FA+
Shop
On Conventions and Event Photography
12 years ago
General
So this year has been a very busy one for me, not that I am complaining about this in the least. In-fact going into this year I was worried I would be bored/not useful/under appreciated with communities I help support, and glad to see its quite the opposite. I have a better idea of what I can and want to do to help- and as long as I have some sort of recognition I am happy with that.
Let's see here, where do I begin? This year has been a ride already and it's only halfway over. It really started picking up speed around Anime Detour for me; and the reason that I'm thinking about this is I just got back from a different Anime con at the same hotel this weekend (more on that later in this post).
Anyways... at Anime Detour this year I helped out
mouring with the Fursuit photoshoot which evolved into helping out/playing with the Staff photographers at Anime Detour because they were a very busy bunch and needed some extra help from time to time. I brought my own upgraded Studio equipment which I recently purchased just prior to the con and it all worked together with only the minor issue that I had been short-sightened enough not to bring extra fresh batteries for the Radio triggers. Whoops n.n.
From this point forward
mnfurs had a number of other events including a downtown fursuit romp, a bowling event and the Spring Picnic. I was a photographer in some respect at all of these events. I've been a "staff" photographer at an event every month if not more since Anime Detour. I'm getting my money worth out of all my new equipment...
The last few months I went from a total unknown in the local furry community as a photographer to getting enough questions and pokes from many different people that I should be carrying around personal business cards with my FA on it. If I'm around at a local event people assume I'm the event photographer.
My FA went from having nothing but general photography and some Zoo photography that did "okay" to being 90% fursuiting photos within the last few months. I've noticed while I get a lot less Favs on my fursuiting photos directly, I get a lot more comments either from people offline that they like my work, or the suiter him/herself will get a good number of comments/favs from something re-posted from me.
It goes without saying that the fursuiters in the fandom get a lot of attention. Its much much harder to get attention as the one taking the photo directly at times. But when I see people enjoying my work, whether I'm getting direct credit or involvement I'm very happy with this.
I'm also considering looking at a dedicated photo-dump site (Like photobucket or Flickr) JUST for my Fursuit/Con/Event photography.
In two weeks I have another event, though working for a non-profit festival that is not "furry related". This brings me back to three years ago I used to do some volunteer photography for various non-profits abroad including the Alzheimers Foundation and Hennipen County.
I've also been doing a lot of general photography this year when compared to my slump of 2011 and 2012. I'm back to and above my peak of my photography hobby in 2009 and 2010.
I'm not snooty with my photography, and that is what burnt me out about photography in the past. Now I can laugh and shake my head at Professionals who have their heads a mile up their ass.
A lot of Professional or even "Serious Hobbiest" photographers I've met have this huge Ego about needing to have the "best gear" and would never appreciate the work of other photographers because their work is "obviously the best".
This attitude REALLY pissed me off. It still does, but I've come to terms that I am NOT like that. I am out there to have fun, and if I ever do this as a side business; I'd never have this attitude...
The con this weekend overall was Meh. The overall average age was easily 10 years younger then Anime Detour and Furry conventions. It feels a little awkward being a 31 year old man taking photos of a 13 year old in a school girl costume. Yeeeeah. So I stayed away from that...
On the flipside a good number of furs locally were there, and although the fursuiting roaming was a lot more sporadic and less organized then it was at AD I still got some really nice shots; some of which will be posted in the next few days.
So in short, my photography bug has gone into overdrive. I've noticed some of my other hobbies such as Fishing and Gaming at this point have become secondary; While I still enjoy doing these activities if you look at where the bulk of my time has been in the last few months when I'm not working or hanging out with friends; its usually been behind a lens of a camera.
Let's see here, where do I begin? This year has been a ride already and it's only halfway over. It really started picking up speed around Anime Detour for me; and the reason that I'm thinking about this is I just got back from a different Anime con at the same hotel this weekend (more on that later in this post).
Anyways... at Anime Detour this year I helped out
mouring with the Fursuit photoshoot which evolved into helping out/playing with the Staff photographers at Anime Detour because they were a very busy bunch and needed some extra help from time to time. I brought my own upgraded Studio equipment which I recently purchased just prior to the con and it all worked together with only the minor issue that I had been short-sightened enough not to bring extra fresh batteries for the Radio triggers. Whoops n.n.From this point forward
mnfurs had a number of other events including a downtown fursuit romp, a bowling event and the Spring Picnic. I was a photographer in some respect at all of these events. I've been a "staff" photographer at an event every month if not more since Anime Detour. I'm getting my money worth out of all my new equipment...The last few months I went from a total unknown in the local furry community as a photographer to getting enough questions and pokes from many different people that I should be carrying around personal business cards with my FA on it. If I'm around at a local event people assume I'm the event photographer.
