Tag Archives: Dragoncon

An open letter to my friends about DragonCon

Posted by on October 9, 2013 No comments

DragonCon 2011 SundayI am going to say some things about DragonCon that a lot of my friends may disagree with, but they are things that I think and feel.

You remember the first time you went to DragonCon?  The size of the convention outweighed anything you had ever seen.  The costumes were amazing, the friends you made there lasted forever.  The wonder and awe of it all was so much to take in that you ended up talking about it for months on end after it was done.  You came home and told all your friends about this magical place where you had so much fun.

The next time you went, it was still a blast, but you started to see a bit more of the tarnish.  The room rates were a bit more than the year before.  You got to hang out with friends, but a few of them were stuck in a line for a panel. You really wanted to pick up something at this booth in the dealers room, but it was a bit crowded each time you tried, and by the time you got in, it was sold out.  But you still had a blast, and maybe the next few weeks after the con, you talked about it and went over your pictures.

Then, a few years of going down the road, more and more tarnish appears.  Rooms sell out instantly. errors plague the system.  Hotels handle the convention badly because it doesn’t matter, they still get their money.  DudeBros invade the system because it’s an endless fountain of cheap rooms and entertainment for them.

I love DragonCon, but only as a memory.  That first, second, even the third versions in my head are what I love.

Our Boat! - (P365-42)Now. I have been to other big events.  PAXEast and JoCoCruiseCrazy.  Both are amazing events.  I met amazing people at them, and I had experiences that rank up there with what I felt at that first DragonCon.  When I got back from them, I wanted to do the same thing that I (and many others) had done after DragonCon which was spread the word.  What I was met with was statements like “It’s not DragonCon” or “We are already spending our vacation at DragonCon”

No, they aren’t DragonCon.  I won’t say they are better or worse than DragonCon.  They are just something else.  It’s something new.  A chance to feel that magic and wonder again.  To try something different.

I am not going to say that I won’t go back to DragonCon again.  I would like to again.  I had fun, despite the issues that surround it.  But I am also going to try out other things.  I would love to visit San Diego Comic Con, even though I have heard bad stories about them as well.  There is Baltimore comic Con, NY comic con, Megacon, PAX Prime, etc.

Please don’t take this as a rant to get everyone to stop going to DragonCon, or even as an advertisement for any other convention.  I realize that the cruise may be to expensive, or Video games aren’t your thing, or you don’t like comics.  What I am saying is that there are LOTS of great events that offer up much the same experience that DragonCon does.

I know that we all have lots of friends that we like to meet up with at DragonCon, but remember how you met those friends.  Think of the new friends that are waiting at a new event.  All your DragonCon friends won’t desert you just for trying something new.

I would encourage everyone to try something new.  You never know, you may like it!

Costuming in Advance!

Posted by on September 24, 2012 No comments

DragonCon is coming!

Well, sort of.

DragonCon, one of the big conventions we like to attend, usually takes place over labor day weekend in September.  Since it’s still September now, you may be wondering while I mention that it’s “Coming”.  That is because THIS time, we are planning in advance!  Both Sarah and I are working on costumes for NEXT DragonCon, and we are getting the jump on them so we don’t end up scrambling at the end of the year trying to get them done.

The big costume I have planned for D*C is Harry Dresden.  He is a character from the books “The Dresden Files” which is a Mystery series set in a supernatural world.  I had enough friends get on me for not reading the books that I finally broke down and dove into them.  I love the series and realized that I had most of what I needed already and just needed to assemble.  The results are as follows:

The Book Cover shot, thus the hat.

Important elements: Black leather duster, shield bracelet, power rings on each finger, leather glove on left (burned) hand, Pentacle amulet, Runed Staff, Bob the Spirit skull.
Still needing work: Blasting Rod, more solid electronics for Bob the skull, and potentially a new Shield Bracelet.

Our goal is to have a group of Dresden costumers at the 2013 DragonCon, Sarah is going to be Elaine, and we have a Thomas and Lara as well.

Collecting Autographs

Posted by on July 23, 2012 1 comment

Jewel Got Photobombed!

