After a few crazy years it’s good to see things returning to somewhat semblance of normality, Oz Comic Con being packed is one of those normal things = )
Was on the late shift this Saturday so not as many people as previous years, but that means less time photoshopping, so, you win some, you lose some ; )
click the above to view the album
Covid still lingering on but not dampening the enthusiasm for cosplay at the second Oz Comic Con of the year here in Sydney, some great work on display and I fortunately got to capture some of it.
Feel I’ve upped my game this year, breaking out of my comfort zone of natural light and shooting with flash has made a noticeable improvement, though still more work and testing needed I feel!
First 24 are shown below, click the title to go through the album on Flickr!
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Back to the conventions, Covid may have stopped the international stars of screens big and small but it didn’t seem to put a dent in the imaginative cosplay that always makes these events for me, even the quiet Sunday morning slot I had yielded a few hundred snaps.
Thanks to Oz Comic Con for inviting me to take up the official cosplay photography booth, it’s always great to give back to such an awesome community in the little way I know how.
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Last time I went to Melbourne’s Oz Comic-con I was mistaken for a professional photographer, this year, I was.
Quite different approach, I shot for two hours Saturday morning and have twenty eight more pictures than the two days of floor walking last time I was here with people queuing up for a picture.
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Fun at this years Supanova, saw some familiar faces (well, familiar voices, totally didn’t recognise the faces!). Managed to find a good spot for taking pictures, end of an aisle with a nice black backdrop and bit of carpet (maybe it was supposed to be a stall and they cancelled late?), quickly snowballed as people started asking me to take their picture, even had a queue at one point!
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Been down in Melbourne a fair bit lately with the day job so took the opportunity to delay my return flight and enjoy Oz Comic Con down south for a change (though, still quite likely go to Sydney come September too!).
Lot of fun, people just as friendly and some truly awesome cosplay on display as always. Having done a few of these things though I’m starting to form the opinion that shooting cons should be classed as an endurance sport! I do long distance running, 100+ km’s cycles and triathlon’s and generally feel pretty fine afterwards, my wristwatch clocked about 6km walking on Sunday and I was a physical wreck, glad for the cradle of the seat on the flight back (and the extra leg room afford by the exit row).
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First chance to get to Supanova after having no knowledge of it until after the fact my first year here, out of state with work (and country) on the second and third years it’s now fourth year lucky.
And boy it wasn’t a let down, what a lot of fun, though, I have come to realise something over the weekend. I do endurance sport events, long bike rides (like 160km+ rides), long distance running and olympic distance triathlons and none of them have left me as worn out as a couple of days pounding the convention floor!
Very surreal moment of having an odd urge to look up and see the organiser ‘Quinny’ waving down at me from one of the management pens windows a floor above us (I’ve chatted to Quinny a few times as he introduces “In The House” for Event’s cinemas, part of which involves greeting viewers as they arrive and I’m regularly outside waiting for meetup people myself).
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I realised what I love about convention photography this weekend, it’s the five second portraits. As that’s the time you have after asking someone if they don’t mind a picture to thanking them and letting them go, five seconds, tops. The flow of people, the rest of the day they have and the fact you’re probably the hundred and nth person to have asked for a picture that day means you can’t really take much of their time (well, to me), so all these shots are done in very little time, camera settings are set for the day at the start and hope they work best for the various lighting challenges that come up in the day.
Cosplay was as fun as ever, some great efforts made by many, including the 3D printed Batman armour that took 6 months, or the guy who spent four hours painting himself to look like Darth Maul, my highlight though was the portrait shot of a Harley Quinn, the eyes are so emotive, I feel it’s the best photo I’ve ever taken
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Panel’s weren’t as great as last year – but really, they’d be hard pushed to beat Shatner! Feel a little let down that Brisbane got Kevin Smith though and Mark Sheppard was at one of the other city’s too as his panel last year was hilarious. That said Richard Dean Anderson was entertaining enough but let’s face it, the day’s about all the glorious cosplaying and there were so many I didn’t get chance to ask (either space wasn’t available or they looked already inundated!).
As last year, had a lot of fun, great atmosphere and everyone was so happy and friendly when asked by a stranger if they could take their picture!
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Not as much fun as last year, think we’ve been spoiled by the Oz Comic-Con – though it could be just the odd half day split aswell, last year was a whole day format and having two half days seemed a little odd – definitely affected the atmosphere which just didn’t have the same fun vibe as the year before!
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