I took a trip with some friends to the Midwest FurFest 2024. I'm just now getting to the edit of the video and this website article. This was my first time at this particular convention, and it was a very interesting experience. I've been to one other furry convention, Anthrocon back in 2017, and I found the two events to be quite different.
Check out the video on YouTube that this article is based on:
Nikon NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8 Lens:
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- B&H: https://bhpho.to/411ZGTR
- Adorama: https://adorama.rfvk.net/oq47Ge
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- Used on KEH: https://shrsl.com/3nrxt
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If you want to see more photos I do have galleries of the two convention on my Cosplay Banzai facebook page:
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| A first-person view of Midwest FurFest 2024 entrance area of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. |
My Camera Gear and Settings for Convention Photography
For this event, I was using my usual Nikon Z5, but I paired it with a 28mm f/2.8 lens. Considering that most fursuits make people physically larger, it makes more sense to use a wider angle lens than the 40mm I typically use at other conventions. I think this choice worked out well.
For those interested, a furry convention is a formal gathering for members of the furry fandom, which is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. A central part of these conventions is the "fursuit," a full-body costume of an animal character, which can range from cartoon based to highly realistic. (description generated by Gemini Pro AI)
I used my standard settings with face detection turned on, but with fursuits, the camera's auto-detect doesn't always register the faces as it would with human faces. This wasn't a problem, though. The tap-to-focus feature on the Z5's screen is very easy to use, so I was tapping the screen a lot to make sure I got the focus right where I wanted it.
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| One of the outfit at the convention. |
I also set a minimum shutter speed of 1/160th of a second. It's good to use a higher shutter speed because I'm moving around a lot at these conventions. I try to take photos quickly, so I don't waste the person's time. The faster shutter speed helps prevent motion blur, which makes sense for my specific style of photography.
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| While taking a photo with my GoPro recording. |
My Shooting and Editing Process
My general process for most of the fursuiters was to take a vertical, full-body shot first. Then, I'd get a little closer and take a horizontal, landscape-style photo for some variety. Later on, since I'm using a prime lens (a lens with a fixed focal length), I sometimes crop the images to create an even closer-up shot. This depends on if it's a single person or multiple.
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| Taking a group photo of three fursuiters posing together in the busy hallway. |
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| The final group photo of the three fursuiters. In this case I tend to only take horizontal orientation photos. |
After the convention, my general process is to go through all the photos and remove any duplicates I don't like, along with any photos with technical errors like bad framing or blurriness.
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| A look at the photo management software (ACDSee) showing the collection of RAW image files from the convention. |
The Convention Atmosphere and Community
This convention was very different from Anthrocon, which I attended many years ago. It seems the community may have changed or grown since then. There was a large variety of people of all different ages, and in many ways, it felt pretty similar to a regular anime, sci-fi, or comic convention.
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| A screen capture of a Facebook album from Anthrocon 2017, used for comparison. |
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| Two fursuiters posing with a life-sized cardboard cutout of Nicolas Cage. |
Most of the people were very friendly. My friend was wearing something from the video game Destiny, and someone came right up and started a conversation about it. I'd say even compared to anime conventions, more people at this event came up and started talking to us, which was cool.
Cosplay is obviously the main draw for me at conventions. It's pretty different here. You'll see some regular cosplay, but it's mostly fursuits. There are full, head-to-toe suits, which I've heard can be very expensive to make or purchase, but you also see a mixture of styles. Some people wear the head portion with standard clothes, and there's a lot of creative styling with accessories that make each full outfit look interesting and unique.
When you think about it, there's a lot of creativity in the fursuit community compared to something like cosplay from a specific anime or other media where the person might take creative liberties but also following an existing design.
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| A fursuiter in a white and pink lolita-styled dress. |
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| Fursuits mixed with normal clothing. |
Photographing the fursuiters is very easy, I'd say even easier than standard people photography because there isn't as much of an issue with focus mistakes on the camera. I actually really enjoy taking photos of them. They are surprisingly emotive, even with their suits on, and they really project their feelings through the suit. It's great, and it's pretty easy to capture with a camera.
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| A close-up of a bright orange fursuiter with expressive blue eyes. |
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| A person in a detailed blue jay fursuit with impressive iridescent wings. |
The Dealers' Room and Artist Alley
Of course, the convention had a dealers' room and an artist alley with so many things to see and check out. It's obviously quite different in some ways from an anime convention. I tried to take a few photos in the dealers' area to get an idea of what's available in this community.
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| Fursuit glasses seller in the dealers room. |
One booth that stood out was a guy who was making and selling glasses designed to fit the size of a fursuit, which was a cool and unique idea. There was also another area of the convention, but I don't have any footage from there. It's an option, though, if you're interested in that stuff.
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| A very busy artist alley. |
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| A Beanie Baby branded fursuit head. |
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| One of my friends, "Julia Likes Cats" with her booth in the Artist Alley. |
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| More from the Artist Alley. |
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed the photography at this convention. My friends and I had a great time, and there's a good chance we'll go back. If you want to see more of the fursuits and get a better feel for the event, I hope you'll check out my full video walk-through. You can also check out the related image gallery on Facebook.