Dragon Con '13: The Best Cosplay, Part 1

I'm sorting and editing my DC photos in order, so here are my favorites from Thursday and Friday!

(Thursday is the new Friday at Dragon Con, by the way; more and more folks arrive on Wednesday now, so Thursday has plenty of pre-con parties and cosplayers out and about!)

My first cosplay shot of the weekend: my friend Christie as a mermaid!

(I've had a few people ask, and yes, that IS a Mertailor tail.)

This female Hellboy (Hellgirl?) and Abe Sapien absolutely blew me away:

Their costumes were stunning, and it was nice to get the chance to chat with them and grab a few close-ups. After Thursday getting more than a half second to snap a photo - much less TALK to the cosplayer - is a rare luxury.

I really like the way Abe's shot turned out; her pose is awesome. I'm trying to step up my game with cosplay shots, get some more interesting angles when I can. It's tough since most of these are night shots without nearly enough light (and I don't use flash), but I'm having fun trying!

Obligatory memes:

I love punny cosplays, so I'm ashamed to say it took me a solid 10 second to "get" this one:

Do you get it? Huh? DO YA?

(It's a clockwork orange!)

It can be a bit dizzying when you're crushed in a sea of people in the Marriott lobby, so if you ever start to feel claustrophobic, just look up:

Then you'll feel REALLY dizzy. :D

Oh, and if you enjoy the tickly feeling of your brain dropping into your stomach, then I highly recommend riding one of those glass express elevators up to the very top. (My knees very nearly gave way when we did a few years ago. HEAD RUSH!)

This guy was carrying around a steampunk Kermit, but I couldn't catch him from the front:

D'awww.

And this grumpy Tink is ridiculously adorable:

Coulson lives!

I spotted two fantastic Wonder Woman variations on Friday: the first was this Masquerade style:

How great is that mask?

And the second was this sensational Western Wonder Woman, who even talked the part with a drawled, "Thank ye kindly, ma'am."

 This is actually one of my favorite cosplays from the whole con; so original, and perfectly done.

Friday night there was a steampunk party in the Aether lounge, but it was so dark in there pictures without flash were nearly impossible. I geeked out when I spotted this steampunk Hatter, though, since I was drooling over his costume over on DeviantArt just a few weeks ago:

The hat has a lever on the side that operates the hinged opening and lifts out a teacup. SO COOL. His brass mouse toppled off his shoulder just as I was about to take his picture, so I got to pick it up - and I was THIS CLOSE to making a run for it with her. ;)

I spotted three or four Sherlocks over the weekend - at least one of which was running around in just a bed sheet, which was hysterical. (I heard on Twitter that he kept approaching people dressed as Bilbo and saying, "Oh, I thought you were someone else." Bwahaha!) These two made a great pair; you can just tell they're handcuffed together:

This astronaut looks like he robbed Cape Canaveral. Seriously, the suit and flag were that perfect up close:

Pretty girls in armor:

The one on the right has a color-changing orb floating above her hand - and I'm still not sure how it was attached.

This young fellow is actually an Epbot fan; he and his mom flagged me down in the Hyatt lobby:

The whole suit is articulated beautifully, and it was fun hearing them explain how they did it all together!

(Oddly enough, I actually had more young boys than girls track me down over the weekend - all with their parents, of course. Overall there aren't a huge amount of young kids at DC, though, except for the parade on Saturday.)

Had some fun playing with the lighting on this one:

 It's easy to get jaded about amazing cosplay when you're at Dragon Con - easy to forget these are fans just like you and me, making art and learning new skills all out of love for their passions. It's inspiring, really.

 Another reader, rocking a fab femme Riddler costume!

(Please forgive me for not listing names, guys; next year I need to carry a notebook! o.0)

I was surprised I didn't see more BioShock Infinite cosplay this year. I saw more Bookers than Elizabeths, and no other characters from the game at all. I'm desperate to see someone do the Statue of Liberty ghost soldiers - if I weren't so short I would be ALL over that.

Anyway, major props to this Booker for bringing... a major prop:

Awesome.

And now a blurry shot of some flawless body paint:

She must have been airbrushed. There wasn't a smear or streak on her! 

This gal wins most creative Doctor Who cosplay:

She was kind of like a walking parade float; the three pieces attached to a backpack behind her, and she tells me she made them mostly from foam and fabric. (The Ood is my favorite!)

Some Disney princesses:

And Dug from Up!

Not sure who this is, but I wouldn't want to cross her:

[Per the comments: "Looks to be a Femme Kabal from Mortal Kombat." Thanks!]

And this is one of my favorite cosplay groups:

SO PERFECT. And I love the girl Indy!

Just a few feet away was this group from Middle Earth:

Check out the Rider!

I think this next one needs a caption:

"Hey, man, we said no corporate sponsors!"

This group had color-changing weaponry, and if you look closely you'll see the pink-and-white one is Hello Kitty themed:

Hee!
[Lydia in the comments just pointed this out: That's HALO Kitty! AAAAH, SO AWESOME!]

Adventure Time prettiness:

It's hard to tell with the poor lighting, but their skin really was painted pink and orange.

This is our new friend JJ, another DC volunteer we first met on the media tour Wednesday night:

I snapped this in the vendor hall with a white column behind her, and now I wish ALL my shots had white backgrounds. (Also shows what a difference better lighting can make!)


This guy was stationed right outside the Vendor building, delighting all us passers-by:

 

I think you need a little video to really appreciate him, though, so here's a Vine I posted:

Talk about dedication; he has both arms inside the puppet.

And while I'm at it, here's another of three costumes I didn't get still photos of:

Ruby Rhod is da bomb. Love him.

Go, Go, Gadget Girl!

On a technical note: many of these shots were taken in shadows and dimly lit corners, so John suggested I put up a comparison so you can see how I'm adjusting them:

I've found that the Lighting Effects in PhotoShop (under the "Render" toolbar) are my new best friend; they can make a back lit subject like this Red Sonja pop forward without blowing out the background. I also use the Dodge tool to further lighten the faces, and then add a vignette. I'm just playing with sliders 'til I think it looks right, though, I really have no idea what I'm doing. ;) (And I've only adjusted about half of these photos in PS - the rest I just brighten up in iPhoto.)

Oh, and since I'm usually asked: I use a Canon 7D with a 17-50 lens for all my shots.

And finally, this steampunk Cyberman actually won one of the categories in the big costume contest, and it's easy to see why!

The detail on this costume is flat-out ASTOUNDING, and I can't even begin to guess how he made the rubber under suit with all the wires and tubing. Absolutely gorgeous.

Ok. So... that's Thursday and Friday. 0.0  Hope you guys enjoyed, and stay tuned for more!