Saturday, November 16, 2013

Better Late Than Never? Florida Supercon!

Since I just featured a bunch of the art I found there, I figured it was high time I actually posted my photos from Florida Supercon a few months back!

 
(Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2. I didn't' realize until I zoomed in that his left eye was green!)

Ok, bad stuff first: this convention was terrible. It was massively overcrowded, understaffed, and poorly run. Escalators broke down, bathrooms ran out of paper, the lines to get food took up to an hour, and there were no volunteers to be found for help or panel management. Like I said: baaaaad.

Oh, and here's the line to get tickets on Saturday:


And this:
 And this:

From here you rounded that building in the far distance before making it to the inside line. And that's AFTER most folks waited up to 2 hours to get a parking space. (We parked a quarter mile away and just hoofed it up the highway.)

Fortunately we'd pre-ordered* & picked up our tickets on Friday, so we got to skip the line madness, but we heard from some poor attendees inside who didn't even get through the doors until 2 or 3 pm. GAH!

[*Correction: John just reminded me we bought our tickets at the door - that huge line is all the people who DID pre-order tickets. o.o]

I could go on about the panels that were cancelled with no warning or explanation, the credit card machines that broke down, and how the main event stage was on one end of a massive room where everyone goes to sit and talk - meaning you couldn't hear anything on stage unless you were in the first two dozen rows - but I think you get the idea. We've been to this con three times now, I think, and this year we decided would be our last. Don't go. It's not worth it, and there are much better local cons. (MegaCon, for instance.) Or, if you do go, plan on just being there Thursday and/or Friday to avoid the insanity.

Now for the good stuff: I got some great art, we heard *most* of George Takei's & Adam Baldwin's panels (over all the talkers & portable boom boxes), and I manged to grab some Ok cosplay photos. Most importantly, though, this was a good excuse to get out of the house for a few days,  since that was right after I'd hit a virtual wall blogging.

So, onto the photos!

Pretty Ariel with her dinglehopper. :)

Steampunk TARDIS! I love the staff with the lantern and exploded clock.

Lovely Star Trek crew members
(I vaguely remember an episode where some natives put flowers on the crew...)

My dad recently bought me a new photo editing program called Perfect Photo, and I've been playing around with it for the past few weeks. It seems to do just about everything I'm used to accomplishing in Photoshop, so if you're looking for a more user-friendly (not to mention less expensive) PS alternative, I think I'd recommend it. (I tend to stay away from the portrait settings, though, since it's way too easy to make faces look like glowy plastic. Heh.)

I'm far from proficient, of course, and a lot of my photos weren't that great to begin with, but here's an example of what Perfect Photo lets me do:

Fun, right? (I've been playing with this program all night, you guys. HALP.)

Every cosplay pic so far in this post has also been adjusted with the program. It's pretty time-consuming, though, so for most of the rest I stuck with just a few basic iPhoto tweaks:

Ack! DOCTOR DOOM AND MINI DOOM! SO. CUTE.

I like to get down on my knees when photographing kids - and in this case, I think that helped get little mini-Doom's attention:

  I love this shot.

This steampunk Poison Ivy had fun glittery eyebrows:


Like most cons these days, this one was overflowing with Homestuck trolls:

 (That's not an insult, btw; the characters are actually called trolls. :))

I found this delightful group just inside the doors:
On Saturday we literally couldn't even get onto the main floor, so I hugged the wall by the entry doors and snagged cosplayers as they rounded the aisles. I only lasted a few hours that way, but Saturday tends to draw the best costumes!

 Bane, Cobra Commander, & the Baroness.


More Borderlands baddies.



Deadpool duo and a sad little Castiel. (D'awww.)


Journey and Final Fantasy.


Iron Patriot and random Burlesque prettiness.

This little cutie is becoming quite the celebrity:

Her website supports a dog rescue charity, though, so rest assured she's using her powers for good. :)

Proof that cosplay doesn't have to be too difficult or expensive to be super fun: 

Not to mention a reminder that we should never take ourselves too seriously. :D


More Perfect Photo magic:

 This Scarecrow is a girl, btw.  RESPECT.


Here are a few photos from the giant room off the main floor - the one with the wrestling ring, celebs, panel stage, and a thousand weary con-goers all vying for space:

That's my friend Christie as the 6th Doctor. The guy with the wings was trapped alongside one wall, but people kept standing in front of his wings, so it was impossible to get a clear shot. (Poor guy - he looked kinda miserable.)

And finally, some badass women:


Yes, including the dwarf. 

