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Greetings Everyone,

I'm still reflecting over what I experienced at Youmacon 2014 this past weekend. This was Youmacon's 10th year and my 6th time going to this con. Each year it gets bigger and bigger and more wonderful. I took over 190 photos and I have just started to go over them. My brother Dan and I went to the Cosplay Shougi Chess event and they did an interesting change to it this year. One side of the board had all female Cosplayers and the other side had all male cosplayers. I took photos of the game and with some work I will be able to show everyone the cosplayers that were the pieces.

I took a lot of photos of Cosplayers in general and some of them turned out really good and I know that my deviant art friends, watchers, and fans will like them. If you want to check out these photos and more please go to my Deviant Art Cosplay Photography page and go to my "Youmacon 2014" Gallery album. I have posted 4 photos already. Note I will not post those photos here. Their is a link to my Deviant Art page in my signature of this website. smile

As always I went to the Dealers Room and Artists Alley. At the Dealers Room I added the pose able Sailor Mercury Figure to my growing Sailor Moon series collection and bought a Princess Serenity plushie.

I also had the honor to meet in person a wonderful artist in the Artists Alley. I met Kamaniki (Gigi) at the booth that she shared with a friend and bought 3 of her poster sized prints and my brother bought one as well. I have promoted her art on my Facebook Photography page for a while now and it was a thrill to meet her and check out her work in person. Here is a list of the posters that I bought and what they mean to me:

1. Anna & Elsa from the movie Frozen. Frozen is one of my favorite movies and I have taken photos of a few Anna and Elsa cosplayers.
2. Final Fantasy X poster. Since 2010 I have taken photos of many Final Fantasy character cosplayers and my favorite ones are Yuna, Rikku, and Aerith. My favorite versions of Final Fantasy are VII, X, and X-2.
3. Soul and Maka from the Anime series Soul Eater. Of the three I like that poster the most because Soul Eater is one of my all time favorite series. Also over the last couple of years I have taken a lot of photos of Maka, Soul, and other Soul Eater character Cosplayers.

Please check out Kamaniki's Deviant Art page, http://kamaniki.deviantart.com/ , and check out her drawings. You will be as amazed as I am with her talent. I'm going to frame at least one of the posters that I bought from her for all to see. Meeting Kamaniki (Gigi) was the main highlight of this convention and I made her day with the high praise that I gave her. To me this is one of the main reasons that I go to the Anime / Cosplay conventions is to meet and greet wonderful people and in my case take cosplay photos of some of them as well.

If you wish to find out more about Youmacon and the other Michigan conventions that I go to please check out my thread called, "2014 Michigan Convention Info". Also please let me know if you went to Youmacon. I would really like to hear what you thought of this years event. smile

Take Care,
Ron

Hi Kari,

Thanks for posting in this thread. It means a lot. Yes my brother and I are going to Youmacon 2015 this year. Most likely it will only be on the Saturday of the con. I have not been to the rave. You have my interest.

If you don't know I'm a huge Sailor Moon series fan. Just check out the Sailor Moon thread in the Anime, Manga, and Video Game Sub Forum here on Gaia. Every convention I look for Sailor Moon series characters to take photos of. I'm a semi pro Cosplay Photographer and I have a Deviant Art Page.

Their is a link to my Deviant Art Page in my Gaia signature. Check out the Gallery on my page. I may have taken a photo of you wearing your Sailor Moon Cosplay Outfit.. Specifically I took a lot of Sailor Moon series cosplay photos at Youmacon 2014 and I was at the Cons Main Youmacon 2013 Sailor Moon Photo shoot. Youmacon 2014 you can check out the photos in that Gallery and Youmacon 2013 their is a special Youmacon 2013 Sailor Moon Gallery. I took a lot of photos at that photoshoot. Also at Shuto Con 2013 I did a photo shoot of both a Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus Cosplayer.

I would Love to meet you. Also I'm always looking for cosplayers to take photoshoots of. Please let me know if you want to meet me at the con and if you want to do a photoshoot. I would like to take a photoshoot of you wearing your Sailor Moon Cosplay outfit if you are wearing it this year. Also I'm open to doing photoshoots of other characters that you cosplay as well. For a photoshoot I can make myself available for any of the three days of the con.

Please respond to this message and check out my Deviant Art page. You will be amazed at the photos that I have taken. smile

Take Care,
Ron

Hi Kari,

To give you an idea of how much of a Sailor Moon fan that I am check out this list:
1. All 12 of the new release of the Manga books
2. 8 Sailor Moon Plushies. You can see my Luna plushie in some of my Cosplay Photos that I took of Sailor Moon scouts.
3. I now own 4 of the SHfiguarts pose able figures (Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Venus). I really want to find and Sailor Jupiter.
4. I just bought the Sailor Moon "Zero" figure.
5. I own most of the DVD's of all 4 seasons of Sailor Moon and I even have the Live Version that they did as well.
6. I also own the first and second parts of the new Blu Ray release of the first season of Sailor Moon. I already have on order the first part of Sailor Moon R on Blu Ray. I can't wait until they release Sailor Moon Stars.
7. I watched on cable the release of Sailor Moon on American TV back in the 90's. I have been a big fan since.
8. My favorite scout is Sailor Mars. I have a key chain, an original doll from Sailor Moon R, and a special commission drawing of Sailor Mars where she is dressed up for Christmas and is sitting on a candy cane (Very Cute).

It would be an honor to meet you at the con on Saturday. Also if it's Ok with you I would really like to do a photo shoot of you wearing your Sailor Moon outfit. Please let me know which day you will be wearing it. If you are with a Sailor Scout Cosplay Group and they are open to it I would Love to do a group photoshoot with them. I can't wait to see how you improve your outfit. I have seen the Moonstick before at an anime store in the Detroit area. I like the photo that you added to this post. It's really nice. I have taken a lot of photos of the scouts over the years and I'm amazed at the different levels and variations of the outfits. A cosplayer is honoring a character that they Love by cosplaying them so to me it doesn't matter what level of cosplaying they are at.

We have a lot of time to think about this and set it up. My cosplay photography is done a little different than the average Cosplay Photographer. I use a really good Cannon camera with no tripod and its always on Auto. That leaves me open to focus on the cosplayer them self. You can see the results in many of my photos. Knowing the series so well I can certainly come up with a few poses. With a group cosplay I can do even more. When you decide which day you will be cosplaying Sailor Moon please let me know right away and then we can set something up. I still prefer Saturday to do a photoshoot or just take a few photos. Your choice of course. Also I don't charge like other photographers do. For me the joy of taking photos of cosplayers is reward enough.

I hope that you will do a photoshoot. I want to make it clear that I'm not pushing this but with my great Love of the series this photoshoot and even just meeting you would be a big highlight of my convention experience. Please let me know what you think about doing a photoshoot. I'm open to do a photoshoot on Friday as well.

Also its a thrill to meet another Sailor Moon fan. When you get a chance please post in the "Official Sailor Moon" thread in the Anime, Manga, and Video Game Sub Forum. In the Guild smile

I look forward to hearing from you and if we do a photoshoot we can keep those details to ourselves through Gaia Messages or even through Email. Also it will be cool to meet a Guild Member at a Michigan convention.

Take Care,
Ron