The Awakening” sculpture; however, it was too cold and windy to be able to spend the time needed to get the epic shots.  I do not like my cosplayers to get cold and turn into cosplay-pops.  Thus, we moved inside to the rock wall which worked really well for this cosplay, and I could add some gel lighting to the shot.   My favorite image from the session is basically a headshot that I feel shows off the makeup work.  

ISO 100, Aperture F4.5, Shutter 1/100, Focal Length 97mm

For the next session, I went out to the parking garage to shoot Inkyravens as Major Ocelot from Metal Gear Solid 3.  I have worked with her before, and she does a ton of research for her cosplays, which helps make cosplay look good and the shoot go so smoothly.  You might think a parking garage is not a great location, but for the character, it worked.  Because the stairwell has lots of possibilities.  I have two favorite images from this session, one where I went cinematic by placing the speedlight just the other side of the door to make it look like the character was leaving the dark stairwell and sneaking into another area.  The other was taken inside the elevator; the all-metal walls of the elevator act as great reflectors while creating interesting light patterns in the background.

ISO 100, Aperture F5, Shutter 1/250, Focal Length 24mm

ISO 100, Aperture F5, Shutter 1/50, Focal Length 24mm

To round out the morning sessions, I got to work with Goldenangelcos as Albedo from Overlord.  This was a fun cosplay to shoot.  I’m also very glad she brought an assistant with her to arrange the chains, help with the wings, and fluff the bottom of the dress.  That saved me time, allowing me to focus on the image and not if all the accessories were in the correct place.  I was lucky enough to be able to use the round mirror in the lobby and find a space on the rock wall later in the session.  Depending on the cosplay, I try to find at least two locations to shoot in.   I’m pleased with this image because of the overall framing and lighting.   

ISO 400, Aperture F5, Shutter 1/125, Focal Length 24mm

Next up is the lovely Saragobragh in a version of Snow White as envisioned by Pem_Designs.  I always love working with Sara as her work is impeccable.  I also really loved this design with the sequined gloves and overall cut of the dress; it gave me a bit of an old Hollywood vibe.  She also introduced me to the work of Pem_Desings, which I hope cosplayers see and start making because I would love to photograph some of these designs in real life.   To ensure maximum drama for the photo, I had her sit on the marble stairs and look up and over her shoulder to where I was standing a few steps above her.  While my husband stood to my left with the speed light.  I did some post processing to the image to remove the handrail posts while adding a more significant vignette to the image.

ISO 400, Aperture F4, Shutter 1/100, Focal Length 33mm

The final cosplayer I got the pleasure of working with for a full session was Makeo_gg as Cocco from Witch Hat Atelier.  This is such a cute cosplay and I really wanted to do the session outside, however the wind had other plans.  It was horribly windy in the afternoon making it near impossible to go outside and get a decent shot without the wind blowing everything away.  Thus, I had to settle for indoors, and most of my usual spots were full.  I was able to pull off a few shots in the atrium, but we ended up having to move towards one of the convention hall exits to find an open spot.  I’m actually sad, because I don’t feel I was able to give Makeo_gg my very best as the cosplay deserved better.  However, I was able to pull off a few nice images, my favorite is below.  In this image, I employed gels to add dimension to the white pillar behind the cosplayer and hopefully elevate the surroundings. 

ISO 400, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/200, Focal Length 42mm

Overall, this Katsucon was slightly better than the last, however, I’m starting to get bored with the convention and the location.  I feel like I’m shooting the same locations and images over and over and losing my creative spark.  This is understandable as I have been shooting the convention for 10 years now.  Also, the past few years not being able to go outside due to heavy winds has put a damper on things as well.   I think if I do sessions for Katsucon 2025, I will rent a conference room and do all studio sessions.  Doing studio sessions would get rid of my equipment limitations, allow me to bring in props and backdrops, allow me to design sets, and allow me to use more complex lighting.  Overall, going to studio sessions would eliminate the stress of finding locations giving me more creative freedom. 

You can see all the session and hall shot images from Katsucon by following this link: Katsucon 2024.