If you didn’t get a chance to go to MomoCon a few months ago then I have to say next year I’d highly suggest you make plans to attend. Located on the large Georgia Tech Campus, the convention as a whole was quite a display of what can be organized with a few talented and passionate individuals.

MomoCon is free convention with all sorts of perks given to those that donate a little extra or buy an upgraded passes. Even with that said, it really is a well run convention and has a little bit of everything wherever your interests may lay in the Anime subculture. For me, I was surprisingly contacted by one of the lead organizers on MomoCon Twitter and was invited to attend, and even wore an awesome special guest pass while attending.

I will also say that when registration opens their “free” block of passes (they have to limit their numbers due to the regulations of the campus) go quite quickly. So register as soon as you get a chance!

• MomoCon’s Website

For MomoCon 2010, I primarily participated in two panels; one centered around Steampunk Costuming & Design, and the other on Cosplay Photography; or as I like to call it, Basic Portraiture.
I’ll be the first to admit I was a bit lost for words during the Steampunk Costuming & Design. I didn’t quite know where to interject my thoughts on the entire affair given my perspective as a photographer. Mostly I let the tremendously talented Matt, Erin, John of Penny Dreadful Productions and Meredith, Joseph of Outlander Armour take it away.

I will say in general, and from a down and dirty sort of view, shooting specialized costumes typically only takes a extra effort in the sense as a photographer you have to ensure your composition truly takes advantage of whatever your shooting. This can also be said for any specialized post processing techniques you might decide to use.

In the case of my Steampunk photography, I let the client/costume tell the story by putting them in a unique environment and ensure that I properly light the stunning wardrobe. On the post-processing end of things, its quite easy to convert images to sepia or to give them an aged sort of look and this typically enhances to story element of the shots. However; I say this also with the understanding that any technique can be overused and should like any seasoning in a meal be used appropriately and sparingly.

On the other hand, when I spoke during the Cosplay Photography panel with Meredith, I’d like to think I had a little more understanding of the entire affair. Meredith and I spoke to the basic tenets of model / photographer relationships.

• Communication

While Meredith and I didn’t have nearly enough time to cover all the bases when it comes to Cosplay/Portraiture Photography it was really overall a great experience. One of my soon to be clients katie even got a couple of snapshots of us during the panel. If you attended or even if you have some general questions yourself please don’t hesitate to let me know!

It’s been a long time since I sat and serious looked at my costume portfolio. During a redesign and re-imaging phase of my website, I realized how desperately I need new content, even of the same old costumes. At most I have one, maybe two, photos in each gallery I’m gaga over – but most of it is just convention shots or photos that showcase the costume well enough, but do little to invoke a feeling.

Yes, I’m that kind of nut.

As much as I love sewing and playing dress up, one of the biggest turn-ons for me is seeing everything come to life. Matt is amazing at that. Capturing these moments, allowing these characters to explode into the 3-dimensional from the pages and cells of my favorite comic or anime.

Wednesday, Matt had some downtown after work and invited me to come up to his place for a mini shoot. I say mini, because most of our shoots thus far have involved hiking, climbing, dodging bullets, and scaling mountains. (Maybe not the bullet part, but just wait til we go to the abandoned prison!) We went to a little field near his place, and the worse I had to suffer was traipsing through the mud barefooted. The shoot also lasted for only about 45 mins, and we got maybe 100 shots.

I wanted a wheat field, it was essential to my shoot. As Matt said, it’s a shame I didn’t decide on this 4 months ago when the fields where blazing with tall grass and un-cut wheat (but no one says we can’t shoot this costume again later!). The character, Horo from the anime Spice and Wolf, is a goddess of the harvest and associates herself with wheat and loves apples. It’s also an adorable love story.

