Category Archives: Events

Anime Expo 2013, Day 1 and 2

Another first last week, this time at the Anime Expo. Although I’d just been here for E3, the amount of people who were here was still pretty surprising! On one hand, that meant plenty of cosplayers to take pictures of, but on the other that also meant there sometimes wasn’t a lot of room to get the shots I wanted. There were a few amazing costumes I couldn’t get a decent photo of because of the crowds, and I didn’t want to get too much in the way of other photographers or people just trying to walk by.

I still took several hundred shots, so I’ll need to break this update into a few parts. Today I’ll post pictures from Day 1 and 2, and later from Day 3 and 4.

There were still some tricky lighting conditions to deal with as I moved from one part of the convention to another, and I saw a lot of photographers with different kinds of diffusers for their flash. Some had even brought umbrellas and light stands! Although that would’ve been nice to have, I’m not sure I could have managed to carry around all that gear with all the walking back and forth between the two halls I did. Definitely would not have had room to use them at the cosplay gatherings.

While the South Hall was full of exhibits, it was much too crowded for me to feel comfortable asking to take someone’s pictures. The lobby had more room though, and since it was open to sunlight it was pretty much the go-to place for both cosplayers and photographers. The West Hall on the other hand had even more space, and they even had a cosplay photography area with different backdrops and sets for people to use. Unfortunately the lightning there was pretty dim.

I also got the chance to take a few photos of these amazing cosplayers:

And since I took so many pictures, the rest can be found in my Flickr collection.

Camera: Canon 6D with 24-105mm f/4L IS

E3 2013

I attended E3 this week, my first time ever attending! It took place at the LA Convention Center, and although there were a lot of people there, it didn’t feel quite as crowded as other conventions I’ve been to. There was still a ton to see though, and since there exhibitors in both the West and South Halls, a lot of walking around.

Most of the indoor halls were very dimly lit though, and although I’d brought my 580EX II, a lot of my pictures didn’t have the best lighting. Just one of the challenges of photography at events like this though.

Many of the booths had a lot to display, and several had models too, so I had plenty to take pictures of. Ubisoft even had several zombies behind a fence, which was pretty neat. The Titanfall statue was especially impressive, it had a moving head and everything. I even ran across Felicia Day and Jessica Nigri.

Camera: Canon 6D with 24-105mm f/4L IS

Circus Vargas 2013

Went to check out Circus Vargas at the Irvine Spectrum this Saturday, bought a front row seat ahead of time so I could get a really good spot. The whole show was a lot of fun, I really loved all the acts they had, especially the new magic acts with disappearing/reappearing people.

Shooting was a bit of a challenge because of the constantly changing lighting. I was initially going to use my 50mm f/1.4 but I switched to the 24-105mm f/4, even though I sacrificed a couple aperture stops. That meant I had to work with a slightly slower shutter speed and higher ISOs, but sitting this close I needed a wider angle to be able to capture some of the larger acts.

Camera: Canon 6D with 24-105mm f/4L IS