Cosplay, Assassin Gear & RTR Pre-Release

I dunno what it is about cosplay that I enjoy; maybe it is the fact that its really passionate people that put alot of effort into the design of their costume. These are the kinds of people that become fashion designers or costume directors for movies I imagine. I normally don't like Halloween b/c I don't have an elaborate costume that looks like the ones below; if I did, I would probably enjoy it alot more!

These photos were from the recent Tokyo Game Show.

My best friend would probably love this jacket.. atleast for Halloween.. dunno about wearing it for real life (although thats what it was designed for).. if I was rich buddy, I'd buy it for you ;)

And some REALLY detailed Assassin's Creed costumes!

Its the Pre-release event this weekend for Magic: The Gathering, Return to Ravnica.. now I said I really wanted to go to it.. but i'm having second thoughts.. kinda fickle that way. I think it all becomes real when it gets closer to the date. I obviously would feel more comfortable going with a big group of friends. I guess I don't like competition very much and am kinda a sore loser when it comes to MTG. 

Borderlands 2: Countdown!

Yep, you guessed it; Borderlands 2 is sneaking up on us.. finally something else besides Skyrim.
Some amazing Borderlands (1) cosplay:

The Siren & The Hunter

If you're getting the game, what class do you think will be your main? I'm thinking probably the Assassin (specced for melee), with my alt being the Commando (dual turret specc).

Photography at the Fan Expo 2012

Can you say "hurray for short weeks"? I love 4-day weeks; its already Thursday, can you believe it? If you feel like you're not accomplishing much, try writing down the tasks you want to accomplish the night before. Having a list of *ahem* 'quests' will result in you accomplishing them, rather than trying to remember while, say, trying to fend off the urge to play Guild Wars 2.

What did I learn (photography-wise) this year at Toronto's Fan Expo?

Beautiful gamer women are there. Tear yourself away from the pc and get a girlfriend like this! Wait, that doesn't have anything to do with photography... Ok. Its not ideal photography conditions in a convention centre, so you must take care and preferably test shots before you waste shots on say.. beautiful women! 

In these two photos, the background was heavily darkened from the flash I had attached to my camera. While it gave me sharp pictures, the black background wasn't necessarily desired; I like the brighter background. Its not that the background was dark, but the flash makes everything close very bright and the background very dark.

 

I decided that I didn't like the super dark background (but liking it more now that I look at it more) and had to take photos without a flash. That meant using my 50mm lens. The only way I could have an acceptable shutter speed of 1/80, I reduced my f stop to 1.8 . Its actually what you should do because it will blur the background the most, except you have to be very careful to ensure the focus point is on the subject's eyes, otherwise it will look weird looking at your photo, thus ruining it.

I've found that when taking portraits, to be extra careful when framing the subject. Yes, you have to be quick and not make the model wait too long, but framing is still important. I found alot of shots, there was alot of empty space at the top of the photo, requiring me to crop it out. I'm the type that prefers to do as little editting as needed and to make the photo as best as possible the first time.

In a perfect world, we'd like to get almost the whole person in costume, but it might result in alot of ugly background.. not that i'm saying my friend who jumped into the background is ugly (its actually funny), but there are other distracting things (faces and movement)in a busy anime convention which may ruin a photo.

Ding!

So while you were at church... the cottage.. shopping or watching the football game.. you were missing out on..

Asian Wonder Woman

Blonde LG girl

Asian Gingers..

Man. Just more proof of hot gamer chicks! There's more every year (at anime conventions, the Fan Expo in particular); Life is gooood.

Back to Work

In receiving an email from ArenaNet, it reminds me that Guild Wars 2 is coming out in a week or so. I'll find out tonight after checking the blogosphere who (everybody) will be planning to get it. I'm still on the fence; the internet is so incredibly slow right now, that i'm quite sure i'll rage-quit after a few days. I don't think Terraria will last til Borderlands 2 comes out..

Anyways; Fan Expo is coming to Toronto this week (starts Thursday); I plan on going most likely on Sunday.

Go to Tate's website for more photos

For girls in cosplay? nahhhhhhhh... *halo*

Thursday Musings

For my best friend, Hunter, who I think would appreciate a woman like this ;)

I bought Terraria 2 days before the Steam Summer sale and although I paid 7$ more than I could have, it was still worth it. Very sandbox-ey. My kind of crafting game.

The first thing anyone should learn how to do is to make a house. This will protect you during the first few nights when zombies will come at you relentlessly and your weapons are too weak. Check this vid which does a good job. As long as its not the Blood Moon, zombies cannot break through doors.


A good thing for newbies is to go to the Settings and set Auto Pause to On so that while you craft or check your inventory, monsters or slimes don't constantly interrupt you.


Lastly, there is a point to making better quality tools (pickaxe, axe, hammer); the better the quality, the faster you can harvest materials.

Reflection

What does Easter mean to you?


I've seen alot of zombie Jesus cracks, free long weekends, bunnies, chocolate, and excuses to get drunk. Its an important weekend for believers and also one where we have to ignore alot of tasteless humor.


Lets be a bit more respectful.


Anyways; while cruising on Kotaku, I watched this amazing Skyrim music vid



I looked at Lindsey's Zelda vid as well and then kept watching her list; very talented and violinist and dancer atleast.