Spice and Wolf

As Matt is super prompt about these things, I had the proofs ready by the time I got home! The hardest part is sifting through, trying to find which shots not only flatter me and the costume, but looking for the ones I think will stand out in a sea of other cosplay pictures. Now, the hardest part, waiting for the edits. ^_^

As you might have noticed from some of the other galleries I’ve posted Decorative Gallery and other posts Abandoned Prison: Part I that I’m really fond of abandoned places.

After learning about the abandoned prison in Atlanta, I couldn’t help but imagine what it’d be like to do portfolio building events there as well. I’ve always loved those captivating shots done by many other photographers with models in outlandish locations. This contrast between environment and model in my mind produces a surreal beauty that is otherwise extremely difficult to capture otherwise.

Needless to say, with that goal in mind, with a few other talented photographers we combined our efforts to hold a little event at the prison. We were lucky to be able to grab both Jessica & Meredith to shoot with us that day.

As always when I host these sorts of events, I shot quite a bit of the location while others were working with the models.

I know… I’m crazy… but there really never is any rest for those with passion and drive.

I had initially planned on having all my antics at Dragon*Con in a single article and thought better of it as I started to write this. So, with that said, the second article is available and you can access it here.

• Meredith’s Website
• Meredith’s Model Mayhem

• Wedding Packages by Dim Horizon Studios

• Red Rosaleen’s Model Mayhem
• The Silver Rose’s Model Mayhem

Be sure to check out my Dragon*Con 2008 Coverage!

Speaking to the Kennesaw Abandonment and the location I spoke of previously as the Kennesaw Mountain Abandonment, this home really was relatively new to the abandonment scene. While, I can’t say for certain and I’m only using my skills of observation to determine it, this house couldn’t have been more then 3 to 6 years old. Scrappers obviously had their way with the home (most of the fixtures, pipes, & wire was ripped out of the house) but the overall structure was something you might have seen in any new development in Kennesaw.

It looked as though it would have been a lovely home if it hadn’t been for a truly horrible location. The driveway wasn’t really finished nor did it look as though it was ever finished and across the street was a power station. So… if you don’t mind glowing in the dark and having to have a 4 wheel drive to park at your house, it was definitely a home for you.

With all those things aside though, here’s a gallery of the images I was able to create in this amazing location.

And if you’d like to take a deeper dive into the articles associated with the pictures above.

• Meisha
• Collette
• Jordan
• Lindsay

I’d like to conclude this article with more shots of this lovely house that is no more. I always feel a little regret when dealing with places like this. I always hate to see them go, but it does make me work harder to take advantage of places that aren’t lost to the world.

As with all images on my site, should you have any questions, comments or would like a print of any image displayed please feel free to Contact Me directly.

As with the last couple of posts on my site with Dahlia and Jordan, this shoot was at that nice little abandonment I discovered in Kennesaw.

Meisha contacted me through Model Mayhem looking to do something different then the standard portraits she had in her portfolio. I offered for her to review my inspiration gallery and from that we were able to narrow our focus. With that in mind, we met one weekend and set off to take advantage of this lovely location. I will take a moment to say, I’ve posted these articles totally in the wrong sequence. Technically speaking, I shot Lindsay, then Meisha, then Dahlia and last Jordan.

Take a look at some of these fantastic shots we were able to do!

I’ve found that once you discover an interesting location like an abandoned house, You have to do as much as you can to take advantage of it while it lasts. After loosing the one location I mentioned before, I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t let any other opportunities go by the wayside.

It was early last year that I was contacted with the concept of doing a “Doll” themed shoot. I immediately jumped at the idea thinking that would be perfect to incorporate into my models in abandonments series. Dahlia really didn’t disappoint in the slightest with wardrobe, hair, or make-up. Her looks smacks so perfectly of a vintage aesthetic that the pictures nearly shot themselves as we went through the abandoned location.

And now a few words from Ms. Dahlia Danger.

