Otakon 2010

Just like last year, I went to Otakon, but didn’t pay to get in.  Perhaps next year.  So, like last year, I mostly photographed people  under the the awning of the convention center.  Unlike last year, I asked lots of people if I could photograph them.  It paid off as I was able to get lots of shots I would have otherwise missed.  It also yielded me a lot more single person portraits rather than just massive group shots that everyone else happened to be shooting.  So, here are some of my favorite shots.

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Ensemble groups are always fun to photograph. I loved this Street Fighter group, especially E. Honda.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“442” caption=“Yay for Half Life Cosplay. Although perhaps a bit out of place at an anime convention?”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“453” caption=“This poor guy was standing there patiently for 15 to 20 minutes as people photographed him.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“231” caption=“It’s been nearly 20 years and there are still Final Fantasy VII Cosplayers at every convention.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Yes, there is a huge overlap in anime fans and Dr Who fans, but I think the Dr Who cosplay was most out of place at an anime convention.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“225” caption=“Great cosplay from Kill Bill”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“333” caption=“Another video game cosplay. This time Bioshock.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“333” caption=“I don’t know what anime or video game she’s from, but she attracted a lot of popularity.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“333” caption=“As I mentioned last year, I love seeing Ranma 1/2 cosplay because the anime is pretty old.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“More Final Fantasy cosplay; this time from Final Fantasy IX”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“344” caption=“An amazing costume from Tim Burton’s Alice and Wonderland.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“424” caption=“Some Bayonetta cosplay.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“There’s also huge overlap with steam punk fans and this steam punk group was pretty impressive.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Sometimes people combine genres to get new, unique costumes like this Steam Punk Sailor Moon cosplay.”] [/caption]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“333” caption=“Good Faye Valentine cosplay - just needs to have hair that’s a bit more purple.”] [/caption]

Looking back over these shots as I selected the ones to include in this post, I realized that, for an anime convention, there were a lot of video game cosplayers. Yes, they were Japanese video games - which often have anime-inspired character models, but it’s still a bit odd.

Dan also went with me and got some different photos based on anime and video games he’s familiar with.

You can see more of my Otakon 2010 photos here.

• Otakon
• Otakon-2010