Dragon*Con Photo Ops
Yesterday at Comic Con, we just happened to walk by a booth that was advertising photo ops and autographs with Kristen Bell, Levar Burton, and others. Since I missed KB at Wizard World, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a photo with KB. The photographer hired by FX Shows (the booth's company), was Froggy, which some of you might know from previous conventions, and he was the photographer for the Booster Bash. He had postcards at the booth advertising his website and Dragon*Con. Apparently, he's going to be the photographer for James Marsters, Sean Astin, Brent Spiner, Juliet Landau, and others. I asked him approximately how much James' photos are going to be. He said that he'd probably be around $60-$65 and the combo photo op with Juliet will be $20 more. Also, photo op tickets will be pre-sold on his website, however, at the moment the website he advertised isn't actually available; there's only a GoDaddy placeholder.
In terms of quality of the photos, I'm quite concerned. I didn't like my Booster Bash photo op with Christian Kane at all. The photo itself was decently sharp (from what I remember), but the color was terribly off. The samples at the FX Show booth were a lot better, so I was hoping things had changed/improved since 2005. The photos were printed on-site, and maybe because he was rushing to get things done (they were closing down the exhibit hall at 7pm and it was already late), he didn't do any post-processing. I picked up my photo with Kristen today and color-wise, it was a little warm, but not as bad as my Kane photo. Also, it was seriously lacking in sharpness. Just a little post-processing could have made a big difference. I get that lack of time restricted how much he could do, but I really hope it's not the same at Dragon*Con. I feel especially bad for oanimation, though, who took a photo with Robert Englund. That one was completely off-focus.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to bash Froggy or anything like that. He was incredibly kind and understanding when I told him that I'd lost my purse, and along with it, my photo op ticket for Kristen. However, if I'm going to spend a couple of hundred dollars on photos, taken by a professional photographer, I expect good quality shots, from composition to processing. I don't think that's asking for too much, is it? The only one who's ever delivered on all points is Chris from Creation Entertainment. I've got tremendous respect for all his work and ethic. I'm really hoping that the end result at Dragon*Con will be different, but perhaps I shouldn't hold my breath.
In terms of quality of the photos, I'm quite concerned. I didn't like my Booster Bash photo op with Christian Kane at all. The photo itself was decently sharp (from what I remember), but the color was terribly off. The samples at the FX Show booth were a lot better, so I was hoping things had changed/improved since 2005. The photos were printed on-site, and maybe because he was rushing to get things done (they were closing down the exhibit hall at 7pm and it was already late), he didn't do any post-processing. I picked up my photo with Kristen today and color-wise, it was a little warm, but not as bad as my Kane photo. Also, it was seriously lacking in sharpness. Just a little post-processing could have made a big difference. I get that lack of time restricted how much he could do, but I really hope it's not the same at Dragon*Con. I feel especially bad for oanimation, though, who took a photo with Robert Englund. That one was completely off-focus.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to bash Froggy or anything like that. He was incredibly kind and understanding when I told him that I'd lost my purse, and along with it, my photo op ticket for Kristen. However, if I'm going to spend a couple of hundred dollars on photos, taken by a professional photographer, I expect good quality shots, from composition to processing. I don't think that's asking for too much, is it? The only one who's ever delivered on all points is Chris from Creation Entertainment. I've got tremendous respect for all his work and ethic. I'm really hoping that the end result at Dragon*Con will be different, but perhaps I shouldn't hold my breath.