AnimeNEXT 2013 Report

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Cosplayer | Photographer | Gamer | Artist


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Journal Entry:


ANIMENEXT 2013 REPORT

June 7th - 9th, 2013

This years AnimeNEXT was surprisingly better than last year. Given the mismanagement by the organizers last year, I suppose anything would be an improvement but almost everything went more smoothly than usual. Also there were a surprisingly good number of cosplays for a con of this size. Many cosplayers and attendees braved the tropical storm and torrential rain to participate in the festivities. 

I arrived around noon after about 5-6 hour drive to Somerset NJ, through quite a bit of rain and wet weather. The hotel was filled with many attendees and cosplayers hanging out waiting for their friends or taking shelter  from the rain. Needless to say, many Friday photoshoots were ruined for many people due to the bad weather. This con, I only brought my new Prince Dimande cosplay I had finished and originally intended to make for Fanime. Commander Heathcliff wasn't packed because of the bad weather and my schedule was too tight to do photoshoots and change in and out of it. It wouldn't be worth the hassle to get into the armor and walk around for an hour  or so then get back out to  prepare my photography gear to do shoots.

My first shoot was with RAWRenu in her Burlesque Sailor Jupitor. She is part of AnimeNEXT's Burlesque troop and part of their show Friday night. We found some nice furniture in a hotel as spot for us to do our photoshoot. I liked many of the photos that came out of it, although shooting indoor under low-light does give my camera some auto focusing trouble which I hope to  remedy when I upgrade  to the Pentax K-5 IIs.


Afterwards I went to grab my badge, fortunately the line was non-existent and got my badge immediately. Then I ran around quite a bit to get some hallshots of cosplayers  that braved the weather to get here on Friday.

My next shoot that evening unfortunately was canceled due to scheduling conflict. It was difficult to find a good spot to  shoot by that time as everyone was packed inside and there wasn't really any good space to shoot. One of these days I'm going to have to borrow people's hotel room in this kind of situation.  Anyways, that gave me the opportunity to get more photos of cosplayers in the con.

Saturday, I had a full schedule and I got into Prince Dimande. It was quite well  received by many fellow Sailor Moon cosplayers and fan. Although I need to restyle the wig as I didn't like how it looked over when I wore it. Thats what I get for last minute wig styling and not checking how it looks before the con. My first shoot was with my friend and fellow cosplay photographer,EnchantedCupcake, in her Princess Serenity cosplay. Because of the storm the night before, the sky was still cloudy thus providing us with alot of overhead diffused lighting. Diffused lighting is wanted but because it was overhead it casted unflattering shadows across the face. So I had her tilt her head up into the sky alot of shots to counter it, much to her discomfort. I also use some white reflectors, the effectiveness of which was decreased without direct light. I decline to use my flash units because I would had to decrease my shutter speed and raise my f/stop but in the future with a new camera and ND filters that would be more of an option (although I do dislike the flattening effect of direct fill flash). Anyways, there were some good shots that I was able to edit into rather great  photos.



I was planning to get more shots indoor and somewhere cooler but the heat was starting to get to me and she had to meet up with some friends. So we ended our shoot there. 

Afterwards I had the opportunity to shoot with my good friend, Xelhestiel, who's perfection in cosplay I admire (also she has a lovely singing voice). She was in her fabulous Michiru (Sailor Neptune) swimsuit cosplay. To say she look gorgeous in it would be an understatement. The photos will tell how great she look. We got to do a poolside shoot and I setup my equipment for some soft light to be bounced into the shot. The results were quite stellar after the edits were done.



Lastly, I then had a shoot with friend, Lomelindi88, in her Ping from Mulan cosplay. I had some extra time and scouted some good locations for our shoot outdoor. The armor was perfect for some cool action oriented poses. Also she brought a Mushu plushie which made an excellent prop. Bringing props to a photoshoot makes the shoot alot more dynamic given us more options to try.



When we finished I headed off to check on the Masquerade line to see if it started yet (one of these days I really need to try to get a  press pass to cons so I dont have to wait in line and get a good spot to shoot from). It turns out it was in the process of starting, so I ran around for a bit to take more photos of cosplayers before returning to get in line. This year line organization was alot better than last year which was non existent. It was clear that this year they did not intend to repeat the same mistake as last year as there were quite a number of staff on hand organizing the front and back of the line. The also appear to be communicating with each other and the attendees which was something noticeably absent last year. After a delay we were able to get into the Masquerade (I don't think I've ever been to a con where the Masquerade started on time). The MC were the same as in previous AnimeNEXT, although my friend didn't get to co-MC this year despite doing a great job last year. AnimeNEXT has a distinction in my memory as the con with the most dance skits. Again this year there were quite a number of skits involving dance or dance battles, maybe its a NYC/NJ thing? In any case they were still entertaining to watch. During Fanime's Masquerade some of my shots couldn't focus in low theatre light at long distances, so I decided for this con that I would try out my new Metz flash unit's spot beam function  as a focus assist using its Infrared beam. I was quite please with how many shots were easily in focus that I may try this other lowlight situation for focusing. One of the things that surprised me was how supportive and pleasant the audience was as this years masquerade compared to the previous. People actually stayed all the way up til the end for the award announcements. Typically I'm use to the vast majority of the seats being empty after the last skit was performed. I wonder what was so different about this year? 

After the Masquerade I got some dinner and prepared for my next shoot but had  to cancel because it was getting very late  due to the delay with the starting of the Masquerade. So I got read for the AnimeNEXT Dance (rave). One of the things I enjoy to do at the con is go to the con rave and break  out my LED poi and do some spinning.  Many of the larger cons over the years have banned that due to potential physical  harm it may cause to by stander. Its understandable given that I have witness some newbies with poi almost hitting people and people not paying attention and walking into spinners who would normally be a safe distance away. Fortunately AnimeNEXT still allows poi spinning and glowstick stringing and it is one of the reasons I still go to this con.

Sunday I packed and took more hallshots. My shoots scheduled for the day  was also canceled. I spent a few hours getting more photos before heading home, I had no intention of spending anymore time outdoor and getting a tan or sunburn. I really like having light skin ;) I'll probably be back year if my budget allows me after Fanime.


End Journal Entry



2015 Conventions

Katsucon 21
PAX East 2015
AnimeBoston 2015
Sakura Matsuri (NYC) 2015
Fanime 2015
Anime Expo 2015
Otakon 2015
BlizzCon 2015
Another Anime Con 2015 (Maybe)
AnimeUSA 2015 (Maybe)





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Comments4
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RAWRenu's avatar
I really loved shooting with you and I'm so happy about my Jupiter photos! Thanks again!! ^___^