Dragon*Con 2012: Con Report

Dragon*Con is one of those conventions that I’ve heard about for the longest time since my first year of cosplay. Year after year went of me seeing pictures from the event online, but this year I buckled down and made plans to make this my first out-of-state convention. My boyfriend and I took a plane to Atlanta, GA and arrived at the biggest convention we have been to yet. Dragon*Con 2012, a multi-genre convention, took place over five hotels in downtown Atlanta, GA. It scored more than 52,000 attendees this year and had over 1700 volunteers. Things seemed so well-organized with the pick-up of registration on Thursday. I was amazed of how long the empty spaces for lines were in anticipation for the next few days. By the end of day, the crowds in the hotels were already looking very full. The streets around the hotels were lined with Dragon*Con banners welcoming the event.

On Friday early afternoon, I met with Ashley of Nerd Caliber at the Marriott Marquis. It was so awesome to finally meet another person from this site! I played video camera lady and we interviewed many different cosplayers in the hotel. There was such a wide variety of costumes from different series. I was so surprised to see the orange and blue tuxedo versions of Lloyd and Harry from the film Dumb and Dumber and various characters from books and so many original fantasy costumes. It is something I’m not used to seeing since all I have ever attended in the past are anime conventions.

I took pictures of the Friday night costume contest. This contest focuses on the craftsmanship of a costume. There were so many great and amazing entries! The level of craftsmanship at this convention was so much more than what I’ve seen before! 

Saturday morning’s main event at Dragon*Con is The Parade. I unfortunately did not get to see this event because I made the big mistake of not getting there early enough. Thirty minutes early is certainly not enough! I walked from the start of the parade towards the end and there were so many people and huge crowds along the way that I could not see any of the entrants. I severely underestimated how many people would be in the streets to see this. It seemed really fantastic from the photos I have seen.

I attended and took pictures at Dragon*Con’s Saturday afternoon costume contest which mostly focuses on anime and videogames. This seemed more like the type of contest I would see at an anime convention.

Right after the contest I headed to the 10^th floor of the Marriott Marquis where the Mass Effect gathering was being held. I am not familiar with the series, but the costumes are so amazing! They even had the voice actor for male Shepard who also cosplayed with the fans. My friends were all involved in this and I gave them a little private shoot at a secluded spot in the hotel.

Early Sunday afternoon, I met with Ashley again and we did more interviews with cosplayers. This time we headed to the other hotels we had not been to before. Perhaps my favorite was the cabbage guy from the animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. He got into character really well for this shot I took of him.

After we were done with interviews I met up my friend, Marika-San and did a shoot for her. Across the front entrance of the Marriott Marquis going north is this wonderful area for picture-taking. This is one of my favorites from our shoot.

My next shoot was done along the outskirts of the Marriott Marquis Hotel of my boyfriend and our friend Lisa. The entrance walkways to the Marriott were very beautiful. Water is pouring down along the glass and it made such a cool effect for the pictures. I didn’t want to obstruct traffic much so we did these shots fairly quickly and I captured my favorite shot.

The Masquerade Costume Contest is one the main events at Dragon*Con. It Is the biggest costume contest at the convention. The event took place at the Hyatt in the first three Centennial Rooms. Thanks to my press badge, I was lead to the catwalk on a second level above the stage and I used my 70-200mm lens to capture the cosplayers on stage. I was blown away of how many talented people competed at this convention.

I had put my camera away for the rest of the con. I got to enjoy exploring a little more the next day. This convention is really amazing. What really impressed me is that even some of the restaurants around the area celebrate this convention by dressing up in costumes instead of their regular work uniform and sell small merchandise related to Dragon*Con and their business. It seems like this convention is such a huge sensation during Labor Day weekend every year in Atlanta for everyone in the area. Dragon*Con 2013 has announced its dates for next year for August 30 – Sept.2, 2013. It’s a convention unlike none other than I have attended before. If you have thoughts of going to this convention you need to go! I will certainly try to go again next year.

Click here to see a gallery of my most favorite pics from the con. If you are interested in following my work, you can watch me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/FallingFeathers.net or visit my site at www.fallingfeathers.net.