Sure, I have yet to put together v. 002 of Cosplay Underground, but I’ve already begun shooting v. 003.  For Cosplay Underground, it’s nice to have some photos in the bank and work on issues when I get the chance.  The first issue that I completed this year was shot entirely at Fanimecon in San Jose.  The second issue will feature photos taken at an organized cosplay picnic, Nisei Week, and Mikomicon.  Basically, the first two issues were shot at conventions or cosplay events.  Issue 3 is going to venture away from the conventions and organized cosplay events, at least in part.  Basically, I’ll be going to various locations in Southern California with a few adventurous cosplayers and seeing what happens.

Over this past weekend, I travelled with a group of photographers and cosplayers to the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista, CA.  In the back area of this museum is a truck, tractor, and farm machinery graveyard.  There’s a lot of old rusty vehicles and random pieces of junk.  It was a very interesting and colorful location to take photos of cosplayers.  On this day we had several cosplayers dressed as characters from the video game Persona 3.  I actually had enough cosplayers on this occasion to finish a whole edition of Cosplay Underground and have it completely devoted to this group.  It would have been the biggest issue so far, but the weather did not cooperate and I was only able to work with three cosplayers on this day.

The photos appearing above are cosplayers “Sushi Monster” as Ken, “Shiya” as Fuuka, and “Susan” as Aigis.

I’m spending this weekend at Mikomicon, which is a small anime convention held on the campus of Cal State Northridge.  My goals for this weekend are to do basic convention coverage for my personal website as well as gather more material for the next issue of Cosplay Underground.  Friday was a little hectic with registration opening about 80 minutes late and a 2 out 3 musical performances either being rescheduled for another day or not showing up for some reason.  Otherwise it was a typical convention Friday, which is normally slow because people have school or work.

It’s one of the smaller conventions in the Los Angeles area, and I knew that, but I like to go out and support the smaller events.  It’s good to have options instead of having only one or two large conventions in the area each year.  The reason I wanted to come here to take some photos for the next Cosplay Underground was because despite being such a small convention, it’s the best convention location in Los Angeles for taking cosplay photographs.  Since it’s a college campus, there are many very picturesque locations.  Many conventions in Los Angeles have opted either for indoor locations, which typically get too crowded to do the type of photography that I want to do, or extremely urban locations which aren’t really appropriate for some costumes.  It’s becoming increasingly difficult to be creative with cosplay photography at most of the Los Angeles area anime conventions.

After the first day, it looks like I have enough material for a new issue of Cosplay Underground.  Anything I get for the rest of the weekend will be a bonus.  It was definitely worth it to come to this location.  For this issue I will also have a few male cosplayers.  Look for this issue in a few weeks.

Mikomicon continues through Sunday September 21.

I’m currently working on another edition of Cosplay Underground.  Before I joined J!-ENT, I was a big fan of the original Cosplay Underground section.  At that time, I was already doing a lot of cosplay photography at conventions.  Some of the people that were interviewed for that were people that I had photographed and knew.  I still see some of those people at local events.  A few months ago, I thought that it would be a fun idea to bring that section back to life in a new way and to try new things with regards to my cosplay photography.  The result was v. 001, which was done at Fanimecon.  It was fun project and I’m definitely going to try and get more editions out before the year is up.  I’ve done a few photoshoots done for the next edition.

Cosplayer “Susan” will make her second appearance in Cosplay Underground dressed as the character Minagi Tohno from the video game and manga, Air.  This series of photos was done at a picnic for the local anime and cosplay community at William R. Mason Park in the city of Irvine, CA.  The event was held in early August and drew over 100 attendees.

Also returning to Cosplay Underground will be cosplayer “Shiya” dressed as Princess Kairi from the video game, Kingdom Hearts.  New to Cosplay Underground will be cosplayer “Celestial Aurora” dressed as Aerith from the movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.  These photo sets were done at Nisei Week.

Progress has been fairly slow on this edition.  I was at Comic-Con in San Diego in July and wanted to do some photo sessions there, but it was so crowded and congested there that I was simply discouraged.  There simply wasn’t a lot of room to be flexible and everybody was so busy and didn’t seem to have time to do a long photo session.  Most of the time, I’d be working with people that don’t know what I’m taking photos for, and that’s how I want it to be.  I like to drag cosplayers out to less crowded areas where there is room to be a lot more creative.  The cosplay picnic in Irvine had a lot of possibilities, but the midday sun was harsh and I didn’t want to start taking photos until later in the day, after a lot of people had already left.  A lot of cosplayers also showed up to Nisei Week, but were busy with the cosplay contest and parade.  The two cosplayers that I managed to photograph at Nisei Week weren’t interested in participating in either.  It seems easier to work with people that I’ve worked with before and have them bring in more cosplayers to the project.

In three weeks, I’ll be attending Mikomicon, which is a small anime convention held on the campus of Cal State Northridge.  It’s probably the most picturesque location for any convention in the Los Angeles area, so I should be able to finish shooting for Cosplay Underground v. 002.  There are also a few other cosplay events on my schedule in September and October, so getting v. 003 by the end of the year is also a possibility.