Monday, February 28, 2011

She likes long, romantic walks on the beach and prefers caramels to chcolates.

On February 12th, I attended the fourth annual Nobody's Destiny Productions Valentines Day event at the Santa Monica Pier here in SoCal. I was the only member of the blog able to attend and I actually wound up making the decision to do so at the very last minute.

So, with one of the most hardcore all-nighters behind me and only tomorrow ahead, I braved the Santa Monica bus route that always seems to give me hell once again for one of the most anticipated cosplay meet ups of the year.

I arrived much earlier than anticipated, and by the time I got to the tents where NDP was already halfway through setting up shop, I was informed that they'd been there since six o'clock that morning! The lovely ladies (and two gentleman) on staff for the day all looked positively exhausted already, but in the way that someone who works very hard starts to get all giggly once they've achieved something truly great. That's my favorite thing about NDP--they're tough cookies.

And while we're on the subject of cookies, this event was a pot-luck, so I brought along some maple cookies to share with everyone. It seemed like baked goods were the favored snack that people would bring in, as expected of Valentines Day. There was plenty of bottled water too, so we were all kept well-hydrated.

As for the rest of their set-up, NDP's games were fun and casual, their contests were well-organized and clever, and all of the cosplayers, both staff and attendees, were so friendly that it was more like a family reunion than a cosplay event. I also got to reconnect with a lot of old friends I haven't seen much lately due to distance, occupation and even fandom.

In fact, one of those people was Sojian, a photographer who I run into at a lot of events and usually chat with about whatever anime is currently airing. The last time we met there was mention of Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt, and when I turned up at the pier as Brief, Sojian asked me if I'd like a photo shoot.

Now, I'm considered an amateur as far as cosplay goes. Not only are my photo-taking skills fairly average, but if you were to give me materials with which to sew a garment from scratch, you couldn't even leave me alone for an hour without some form of destruction occurring. I tend to stick with what I know, and what I know well is thrift shopping, which means "found item" cosplay is right up my alley.

Brief is probably my best work at finding clothes that look like the character's and modifying them to look closer. I'm very proud of how my beach version turned out.

Here are my top three favorites from the photoshoot with Sojian, and you can see more of his photography on his website.



"I ain't afraid of no ghosts!"
These images are all cross-posted to my deviantart.


"Hey, even a geek boy can dream..."



"I know some other things that tend to go 'bump' in the night!"

Monday, February 21, 2011

Fun With Photoshop

I'm taking a introductory photography class as part of my quest to graduate from Sacramento State. I'm learning a lot more in terms of basic photography and photo editing. Now, I can't shoop myself quite just yet, but check out what I did in about 5 minutes.

I took this existing photo from AV 2010...

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...threw on some filters, and bam!

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That was just a quick edit. Just wait until I take some time to create some really nice-looking photo effects...and I can obtain the software so that I can use it at home.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Decepti-Kon


I actually might have something to do between now and FanimeCon. While I can't go to Anime Conji, this new convention really looks interesting. I love the concept behind this convention, and I want to see how this is executed. It's very interesting that 2011 is seeing new conventions in Sacramento with Kintoki-Con in June and now this con in April. I'm already excited to hear about some of the events that will take place, but I'll just let you read it to find out. I also can't to wait to see what guests they bring and some of the musical acts & DJs they headline.

To visit the website for Decepti-Kon, click on their banner.

Conventions Gone Wrong: Ohayocon 2011 Masquerade

I've seen my fair share of Masquerade skits, and I've even been in one. I've seen the good, the bad, and one too many Hare Hare Yukai skits.

But this skit that I'm about to show really takes it to another level, and I mean ANOTHER LEVEL.




My question is who in the world's name allowed this skit to perform in the first place?