One of my favorite hobbies takes place while at conventions, but doesn’t involve costumes, friends, or drinking.  (because, what else is there at conventions?)  I love seeing the guest list for conventions because it means I may have the chance to meet someone who is responsible for creating some of my favorite shows/books/movies.  To much extent, this is one of the main reasons for attending for me, and one of the first things I do at a convention!  There is just something about going up to a guest, shaking their hand (or giving the Iron Guard), and thanking them for what they do.  On that rare occasion, you even have enough time to sit and talk with them about their craft, or hobbies, or even just what they think about the conventions.

 

To remember the visit I will usually grab one of the 8×10’s they have and have them sign it.  Not to monetize it, but to have that memory.  It’s always personalized (if they can, some of them have their reasons), and I consider it as my contribution to them for the time they spent with me.  Sometimes the memory and time is great, and sometimes it’s not, but it is always a memory I will have.

Me dressed at Matty Roth from DMZ with Felicia.

I recently decided to grab shots of all of my current autographs.  Most of them are down in the “Man-Cave” but some are still yet to be framed and mounted.  Some interesting ones are the set of four autographs from Felicia Day, and the four from Jewel Staite.  We learned that four is the magic number, when it comes to that line between fandom and stalking.  I love both Jewel and Felicia for what they do and who they are, but I don’t want to be that guy who is always in their line every convention.  That’s just creepy.  So we go for four autographs and call it at that.  It’s enough that, by the end of it, they tend to recognize you enough to smile and wave, but not overly enough to be weird-ed out by your presence.

Below are just a few of my favorites, you can find the rest in a gallery here on my site.

Meeting Wil was indeed…Awesome

EJO was inspiring to meet in person

Jewel played the 501st’s game of “Droid Hunt” and had a blast.

Two of my favorite actors from Warehouse 13!!

The Diffused Flash

Posted by on September 29, 2011 No comments

 

I learned a few important lessons at DragonCon. First and foremost, never let James talk you into laying down with a Jägermeister bottle if you really like your pants, but most of the lessons revolved around using my flash on my camera.  (the Jägermeister story will have to be asked of me in person if you really want to know.)
 
I had planned to take a lot of pictures at DragonCon (DC) of the various costumes and such, and I like to think I did a fair job, but there were some much more serious photographers there with much better gear.  I know I know, it’s not the gear, it’s the eye that goes with it, and there were some folks that had great gear but the shots I saw them make made me kind of weep.  But I digress, my biggest failing as far as gear went was my flash use.  

I’ll be honest, I am a little scared of my flash.  At least I used to be.  I have gotten pretty good at adjusting ISO, Aperture, and Speed, to get the right light and clarity, but when you throw a flash into the mix there is a whole new dynamic.  Nothing over 180 speed, F-stop is more for DOF than it is for light, and then there is the whole calculating how much flash for the distance to subject…..UGH!  Sometimes I felt like I was back in math class!  See, I have a SB-600 speed-light to use for Off camera shots and bounce shots, but I ate how harsh the light from it is.  Bouncing isn’t as bad, but at when the ceilings are too high and the walls are few….needless to say, I only use it for special occasions.

While at DC my biggest problem when taking shots of folks was lighting.  I was using both my 50mm and my 35mm f1.8 and they just weren’t giving me enough light without bumping to ISO 6400 (I had more grain than a 1930’s film!)  So I talked with a few of the other Photogs and got some tips on flash use.  Derek helped out a Ton with some of these tips.  The biggest one being DIFFUSE!!!!  I noticed a lot of guys using covers on their flashes, anything that would soften the harshness of the flash.  Some went all out with the Gary Fong stuff, while others just had basic caps.  There were a few that went simple with a bounce card.  Another huge tip was (and I feel kind of silly for not knowing this) Change the White balance to “Flash”.  Yeah yeah, say what you like, but when you don’t use a flash that much, this doesn’t occur to you!


No Flash = Lots of NR and Bright Background:

Camera Nikon D5100
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/1.8
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 6400
Flash No Flash
Exposure Program Manual
Subject Distance 2.51 m
Metering Mode Spot

_____________________

Bounce Card = Color, Clarity, Separation!


