Steampunk Con
I finally went to my first non work related convention; a Wild Wild West / Steampunk convention held at Old Tucson Studios.
I realized right before I left on Friday that my camera batter was dead and that I had left the charger at work. I ran to the grocery store and picked up one of those single use disposable cameras which meant that I was limited to 27 not great quality pics. The lens in the camera did bizarre things to the perspective in some of my shots - several of the buildings bend and slope in odd ways in my pictures. Better than nothing, though.
We got to the con Friday afternoon and, since my camera was buried in the car trunk, I took no pictures. This is a shame as this was the only day that I went with my full costume. Granted, my outfit was NOTHING on what most everyone else wore; I stuck to cargo pants, long sleeved white shirt, vest, boots, my dad's derby and the requisite goggles (I LOVE my dad's derby). Saturday and Sunday I switched out the cargo pants and boots for jeans and hiking shoes.
The convention directors had a deal with Old Tucson Studios to close down a few of the buildings to normal traffic to hold various classes, demos, game rooms, concerts, etc. We also had access to a fair number of vendors relegated out to the rodeo grounds a short walk away. And, of course, we had access to all of the park's normal attractions.
I had a fantastic time people watching. The conventioneers were fantastic to look at and very polite. The best part, however, was the confusion on the faces of the regular park goers.
The lectures were fun, the people were fun, the game room was fun, the ball was reasonable, the Abney Park concert was a blast (I'd never heard of them before the con but they had amazing energy and a great sound - I highly recommend their steampunk recordings although I'm not so enthusiastic about their earlier goth releases), the park itself was a great backdrop for the theme, and I wished the entire time that I had a better camera and more than 27 photo shots. Here are a few pics from our day Saturday:
1st pic: Dirk and Laura. 2nd pick: Crystal. My friends went all out for their costumes and even had several different outfits for the various convention events.
Green-screen pic of the gang purchased at the con:
Dirk (far left) with some geared-out fellow conventioneers.
Me.
I really love old trains.
Laura and me on the old train.
Took the park train around - really, REALLY wish I had a grownup camera for this event.
One of the Old Tucson acts:
Another of the Old Tucson acts:
This one using Laura's camera - Laura and me:
All in all a very enjoyable break from work. Despite a few bumps along the way (the convention lost my concert ticket but happily gave me a new one when I showed them my receipt) it was a fantastic weekend and I can't wait for next year's con. And this time, I'll make sure I have a proper camera for it.
I realized right before I left on Friday that my camera batter was dead and that I had left the charger at work. I ran to the grocery store and picked up one of those single use disposable cameras which meant that I was limited to 27 not great quality pics. The lens in the camera did bizarre things to the perspective in some of my shots - several of the buildings bend and slope in odd ways in my pictures. Better than nothing, though.
We got to the con Friday afternoon and, since my camera was buried in the car trunk, I took no pictures. This is a shame as this was the only day that I went with my full costume. Granted, my outfit was NOTHING on what most everyone else wore; I stuck to cargo pants, long sleeved white shirt, vest, boots, my dad's derby and the requisite goggles (I LOVE my dad's derby). Saturday and Sunday I switched out the cargo pants and boots for jeans and hiking shoes.
The convention directors had a deal with Old Tucson Studios to close down a few of the buildings to normal traffic to hold various classes, demos, game rooms, concerts, etc. We also had access to a fair number of vendors relegated out to the rodeo grounds a short walk away. And, of course, we had access to all of the park's normal attractions.
I had a fantastic time people watching. The conventioneers were fantastic to look at and very polite. The best part, however, was the confusion on the faces of the regular park goers.
The lectures were fun, the people were fun, the game room was fun, the ball was reasonable, the Abney Park concert was a blast (I'd never heard of them before the con but they had amazing energy and a great sound - I highly recommend their steampunk recordings although I'm not so enthusiastic about their earlier goth releases), the park itself was a great backdrop for the theme, and I wished the entire time that I had a better camera and more than 27 photo shots. Here are a few pics from our day Saturday:
1st pic: Dirk and Laura. 2nd pick: Crystal. My friends went all out for their costumes and even had several different outfits for the various convention events.
Green-screen pic of the gang purchased at the con:
Dirk (far left) with some geared-out fellow conventioneers.
Me.
I really love old trains.
Laura and me on the old train.
Took the park train around - really, REALLY wish I had a grownup camera for this event.
One of the Old Tucson acts:
Another of the Old Tucson acts:
This one using Laura's camera - Laura and me:
All in all a very enjoyable break from work. Despite a few bumps along the way (the convention lost my concert ticket but happily gave me a new one when I showed them my receipt) it was a fantastic weekend and I can't wait for next year's con. And this time, I'll make sure I have a proper camera for it.