I went to Anime Midwest on Saturday to take photos and enjoy the convention. I was asked to take photos at the Pillowcases concert as well as the Masquerade, so that took some time from general hallway cosplay, but was a fun diversion. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the resulting photographs. Enjoy!
EDIT, I suggest that you do your research about Anime Midwest and its owner before you consider going to their conventions.
I also have my photos exported to my Photography Banzai Facebook page if you want to tag yourself:
http://www.facebook.com/PhotographyBanzai
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Equipment wise, I was using the K-01 and K-5 camera bodies with the 14mm f2.8 and 85mm f1.4 lenses (Sigma add-on flash attached to the K-5). This is a really solid combination that allows for a wide range of framing possibilities. I was even able to manage decently well when asked to cover the concert and Masquerade.
A few highlight images from the event:
There were some really nice cosplays on display at Anime Midwest. I missed quite a few people I would have liked to take photos with. When it comes to hallway cosplay, people might be curious as to what my main criteria are. It depends much more on the situation than any specific requirement.
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I think that everyone who puts forth the effort to cosplay is worth spending some time with. It isn’t always that simple though. It’s time for a little rant about the subject. The “small convention” atmosphere at Anime Midwest brought back some thoughts I wanted to discuss.
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If I have an easy opportunity to ask and see that a person isn’t busy or walking really fast, I’ll most likely put forth the effort. There are a few instances that I avoid asking for photos. This is especially true at small conventions where there seem to be a lot more of this type roaming around the convention (I still consider Anime Midwest small, but it is expanding fast).
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I will avoid asking cosplayers that look very young and especially ones where their outfits are risqué (if I can easily tell a cosplayer is older and seems approachable, I won’t treat them any different than normal regardless of their outfit choices). Basically anything that could cause unwanted hassle or drama, I’ll try my best to avoid.
One of the first and most epic convention photographers (Kevin Lillard of “A Fans View”) was unjustly pushed around and I don’t want to ever experience something like that…It just isn’t worth it. On a side note, I found a picture of one of my few cosplays taken by Kevin at Ohayocon 2004!
We put a lot of effort, time, money, and skill into this without much real benefit besides some notoriety. Trying to cover all aspects of hallway cosplay like Kevin did just isn’t worth the trouble. The people I will most likely ask are ones I know or are well known regulars of the convention scene, so I know generally what to expect from them.
If you get to know me a bit, there is a better chance we can work together to make some nice images that display your work. I don’t mind having cosplayers ask me to take some photos of their cosplay. It’s all about mutual respect and cooperation.