If you have been following me for the last year or so you'll know that I have been going to Cons for a little over a year. Usually I go as a vendor, selling mostly resin coasters and attempting to sell my art prints (it seems anime coasters are wayyyy more interesting to con goers than my "art"). This past weekend I got to go to Collective Con in Jacksonville as an attendee. It's a much different experience from being a vendor, especially being there one day rather than all three.
As always, I took photos of as many cosplayers as will let me. This time I have a new zoom lens, so maybe there were a few I snuck shots of. Is that bad? I don't think so... I may look a little creepy with my big bushy beard, but I'm really a nice dude, I swear!
As always there were a million Star Wars characters at the Con. We have a local garrison of a group called the
501st Legion who set up all kinds of photo ops and show off some pretty amazing costumes and props. Even after seeing them at several cons I still find my inner Star Wars nerd fawning over every display.
And of course what con would be complete without anime cosplayers? I usually take more photos of them but this time I was only impressed by a few. Once you've seen one Nezuko, you've kinda seen them all.
I did like the creativity of this Tanjiro outfit...
I mentioned my new zoom lens already, and some of the above are examples of how well it works. I also ordered a Helios 44-2 at the recommendation of someone in the lightpainting group (I wish I could remember who so I could thank him). It's an old manual lens made in the Soviet Union, so not only was it super difficult to find given world circumstances, the manual f-stop and focus adjustment is a serious learning curve.
It seems to work best in bright light, so I figured I'd try it out on the fancy cars found out in front of every con. In my opinion these shots are pretty good for a 47 year old lens.
The best part of the weekend and the main reason we absolutely had to go to the con was the presence of three Power Rangers actors. Austin St. John, Jason Narvy, and Johnny Yong Bosch where there doing autographs and a panel. I honestly was never a huge fan of the show but my girlfriend was, so I indulged her and stood in line with her to get signatures. They actually turned out to be pretty cool guys, especially Jason with his great sense of humor.
During the panel they invited us to a screening of their 2020 project "Ark Exitus", a short sci-fi film they are hoping to turn into a series. It was very good! I believe you can watch it free online if you visit the link above.
We finished off the night by following Jason and Johnny to a local sushi restaurant. They seemed a little annoyed at first but after awhile they relaxed and we got to have some pretty cool discussions of the various shows they have been a part of over the years. I didn't get any pictures of that part of the day since that would be creepy.
I hope you've enjoyed my weekend reminiscence! I've got another con next month and pretty much every month this year, so stay tuned for more!
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