Camera Nikon D5100
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Flash On, Return detected
Exposure Program Manual
Subject Distance 0.94 m
Metering Mode Spot
Light Source Flash
White Balance Manual

_______________________


My Macgyver gene kicked in and I set about rigging up a simple white bounce card out of some tape and cardboard bits we had in the room.  I dropped my ISO to 100-200, Speed to 160, flash down to -1.8, and Aperture to 1.8.  Boom! Shots were clear, not too harsh, and great color.  I was amazed.  For the rest of the night I only had to adjust the strength of the flash to compensate for the distance to subject.  I even busted out the 18-270mm to get some wider angle shots.  (Although the D5100, with the SB-600, and the 18-270mm meant Zomg Heavy!)

What I found was that I had to do less noise reduction, I got a MUCH better seperation of subject and background, and the details of the subject came out much better.  Not to mention after having a few drinks my steady hand wasn’t so steady!  That cinched it!  When I got home I started looking up some different diffusers.  A lot of the guys at the con were using the Gary Fong Lightsphere but I couldn’t really justify $60 for something that did what a 20 cent piece of cardboard did.  Instead I found the Prolight Dome.  It was exactly the same as the Gary Fong, but only $13!  Sold!

A few days later it arrived and I have to say that most of my shots now are taken using this setup.  (indoors of course).  I tried a few using off camera, and then a few portrait shots.  Thankfully my pets are always willing subjects!  (well, almost always.)  Given this new found love for the flash, I think I may look at doing a few more Portrait type projects.  

So the important take away’s here are:
Diffuse that sucka!
Check your white balance!
Adjust for distance!
Profit!

Ok maybe not profit.

The Un-Official DragonCon Post.

Posted by on September 9, 2011 1 comment

Why is this an Un-official post?  Because I am still processing the whole con. Literally. I am working through all the photos I took processing them to improve the shots, doing laundry from the con, cleaning up the house and also taking care of the new Kitties we adopted the day after!
 
So why post? Well, there are a few things I want to touch on because they were So Awesome! (well, one not so awesome)
 

I MET WIL WHEATON!  
No really, this was the highlight of the Con for me!  Anyone who knows me knows that I kind of have a man-crush (Platonic) for Mr. Wheaton.  I made the attempt to meet him at PAX east but apparently, his meemaw died/He was washing his hair/he was dead at the time, and he couldn’t attend.  So when I heard he was going to be at DragonCon I was super excited!  I was dressed in one of the two costumes I brought, Matty Roth from the comic DMZ.  I figured that maybe only 2 people would get the costume but I was not prepared for what happened next.  As I stepped up in line and greeted Wil with the Iron Guard Salute, this happened:
 
Wil: Are you fucking Cosplaying as DMZ??  THAT’S Awesome!
Me: YES!!
Wil: Hey Felicia!  Check out this DMZ Cosplay!  Hold on, I have to get a picture of this and send it to Brian Wood.
Me: That’s AWESOME!

I then handed him two 6-sided dice that I made telling him that I “Got exited and made something” which spawned another round of “That’s Awesome!”  I also got the chance to tell him that during his Father Son bonding over brewing beer, I was doing the same while building a Tardis. (That’s Awesome, round 4)  He signed a picture of himself collating paper and we went on our way.  I was giggling for the rest of the day.

Now, the worst experience of the con, sadly, was my one with William Shatner.  On my way through the Walk of Fame area, I stopped at the booth for WS and they had mentioned that he would be back in 30 min.  There was no line so I figured “I can wait 30 min!”  I Happily bought my photo ticket ($75!!!!), picked out my photo (Only Kirk photos, no S My dad says or Denny Crane), and got in line.  30 min turned into 45, then an hour, then longer and longer.  The folks at the booth were trying to assure us that he was on his way down.  It was nearing 5pm and we knew he had a panel at 5:30pm.  (I got in line at 3:30pm).  When he finally showed up, the line herders asked if I would let a woman in a wheelchair in front of me, which I had no problem with. (navigating the con in a wheel chair is tough, trust me on this.)  She got her autograph and was working on backing out of the area, the handler reached out for my photo and handed it to WS as I got out of the way.  When I got back up to the counter, the Photo was signed and I was being shuttled away without barely a glance from WS.  I did manage to eek out a “It was very…er..honor” and got a half hearted fist bump before they moved on to the next guy.

