Shoji-Aoyama

OK, so I just got off two Cons in as many weeks IkkiCon over New years and Anime Los Angeles the very next weekend. . . back-to-back Cons sounds like great enjoyable fun. . . but MAN is it tiring. . . photo workload increases, and it just piles up, and if there wasnt a month till Ushi COn Id be afraid of it endlessly snowballing

ANYWAYS. . . Ikki Con was amazing fun, I really enjoyed myself, even amongst the epic Failboat of organization. . . 80% of my pre-scheduled shoots had to be rescheduled or even canceled due to scheduling conflicts with the Con schedule, and I even made it a point to not schedule any shoots until after the thing had been released the week before. . . in any case I got to meet new people and become that much closer to others that Id met before

and as for ALA. . . well. . . it started slow as Ill admit I was a bit homesick, missing the familiar faces of home, but through the motivation of a special somebody I was able to get up and shoot away, and I walk away having met some AMAZING people, especially my new Photographer friends . . . speaking of photographers, that was part of the discouraging bit ,is there there are SOOOOOOO many out there as opposed to back here in Texas where I can pretty much count high-profile shooters in one hand (not quite that bad, but the basis of comparison is about accurate). . . it was to the point where I wrapped up a Sunday night shoot with 6, thats right SIX other photographers, sharing just ONE Cosplayer. . . you may think thats a recipe for disaster, but youd be surprised just how well most Cosplay photographers work with eachother. . . and I do mean most, but thats another story for another day

in any case after I catch up with this backlog Ill TRY my best to update this thing. . . especially after 2 K-on shoots, that really made me smile

I really should make a note to update this thing more often

ANYWAYS Yule Con this year was 129347895441462552633235215252362635 times better than it was last year, minus the lighting, which was EPIC FAIL, even by Con Hotel standards. . . I DO NOT wanna shoot in there again if I can help it. . . but Ill probably upload a batch from it as I get bored over the next few days

as the same with the last update Im REALLY looking forward to IkkiCon at the end of the month. . .


Ill be getting an opportunity to feed the Mio Akiyama fanboi in me with


Ill have a chance to finally shoot with looking like Panty & Stocking, and Madoka Magika, both with her partner in crime . . . Weve been discussing this pretty much since Anime Matsuri. . . back in April


I dunno as of yet for sure what will be bringing to show off but I do look forward to working with her again, whatever it may be, its always been a pleasure working with her


AND last but certainly NOT Least. . . it seems I'll participating in a [Cosplay] Photography Panel with and . . . UNDER 2-years of Cosplay shooting and Im appearing next to names like those to throw in my input to the Cosplay Community, Im BEYOND Honored, and hope to do my best not to mess this up


Anticipation. . . I fail at controling it but this should be a BLAST

Yeah, OK, ive been ignoring my dA for a while just because the Facebook page is that much easier to work with

BUT HERE I AM, Ill be catching up on Oni Con and A-Fest before it. . . doing what I can. . .

as for a general update, well. . . Ive been slowly adding bits to my lighting setup, I now have an umbrella softbox setup and a convertible Shoot-through/Bounce umbrella that will probably be seeing more general use as I can hand-hold it as a shoot-through. . . further securing myself a niche, I suppose . . . The Texas Con Strobist *shot*

aside from that... theres Yule Con next weekend, where, if im honest, I dont think ill be gettting many shots, and what I do get will likely be from my little S90 unless I wander off-site to have some real fun

WHAT IM REALLY looking forward to is IkkiCon. . . I get to have all my lights PLUS the heavy hitting Professional Lenses for my shoots, so I can FINALLY get creamy smooth Bokeh with a well-lit subject bathed in near Studio-quality soft light. . . I think I may get carried away on that though DDD

also at IkkiCon I look forward to seeing and working with the adorable in her many awesome Cosplays . . . I should also FINALLY get the opportunity to stop and talk to (maybe even work with) the amazingly talented Miss Angelwing , Weve tried for two Cons to find eachother, but always failed to do it so This time for sure . . . and im also VERY MUCH looking forward to seeing and having a shoot or two with her in her signiture Mio Akiyama cosplay (big K-on fanboy, more specifically Mio and Azu-nyan ). . . and anyone else thats gonna be there, I look forward to seeing yall, as always. . . post up, lemme know whos gonna be at Ikki, should be a ton of fun out there

So I figure something else to update will cure boredom for a bit, so welcome to dA Journal entry #1

So A-Kon, this week, I can hardly believe this makes one whole Year that Ive been doing Cosplay Photography, I honestly didnt think I'd last this long, with my preconceptions of the average Convention goer before Zero Hour on Day One, Ill admit it, I stereotyped You guys, but I learned real quick that its a very fun and friendly bunch, well, the Cosplayer community atleast, the general Otaku population still hasnt done anything to disprove my preconceptions. thus I now draw a line between the two, as Ive been told I should, so I think Im just gonna roll with that... Yes The young Bright-eyed recruit has been marked by the battlefield, and is now a battle-hardend soldier, eager to go to war, hapilly cleaning his weapons, and smiling as he squares away his Kit, ready to fight another day.

ANYWAYS, its been an amazing journey, meeting great new people along the way and even learning things about myself as well... I love you guys, and as always thank you for allowing me to get to where I am

I look forward to seeing alot of my Cosplayers again, and of course, I REALLY look forward to my little Clamp Shoot at the Japanese Gardens with Laurie and Holly ... and of course the opportunity to justify renting and actually using the big Professional grade Lenses... and I will use them for all their worth to get the best of my Beautiful Models...

and on the note of my 1 year, this will also be my brother's first outing to Con as a shooter, I hope the world goes easy on him, he shoots Landscapes, cars and other such THINGS, usually of an immobile nature, lets see how the kid fares when all is said and done