Messages

@ovtrlan: Sorry, evening schedule is full.

For Vasyenka, MissNintendo, Yukari Kaiba, and Bawlsy - I'm sent you PMs/E-Mail with my phone number to aid coordinating meeting. Basically meet that the time mentioned in from on the SJCC main entrance, and we'll head elsewhere from there.

@lycan510:  :D Air Gear. (You will have roller blades, right?) If you could get some together ~2pm, that'd be great. (Or just you is fine too.)

I'll PM you guys sometime in the next few days with a phone number for me so we can coordinate meeting.

@Vasyenka: Ok, I talked to my Kurogane friend. He's pretty certain he can do it. How late are you OK with? (trying to figure out ordering of stuff) I noticed on c.com you're considering going to the bar gathering. So I'm guessing you'd prefer before that? Or does really late work too?
@MissNintendo: I think twilight would maybe be best for you. The sun sets at 7:50, though there should be some blue left in the sky for awhile after that. So would 7:30 work as a time to meet?
@Yukari Kaiba: Since there's another group that contacted me, and they're a big group & will take most of the evening, I don't think I'll have time for your cosplay since I'm not as familiar with either option. However, I might be able to do A) Early afternoon (~2pm?) B) Very late at night (ie. ~11-1 type range) C) unscheduled & unguaranteed in any idle time between the other evening shoots.
@Bawlsy: Looks like you're good for 1pm.

For anyone else, since so far it's just one or two individuals for early afternoon, I suspect I'll have time for at least one more then.

I was looking for small groups. The closest reply is a couple. If I am photographing fewer people, then that would involve less time, and mean more slots.

@Vasyenka: A friend of mine has a Kurogane costume, do you mind if I invite him to join your shoot? Either way, I'm pretty interested due to the glowing staff.

I've only seen the first 10 or so Bleach episode - before Renji had shown up. So Street Fighter might be better. I don't suppose you have any martial arts training? Ideally Wushu. It'd be fun to get some more action shots along the lines of this Kakashi shot.

[Friday]

Games are fine. Movies too. I just have a preference for characters I know, since then I think I can do a better job capturing the character. So it depend on who else is interested and what they have. And I don't play many games lately - just DDR & Wii Sports.

I plan on only doing photoshoots Friday. I cosplay too, and Saturday + Sunday I don't want to be carrying around camera stuff. So, userpay only mentioned Sat+Sun, which isn't available, sorry.

[Friday only]

I'm going to join the ranks of those offering photo shoots. I am offering two slots on Friday only:
* Early afternoon (1pm) - preference for bright colors and action shots. (Air Gear?)
* Evening (8pm or later) - preference for dark / mysterious types and/or romantic shots.
* I might be up for another evening shoot if one evening set is late evening, then the other will be earlier evening.

Some of my better photos from recent events (click for a larger version):

For more examples of my photos in general, see:
http://epii.info/anime
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24607013@N08/

Notes

• I am learning. The shoot is free. I get experience and you get pictures. I will try various ideas. So the shoot will go a little slow. Not all of them will work as well as I think they will. But I'm confident you will get at least a couple pretty cool shots.
• You must be OK with me posting your pictures on the Internet. If there are a few you really don't like, I won't post them, but at least part of the set is getting posted.
• I expect the shoot will take 30min-1hr depending on how many people. But please allocate two hours in case we start late or something.
• I'd like to do a mix of locations, indoor and outdoor, so there will be some walking around involved.
• This is not first-come-first-serve. I'll make a decision by May 5th or so from the responses. Here are my preferences:
  
  
  • Costumes that you have not used for a past private photoshoot.
  • For anime costumes, I have a bias towards series I like or at least am familiar with. This should give some sense of what I've seen and what I like: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/SpookyElectric
  • Original designs are OK too. Bonus points for Steampunk/Neo-Victorian.
  • Not as frequently cosplayed characters preferred.
  • You don't need stellar costumes, but they should be within your ability and at least look neat. I.e. mostly found item stuff is fine. Loose threads and frayed edges all over the place is not. (Unless the outfit is supposed to look tattered.) To that end, links to your existing costumes or work in progress is appreciated.
  • If your costume has parts that light up, I'm very interested. I might even consider an alternate day just to experiment with that.
  • Because it's only two time slots, I want you to be certain you will have the costume done. So I'm giving a preference to people with completed costumes.
  • Guys or Girls is fine. Mix is better. Guys must be dressed as male characters though.
  • I'd prefer 2-3 people, just so I can have some shots with interactions. One is OK though, so don't let that stop you from posting. Also, I'll consider groups from different series, though I'd prefer from the same.
  I'm not trying to be elitist. But since I'm not doing first-come-first-serve, I just thought it may help avoid drama if my preferences in choosing were clear.

If you are interested:
Please reply with the following information:

• What costume(s) (character(s) + series or summary of original design(s)) (If it's a secret costume, you can PM me instead)
• How far along with the costume(s) are you? If you're not complete, what might you wear as a backup?
• Which slot would you prefer? If evening, what times are best for you?
• Link to your profile(s) on cosplay.com or cosplaylab or cosspace with examples of your prior costumes.

Silkscreening!

But, if you're interested in a simpler approach, you could just make a stencil and paint them on. I'm not sure exactly what sort of clothing that is, but the informal look would make applique seem out of place.

If your gathering is Monday, I may reprise my ep3/waiter Tamaki that I wore to the UCLA Ouran event last weekend.

There are already two better named threads about this here and here.

I wouldn't expect it to change much from last year. It sounds like it will be posted shortly. It would make sense if you're not sure just to adhere to virtually the universally acceptable guidelines of basically no functional weapons, no metal weapons, nothing so big it can't easily fit though a door way, and guns/crossbows/etc must not be capable of firing anything (even water) and have a sealed orange tip. That's not Fanime's guidelines, just my observation of the general guidelines that will pass at just about any con.

You might get better responses with a better title for the post (I think you can edit the post and change it.)

I have curly hair and I've straightened it for cosplay, so there is that option. Straightening irons are fairly inexpensive. And then of course wigs, but I'm guessing you're looking to not go down that route. Also, it's not really uncommon for people to cosplay as characters with a different hair color, just mimicking the style.

I think you'll have more fun dressed as a character you have some attachment to rather than someone you just look like. Reading this might help. Or maybe just dress up for fun, not cosplay per-se, like random cat ears and sometimes tails are common.

Related to the bear PJs, it was probably someone dressed as Lain example from Google. I know you can get just a bear hat. And a lot of hats. Looks for cosplay hats online, or I think even places like Hot Topic have them.

I just want to mention my support of having a dress code. Though it should probably be a little lenient for cosplay. Personally, I think AWA's dress code is pretty good

Ah, I didn't think to check here and I started a Rozen thread on cosplay.com.

I'll have a sort of Suigintou at Fanime and would love to join the tea party.

For days, I'd somewhat prefer Saturday, think I was thinking of wearing my Rozen outfit to the Black & White Ball. And Sunday I was think of doing Cross from D.Gray-man for the JUMP & maybe D.Gray-man gathering. Since Cross has a goatee that takes ~30min for me to make, I'd like to avoid costume changes that day. If it is Sunday, then I'd prefer noon or earlier. (Though if you're really set on Sunday, I suppose I can forgo D.Gray-man in favor of Rozen Maiden)

There's a thread D.Gray-man @ Fanime '08 on cosplay.com - cosplay.com where I usually go to figure out gatherings. Per my post there I'll be at Fanime as Cross Marian.
Since the JUMP gathering is Sunday, it might make sense to plan for a D.Gray only gathering later that day.