This photoshoot was the first time i had ever worked with Matt of Dim Horizons Studio before. We met up at a easy access location right near the abandoned house. We talked a while and Matt made me feel very comfortable, almost like it was just me and a friend doing a photo shoot, now because we were in a nasty old abandoned house Matt made sure i was comfortable and safe the whole time. (which is very cool) we joked around and like i said it was a very comfortable environment. Matt also let me do what ever pose that came in mind and that was great made me feel more involved with his work. i would definitely work with Matt again.

Take a look at some of these fantastic shots we were able to do!

If you’d like to see more of this lovely dolls work, I’d highly suggest you check out her Model Mayhem page and definitely schedule some time with her if you are so inclined!

• Model Mayhem Profile

Well… It’s really been awhile since I’ve written about the lovely Jordan on the site. With that said, I’ve actually worked with her a great deal over the course of 2009 and only now have just begun to get these articles written to show case her tremendous creative growth.

If you’ve really paid close attention to my site, you might recognize the location. I actually “discovered” or more accurately “used for the first time” this location on the day of my Alice in Wonderland inspired shoot with Lindsay. It wasn’t quite as lovely a find as the location mentioned in my last post but to continue with my project of models in abandonments, it was suitable enough.

Here’s a little showcase of my work with Jordan that the abandoned house location. We had a mixture of wardrobe options on this day long extravaganza but ultimately she decided upon something with a little country flair with this location/shoot and I must say it worked quite well.

The intent of creating this form of rating system is to prevent accidental viewing of potentially objectionable photography.

G – Nothing that would offend parents for viewing by children.

PG – Parents urged to give “parental guidance”. May contain some material parents might not like for their children.

PG 13 – Some material may be inappropriate for pre-teenagers.

R – Patently adult. Children are not admitted. Contains adult material and nudity.

Kathryn Jonell
Ex Libris
John F Strangeway
Meredith Greer
Jennifer Dungan
Audrey Starphoenix
Maria Whitaker & Laska
Erin Leigh Bushko
Barrie Clark
Katie Cunningham
Meredith Placko
Diana Shepherd
Meru
Audrey Starphoenix
Katie George & Cliff Tunnell
Laura Harrell
Audrey Starphoenix
Meredith Placko
Amber Gagnon
Joseph Hernandez & Meredith Placko
John Strangeway
Alia Sanchez
Allison Klem
Amber Cooper
Athena Sanchez
Barrie Kerns
Cassie Clark
Charlotte Bachelor
Colette Aliesi
Heather Uribe
Jade Schelnut
Jordan Thomas
Josh Head
Kaela Datz
Kat Peng
Kenton McGhee
Meredith Greer
Portia Cue
Gesche Anneliesa
Robin Summers
Tori Reppert
Sam McPhereson
Tami Espinosa
Rachael Lackey
Jon Pine
Jeff List
Jordan Thomas
Katie Nobles
Ashton Destafino, Amanda Sockwell & Gena Porter
Laura J Vaughn & Lindsay Hamilton
Chelsea Beller
John Strangeway
Adam Jones
Matthew Silva
Maria Whitaker
Jordan Thomas
Maggie Joy Keener
Audrey Starphoenix
Barrie Clark
Meredith Placko
Heather Uribe
Stephanie Boyd
Maria Whitaker
Sasha Katz
Rebecca Service
Amber Cox & Jennifer Dungeon
Amber Gagnon
Midnight Storm
Julie Stout
Stormy Nightz
Kat
Morgan
Cherry
John Strangeway
Meredith Placko
Lauren Madeley
Jordan Thomas
Meredith Placko
Kaela Datz
Colette Whiddon
King Rouge
Tamilee Espinosa
Brittany Ortega
Katherine Neal
Johnathan Pine
Barrie Clark
Sarah Spear
Jordan Thomas
Athena Sanchez
Alia Sanchez
Victoria Reppert
Shannon C. Murphy
Laura J Vaughn, Lindsay Hamilton & Lindsey Lewis
Laura J Vaughn & Lindsay Hamilton
Jennifer Dungan & Amber Cox
Jade Shelnut




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