My FA went from having nothing but general photography and some Zoo photography that did "okay" to being 90% fursuiting photos within the last few months. I've noticed while I get a lot less Favs on my fursuiting photos directly, I get a lot more comments either from people offline that they like my work, or the suiter him/herself will get a good number of comments/favs from something re-posted from me.
It goes without saying that the fursuiters in the fandom get a lot of attention. Its much much harder to get attention as the one taking the photo directly at times. But when I see people enjoying my work, whether I'm getting direct credit or involvement I'm very happy with this.
I'm also considering looking at a dedicated photo-dump site (Like photobucket or Flickr) JUST for my Fursuit/Con/Event photography.
In two weeks I have another event, though working for a non-profit festival that is not "furry related". This brings me back to three years ago I used to do some volunteer photography for various non-profits abroad including the Alzheimers Foundation and Hennipen County.
I've also been doing a lot of general photography this year when compared to my slump of 2011 and 2012. I'm back to and above my peak of my photography hobby in 2009 and 2010.
I'm not snooty with my photography, and that is what burnt me out about photography in the past. Now I can laugh and shake my head at Professionals who have their heads a mile up their ass.
A lot of Professional or even "Serious Hobbiest" photographers I've met have this huge Ego about needing to have the "best gear" and would never appreciate the work of other photographers because their work is "obviously the best".
This attitude REALLY pissed me off. It still does, but I've come to terms that I am NOT like that. I am out there to have fun, and if I ever do this as a side business; I'd never have this attitude...
The con this weekend overall was Meh. The overall average age was easily 10 years younger then Anime Detour and Furry conventions. It feels a little awkward being a 31 year old man taking photos of a 13 year old in a school girl costume. Yeeeeah. So I stayed away from that...
On the flipside a good number of furs locally were there, and although the fursuiting roaming was a lot more sporadic and less organized then it was at AD I still got some really nice shots; some of which will be posted in the next few days.
So in short, my photography bug has gone into overdrive. I've noticed some of my other hobbies such as Fishing and Gaming at this point have become secondary; While I still enjoy doing these activities if you look at where the bulk of my time has been in the last few months when I'm not working or hanging out with friends; its usually been behind a lens of a camera.
UGH, I REALLY dislike such people.
I have very modest gear (Other than my Tripod, which is actually 15+ years old and left over from my video days) and it really grates me when I deal with people who have the very top end of their gear who seem to have little appreciation for what taking pictures is about. I have taken awesome shots with my cellphone Mr/Ms-$10,000-camera-body! :D
That being said, I've gotten some pretty awesome shots with a 150 dollar point and shoot...
As for photography in general, I don't think it will ever be much more than a means to an end in the fandom. Wlidlife/zoo photos are nice, and as you said, they do "okay," all things considered, but they absolutely don't pull the weight that anthro art does. Fursuit photography does well, but in 99.9% of cases, it's because of the fursuit and not the photograph. And that makes sense unfortunately. Without generalizing too much (and hopefully without offending anyone), for many, the furry fandom is about furries first and foremost. That's anthros, and not landscapes, not cityscapes, not sports, not cars, not people, not animals, and not the majority of what photography can do. Since we can't photograph actual anthros -- not yet at least -- about the most photography can contribute to the art scene is by conveying the anthro message (a la fursuit photography). Then again, I get much more response on this site with my photos than I do on deviantart, so maybe I just don't have any idea what I'm talking about. ;)
All that said, I hope you keep on having the time and inspiration to shoot. I'll be looking forward to seeing your new photos. :)
I've found that this speaks volumes to me vs just a random like of one particular shot.
I rarely get a comment on Flickr but then again... its a nice place to do a photodump where FA can really only handle a few photos every so often or your account gets cluttered and flooded and looks like it lacks variety.
If people like my work; even if they keep quiet about it, and I'm having fun with it (and I enjoy my OWN work without beating myself up over it) thats all that really matters.
In any case, I'm happy to see you've been bit by the photography bug, and like I said before, I'll be looking forward to your new photos. :)