Otakon Weekend
Returned home safe and sound from Otakon weekend, unpacking, doing laundry, chillaxin' with a cold drink and rolling up sleeves to start post-production… took over 740 pictures and a good bit of video footage at the convention.
Some highlights of the past weekend:
1) Hotel within walking distance of the convention center, as was the nearby 7-Eleven and Dunkin Donuts for snacks. Huge room for the price which featured a microwave and fridge. Pizza delivery available until 3:00am. Win!
2) Watching anime and consuming said pizza and snacks through the late night hours!
3) Burrito's at California Tortilla, Friday night. I'm dousing mine with "Jamaican Hell Fire" and "DEATH Sauce"!
4) Getting *fantastic* photographs of cosplayers and convention goers. Baltimore itself is also rich in imagery and sound, it overwhelms the senses. Portrait photography... I'm hooked.
5) Panels on Japanese history, culture, language, food, rail, passes, money and everything you need to know about traveling and living in Japan. A very interesting panel on self-publishing, book market and direct market publishing. Japanese calligraphy and Ukiyo-E workshop. Yay I get to be a pornographer!
6) Amateur Music Video contest and fan parody videos. Each year, I get a lot of inspiration from fan creators! Their techniques and editing acumen easily meet Hollywood standards, partly because now everyone has access to professional quality video editing equipment. World premieres of new fan parody videos including Evangelion ReDeath (sing along version). TSR: The Slayers Redub and Fanboy Souze vs The Reanimators.... "brilliant."
7) Major anime releases: "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" and "Tiger and Bunny."
8) Dealer's room, art show, art auction, artists alley, so many fun and creative ideas coming from artists, and some amazing artwork to inspire. Also "Panty and Stocking (with Garterbelt)" is big this year.
9) Otakon attendees: 31,348 members, a 10% increase from last year. Otakon also collected over $43,000 for Japan relief! I contributed.
10) Found myself in the middle of Operation Welcome Home at the airport, and taking a few hundred more photographs. Chatted and shared contact info with their photographer.
Some highlights of the past weekend:
1) Hotel within walking distance of the convention center, as was the nearby 7-Eleven and Dunkin Donuts for snacks. Huge room for the price which featured a microwave and fridge. Pizza delivery available until 3:00am. Win!
2) Watching anime and consuming said pizza and snacks through the late night hours!
3) Burrito's at California Tortilla, Friday night. I'm dousing mine with "Jamaican Hell Fire" and "DEATH Sauce"!
4) Getting *fantastic* photographs of cosplayers and convention goers. Baltimore itself is also rich in imagery and sound, it overwhelms the senses. Portrait photography... I'm hooked.
5) Panels on Japanese history, culture, language, food, rail, passes, money and everything you need to know about traveling and living in Japan. A very interesting panel on self-publishing, book market and direct market publishing. Japanese calligraphy and Ukiyo-E workshop. Yay I get to be a pornographer!
6) Amateur Music Video contest and fan parody videos. Each year, I get a lot of inspiration from fan creators! Their techniques and editing acumen easily meet Hollywood standards, partly because now everyone has access to professional quality video editing equipment. World premieres of new fan parody videos including Evangelion ReDeath (sing along version). TSR: The Slayers Redub and Fanboy Souze vs The Reanimators.... "brilliant."
7) Major anime releases: "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" and "Tiger and Bunny."
8) Dealer's room, art show, art auction, artists alley, so many fun and creative ideas coming from artists, and some amazing artwork to inspire. Also "Panty and Stocking (with Garterbelt)" is big this year.
9) Otakon attendees: 31,348 members, a 10% increase from last year. Otakon also collected over $43,000 for Japan relief! I contributed.
10) Found myself in the middle of Operation Welcome Home at the airport, and taking a few hundred more photographs. Chatted and shared contact info with their photographer.