Never in all of my conventions and Autograph collecting have I ever been treated like a sheep.  It has always been my experience that I am paying the $20+ not for the autograph or the photo, but for the experience of getting 1-2 minutes of time with an actor/author/artist that I genuinely admire enough that I want to Pay for that moment.  I don’t do this to collect signatures.  I do this because I LIKE these people and want to express how much I appreciate and support their work.  If I wanted just a photo with a signature on it, I could have bought one in the dealers room! (and probably paid less.)  I have heard that WS is kind of a dick when it comes to conventions, but I really want to believe that maybe he was just being rushed by con handlers, or was having a bad day and doesn’t normally treat fans this way.  I can hope right?

The rest of the con was outstanding.  Pictures will be coming along soon as well as maybe a real after action report.  I <3 everyone I hung out with there!!

These Times they are a’changin

Posted by on August 25, 2011 No comments

So in the last month or so a huge shake up happened here, and I am not just talking about the earthquake that it VA a few days ago, although that was just weird.  For the last few months I have been growing increasingly dis-satisfied with my job.  It was supposed to be my dream job and gateway to bigger better things.  Turns out it was kind of a bait and switch, (Not the fault of those who got me the job, it just changed drastically after I got there.) and was not what I wanted.  Add on that the horrible commute time and we have what My wife and I like to call, “Not paying enough to put up with the crap”.  A friend of me saw some of my lamenting tweets and asked if I would be interested in hopping ship.  Long story made short, I am now working back in Chantilly/Herndon area!  

This also means that I am not in the DC proper area which means that I need to find some other things to take pictures of.  Since I am working right next to Dulles, I may try and get over for some airport/plane pictures so keep an eye out for that.

And, of course, we are in the midst of getting ready for DragonCon, so there has been a ton or prep work going on to get costumes and such ready.  This year I will only be doing Two costumes! (I know, crazy eh?).

The first is my pride and joy of the year, Giovani Auditori from Assassin’s creed II.  Giovani is Ezio’s father.  The reason I say it’s a Giovani costume and not an Ezio is that I purchased it from Museum Replicas and they based their design off the Lineage prequel that Ubisoft created before the game.  There are quite a few differences between the in game costume and the movie one.

The Second is a very low key costume.  Matty Roth, the amature photo-journalist.  It’s from the comic DMZ and is a way for me to be in costume and still have the camera on me to take pictures of folks.

We leave for DC on Wed. of next week.  Expect lots of pictures and lots of twitter activity!

Bad Wolf Sun Shirt on sale!

Posted by on August 5, 2011 No comments

Ok, it’s only kind of on sale.  I submitted to sites like Teefury, Ript, Shirt.Woot, and a few others but haven’t heard back or they came back with “That’s not really our style” (which makes no sense).  So I fell back on my back up plan since I would like to get some of these made and out before DragonCon.

With that, you can now get the Bad Wolf Sun from my mini shop at CafePress!  if anyone has any suggestions for a Print Your Own site tat is cheaper than CafePress please let me know.  I set the markup as low as I could get it (I think it’s at 1% so I get maybe $0.20 per shirt).

So please pass it on, you can get the shirt at: http://www.cafepress.com/Cheeseitprod

See you at DragonCon!! 

Post Con Report

Posted by on September 10, 2010 No comments

Well, I am back from DragonCon and getting back into the swing of things.  The Con was great but I didn’t do some of the more Blog type stuff that I had wanted to.  That’s not to say that I didn’t do more than enough to cover the whole con but I had planned on getting an interview about games with a few of the the folks there, and there just wasn’t time.  The biggest takeaway is of course that there were a bazillion people there!  Ok, not really, but there were certainly more people than I had ever seen before at a Con.  One thing that kind of bugged me a bit was the in-accessibility of some of the stars.  Now, don’t read that the wrong way, I am certainly not expecting some big name stars to be at our beck and call, but when I read that certain names are on the guest list, only to find out that they are only doing limited appearances, ala, 1 panel, maybe a private autograph session, it’s a little sad.  I had really wanted to meet Paul Dini, but when I went to the Artist’s area he was nowhere to be found.  Apparently the Info desk there was well versed in the answer to “Where’s Paul Dini?”  From what we learned, Paul was only doing a few panels and had no table.