LOVE IT.

Hope you liked my pics, guys! There are still a few more, so if you'd like to see the rest just head over to my Flickr gallery.

Today John and I are off to yet another local con, and tomorrow we're heading to a Ren Faire down in Sarasota. Wish us luck, and watch for my photo reports next week!

18 comments:

  1. The flower crowns may have nothing to do with actual "Star Trek" and everything to do with one of the latest Internet trends. (The "Hannibal" cast has been especially supportive of the flower-crown craze.)

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  2. Also, I'm pretty sure the photo you labeled Sandman is actually Scarecrow from the Batman: Arkham games.

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    1. WHOOPS. I should know that, too, having played the games! o.0 Off to fix - thanks!

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  3. The last girl on the right, who is she? I love her costume. Totally inspired by the little vannelope (sp?) too, using her powers for the good of puppies everywhere!

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  4. As always, inspired by your fun pics of cosplayers! This year marks the first time I've ever done any cons and I'm working up the courage to dabble in some cosplay myself. Can't wait to hear about the ren fest!

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  5. That Iron Man is actually War Machine/Iron Patriot. <3

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  6. Gahh!! I went on the 4th so I missed you!! But I went as kissagram Amy Pond and my roomie went as the TARDIS. Wish I could've met you! :(

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  7. I feel really bad for the guy with wings :(. It sucks to work really hard on a costume (as he obviously did) and then get to a con that's too overcrowded for you to do anything in. Now I'm kinda sad.

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  8. All these reasons and more is exactly why I won't go back to Tampa Bay Comic Con again. It was miserable and nuts and the volunteers weren't in the know and the organizers were just as clueless and yanked us around for guest refunds after Lauren Cohan canceled her appearance. Never again. Hopefully I'll finally get to meet you in person at MegaCon next year!

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  9. Um, I think the pic you labeled Iron Man is actually Iron Patriot. My little bro has the t-shirt. :)

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    1. Drat. This is what I get for trying to show off how well I know all the characters. Ha! Anyway, just fixed it - thanks!

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  10. Hey Jen, you know the final book of Veronica Roth's trilogy (Allegiant) is out now? It's really good!

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  11. I am reliably informed by The Husband that mini-Doom is Victor von Doom's clone/son Kristoff von Doom ("one K, two F's - the traditional Latverian spelling")

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  12. Yep, totally agree that this was a terrible, badly organized con. It started when we got bumped from our original hotel that would have been in walking distance, which was not the fault of the con itself. However it was the con that arranged for us to stay at a different hotel where they were putting up some of the VIPs. Sounds great in theory and we were promised there would be a shuttle, but when we got there we found out that the shuttle only went to the con once or twice each morning and there was no return shuttle. What's the point of that?? So we had to drive over and deal with the hassle of parking in a less than ideal parking area AND pay for the privilege (and then pay AGAIN if at any point we left and came back).

    Then, as you mentioned, panels were cancelled with no warning. We would sit in rooms waiting for things to start only to have no guest show up. Then of course there were also the panels we couldn't even find because it was so poorly laid out. Oh and there were activities scheduled to START at the exact same time as the doors opened, so people who were waiting in the long line outside (even those of us who already had our wristbands) couldn't possibly get to them on time. The crowds on Saturday were unbearable. I was really glad that we were there on Friday when it was less crowded to figure out where things were have a more casual day to wander the floor.

    On the plus side, in spite of all of the negatives of the experience, we still managed to have a pretty good time. We had some interactions with con guests that we probably would not have had at a more organized event, and we generally came away happy (for the most part). In the end I would say that there was enough negative that I never feel the need to return to that particular con, yet there was enough positive that I don't feel like it was a wasted adventure.

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  13. Tell your homegirl Christie Well Done on the Sixth Doctor Coat! Having studied it for my Doctorsdonna costume, I can attest; it is a frickin' logistical nightmare just FINDING all the properly matching fabrics, much less getting them cut out in the right pattern and sewn well. She even got his li'l cat pin on her lapel, and I love that she used his blue tie with the white polka dots as a hairband. WORK!

    Cheers, darling!

    Storm

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  14. Okay, so I have to know who the guy character is in the Final Fantasy picture. He's got my FF obsessed friend stumped and I am so curious!

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  15. Such a pretty Eridan from Homestuck! I'd love to know how the gills were made--and she even included a scar!

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  16. I didn't know that you know about Homestuck ! Have you read it or listened to a reading of it on Youtube ? I just started with my friends recommendation and it is SOO good !!

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