Take Aim

This totally gets me in the Borderlands 2 mood; the woman is actually cosplaying for a new game: Firefall.
For more cosplay photos of the model, Crystal Graziano.

The Search Continues

Ugh. I can't think of anything to write about these days.
                                   
Searching searching... searching.. for something..

Been playing Wakfu.. thats about it.

A Mass Effect planet?

Cosplay and Art

Missing some cosplay action? Me too.

Follow this Kotaku link for some more of this cosplay superstar (?) Meagan Marie.

And follow this one for more Mass Effect art

                                 

Thirty-First

Happy Halloween everyone!

This is what I should have gone as... theres always next year..
Follow this link for some gaming-inspired Halloween costumes.. and this one.

Dragon Con 2011

It just came to me, that the other pictures of cosplay wouldn't really interest most people, since it dealt with non-mmo games. Here are some Star Wars cosplay shots that I took from the Fan Expo, 2 weeks ago.


Here is a link to some Dragon Con photos.

And another one here. 

I'm happy to report that these shots look better than the photos on those at Kotaku =)

Alot of my shots that i've reviewed can be found on my Deviant Art site.

This girl was a fantastic model; great facial expressions!

Labor Day Goodness

Thank goodness American's share Labor Day with Canada (means I get the day off too!).

Some intersting cosplayers from Dragon Con.

Have a safe weekend everyone!

Fan Expo - Moments

I honestly dont' know why I keep thinking its 2012.... ...
Anyways; below are some interesting photos I took that people might enjoy :)

Heroes in plain sight.


An assassin making his move..


Gun Envy

Fan Expo 2011

Fan Expo = Anime Comics Sci-fi Horror Gaming

Also.. famous celebrities (William Shatner, Eliza Dushku).. cosplay.. new games and technologies.. things you don't see every day..

All the things you love in book, jewelry, print, plushie etc-format that you can think of, all in one place and not spread out all over Ontario/farther.
Lots more on my Deviant Art site.

Like-minded individuals, taking part in what they love.


Everyone just being themselves; and thats cool.

(Dunno if this video will load for you; but its a whole group of kids in cosplay, just dancing around)You laugh at first at the absurdity.. but then smile, b/c they're just having fun.

Where's Fluffy?

Hey all, back from a very relaxing cottage week vacation. Back to one of my first loves: blogging.
FanExpo for Toronto is coming up in 2 weeks (that was fast). Don't forget!

Just like how Princess Leia is a cult icon for North America, that Final Fantasy heroine is the shiz for asians ;)

Follow the link for more cosplayers!

Went with a new Canadian wireless carrier and purchased a new phone recently; I was with Virgin Mobile before, on a basic texting plan (unlimited incoming, 100 outgoing, for 5$ a month) with an LG Rumor.

One day while talking to my close friend and gaming-brother Capo, and all I could think about the whole time was "how many more minutes do I have left until my pay-as-you-go run out?" It was very uncomfortable and stressing.

So I purchased a Blackberry Bold 9780 (yes, they are coming out with a new line up) and went with a new competitor in the market: Mobilicity. 50$ basically for unlimited everything, including data. Lets do a compliment sandwich:

The biggest plus was the very reasonable monthly price without a contract and unlimited everything (even data).

There are minuses though:
- reception; my BB has no reception in my room, while the Rumor had about a bar or two. Everywhere else, the reception is good, but I want to operate the cell in my room unfortunately
- 'unlimited' when operating in the metropolitan area; i'd need to pay per usage outside.. we'll see how crippling that is when I start paying for that (don't think ill be out of the area too often)
- the reps at the store didn't sound like they knew what they were doing

Back to some positives:
- great customer service; I called the cx service to verify some details on my account and fix an issue with porting my phone number. The people on the line knew what they were doing and the email responses were quick and effective

Lessons

THAT is actual cosplay and not cgi!

In 24 days, the Toronto FanExpo comes to town and we'll get to see lots of crazy things like this:

Roll out!

As a guy, make sure you don't check your nails like that...

Note to self, learn more about your new camera

Nikon D300

Went hiking over the weekend, and although I didn't take any good shots, they were all taken in JPEG and *ahem* true photographers will take them in RAW.

What to expect at a Comic Con

Cosplay found at the San Diego Comic Con

Not the best stuff i've seen, but still better than anything I can make..

2011 Comic Con

I haven't played/thought of Borderlands for such a long time, that I nearly missed this from the (San Fran?) Comic Con 2011:

Go here for more photos. Yay cosplay ;)
There should be Fan Expo at the end of August in Toronto which I intend on taking some photos for practice!

Up close and personal

Haven't had much time to game these days; leveling my 46.5 Mage in Rift feels like a chore.
I finally got Photoshop and was able to touch up some photos such as this macro shot.

I'm testing a theory out (since i'm still a macro newbie), but with a higher f-number I should have more of the shot in focus. There seems to be a very small area of detail in focus when using a macro lens versus other lens.
It was kind disheartening that I took over 100 photos over the weekend at the cottage only to find about 4 that were ok.
Practice practice practice I suppose.

We missed the Anime North 2 weekends ago... FanExpo is at the end of August. Don't Forget!