Such was also the case with one of my Favorite Mythbusters!  Adam Savage was at the con but only did limited Autograph sessions (and with so many people there, the lines were impossible) and even my favorite part of any Savage sighting is the #adamincognito game he plays.  Adam is an avid costumer so DragonCon is a great place for him.  He will sometimes dress up in Costume and encourage people to find him.  Unfortunately, the con was 5 hotels large with between 30-50,000 people there.  With no location tweeted it was nigh on impossible to change encounter him.  For this one though I blame the lack of Signal that happens when you get that many people in a small area all with smart phones.

(Deep Breath) Ok, now that all my bitching and moaning is over.  What I did get to do at the con was great.  Sarah and I took about 6 costumes each and got to wear most all of them.  I got to meet a lot of the stars I planned on seeing, and of course the visiting with friends and drinking.  All in all, a great con.  Pictures can be found in my gallery.

Now, to get back into my rigorous gaming habit!  Reach comes out next week so I have only a few more days to finish up with Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions.  All I can say so far is that it’s apparent that there will never be a Spider-Man game where the camera isn’t completely hosed while wall crawling.

What are you Playing? (When you aren’t getting ready for a CON)

Posted by on August 19, 2010 3 comments

Hey all, it’s time for another rousing round of What are you Playing!  The last few weeks have been mostly occupied by me procrastinating getting things ready for DragonCon.  In just 2 small weeks I will be living it up in Atlanta rubbing elbows with some of the best costumers and sci-fi geeks on the planet.  I am also really excited about the Guest list this year.  So excited that I have been trying to think up questions that would be game related that I could ask some of our favorite celebrities.  Info that I would bring back and post here on the site.  So I put it to you, there is a huge guest list over on the website Http://www.dragoncon.org. If there is anyone in particular that you would like to know what their gaming habits are, or any questions you think I should toss out there.  I plan on using my phones voice recorder to grab some sound bites from the folks there.  Please feel free to drop questions you want asked into the comments.  (P.S. Apparently, Paul Dini, the writer for the Batman Arkham games will be there, you KNOW I am going to be talking to him!)

As for what I am actually playing…. I finished up Crackdown 2, I bought another new Xbox 360S to replace the E-73 Error-ed out one downstairs so the Rock Band setup is back to normal.  I am hoping to knock out Alan Wakes “The Signal” here soon, but mostly just getting stuff ready for vacation.  What are YOU playing?

What are you playing? or….The Risk of Cracking Down on your Limbo Skills

Posted by on July 28, 2010 2 comments

It’s that time again to run down what you are playing!  I am slowly but surely working up a review of the XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) game Risk Factions, which I managed to finish the campaign on.  The nice thing about it is that it’s such a great Family game that we find ourselves playing it as a group all the time.  Also mixed in lately has been Crackdown 2.  Initial impressions of CD 2 are not that great.  I just get the feeling like it’s too much all at once and it’s REALLY hard to focus on the ga…oooo  Agility orb!

The latest add in to the library has been the XBLA game Limbo.  This came out for the Summer of Arcade promo that Xbox does every year.  The game is a hell of a lot like Braid, and if you haven’t played Braid you need to go check it out.  Both are side scrolling puzzle platformers that will twist your brain in loops.  I love it!  Review for Limbo will be after Risk and Crackdown 2 will probably be a while still.  Don’t forget that the first DLC for Alan Wake is out now, The Signal.  My copy of Alan Wake is out on loan right now so I will be getting to that as soon as it comes back.

Outside of that, the workouts are going great, I can already feel a difference and only 36 days left before DragonCon!  I am hoping to maybe squeeze out an interview with one or two celeb’s to see their take on gaming.  And with that I leave you with the amazing Music video from the Guild:  GAME ON!