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.
Ensemble groups are always fun to photograph. I loved this Street Fighter group, especially E. Honda.Yay for Half Life Cosplay. Although perhaps a bit out of place at an anime convention?This poor guy was standing there patiently for 15 to 20 minutes as people photographed him.It's been nearly 20 years and there are still Final Fantasy VII Cosplayers at every convention.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.Great cosplay from Kill BillAnother video game cosplay. This time Bioshock.I don't know what anime or video game she's from, but she attracted a lot of popularity.As I mentioned last year, I love seeing Ranma 1/2 cosplay because the anime is pretty old.More Final Fantasy cosplay; this time from Final Fantasy IXAn amazing costume from Tim Burton's Alice and Wonderland.Some Bayonetta cosplay.There's also huge overlap with steam punk fans and this steam punk group was pretty impressive.Sometimes people combine genres to get new, unique costumes like this Steam Punk Sailor Moon cosplay.Good Faye Valentine cosplay – just needs to have hair that's a bit more purple.
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.
