Well, this is going to certainly be a first.
In the past, I’ve tried to type out the chronicles of each day I’ve been to Sakura-Con the night it ends. If you look in my blog, you’ll see each day has its own post rather than one huge post. Not only that, they’re posted fairly quickly. Most of that is attributed due to my confidence that the posts were written as accurately as possible (again, considering they were written on the night of each day). Sakura-Con started a month ago and it already feels like it’s been ages. When the mundane, banal, grey nature of everyday life takes over, it’s no surprise a big event like Sakura-Con would appear to have taken place in a time that seems so far away.
With that said, perhaps one would be filled with the question now that I’ve finally posted this: Why the change? Well let me tell you, it’s simple.
I’ve changed.
As each year passes by, as I continue to write the same New Years post, as I get closer to becoming 30 years old, I realize things do need to change and I have to do that myself. In order to start that initiative, I had decided to offer paid photoshoots for Sakura-Con at a ridiculously cheap price.
I knew if I started out at a normal price, I probably would not have gotten as many bookings. I needed to expand my photoshoot portfolio and this was the way I was going to do that.
To my delight, my strategy had worked well. By the time Sakura-Con had come up, I had 14 photoshoots booked. It was going to be a very busy weekend.
Photos aren’t always what makes the convention enjoyable, however. If anything, it’s the company that makes or breaks it. As always, I am accompanied by people whom I would easily consider spending time with at a con.
Some of you may remember Meta who has visited WA for Sakura-Con in the past. While he did give me some vague idea he had thought about it, I was sure he would be able to join me once again in his third visit to the con! Last year around August, however, I was told by Icattails she has a high chance of being able to meet me in person and even attend Sakura-Con as well! I’m always delighted to meet new friends in person and was even more excited that it would be during an event we both would enjoy!
In an interesting twist, another toy photographer we knew, Kolezan of Figure.moe, had decided to join us in Sakura-Con as well!
This had originally started as a joking gesture for Kolezan to join me, Icattails and Meta to Sakura-Con. A couple times Kolezan would appear to joke along saying he’d think about it. Didn’t take too long before I would be asked if I had room in my hotel room for the con.
Another friend from my Discord server, ToonPenguin, was planning on joining us at Sakura-Con too. However the problem was the final decision was held back by whether or not his vacation request would be approved. In the end, it turned out that his vacation request had been denied. As such, ToonPenguin was unable to attend. It really was a shame that he was unable to attend, however that allowed Kolezan to take the spot in my room and save himself a bit more money for lodging.
From there, I messaged both Kolezan and Icattails on what my plans were for the con (though, moreso with Kolezan as he had agreed to be my assistant for the photoshoots). Whenever there were new details that came up with my clients, I would share them with Kolezan so he’d also become familiar with them.
I’ve had a bit of experience talking with cosplayers as to what they plan on doing, what they want to capture, and discussing where they would like to have the cosplay shoots done at. To help me figure out spots, I had a veteran photographer, Darkain, show me some spots he’s used for photoshoots. A week after, I spent the day with a good friend, Cardboard Photos, searching up areas to shoot in Seattle. Knowing how many cosplayers didn’t want to veer too far from the convention center, I tried to make the radius of potential spots as far as a 10 minute walk. I ended up getting a lot of ideas and quite a few of them ended up being used for my photoshoots!
While the con was still coming up, I noticed a photographer (whom I had recently gotten to know a bit) was planning a dinner with friends. He goes under the name of Evan Chen Photography. Seeing this, I reached out to him suggesting we work together to bring all of our friends for dinner. What we didn’t realize was how many people would end up coming (though, 80% of the people that did come were his friends ahaha).
I also got to know someone who goes by the name of Len (her Facebook and Instagram handle is Kumo Kid) from a cosplay discord server that’s focused more around the Pacific Northwest area. She had been interested in trying to find other photographers for photoshoots but was unsure how to go about it since she was on a tight budget. Seeing this, I thought this would be a great opportunity for Kolezan to set up a photoshoot with her and put the two together in a group chat.
After several months, a lot of my plans were set and all that was left was for the con to happen!
Since Kolezan was arriving on the Tuesday before Sakura-Con weekend, I figured I could go to the airport and drop him off at his hotel for him. If it’s possible, I like to be one of the first things a friend will see when they arrive at the airport. Plus, it’d help them save a bit of money from having to use an Uber or Taxi to their hotel.
What I didn’t expect, however, was that it took Kolezan two freaking hours to get through the customs line. Not only that, despite Kolezan reassuring me, he did not sound anything like a TRUE and HONEST Swedish person would actually sound! I was severely disappointed! I ended up getting to work much later than I thought I would have. Thankfully I own the business so it’s not as bad.
For Sakura-Con, I had planned on cosplaying as Archer from Fate/Stay Night. I bought a new costume as my previous one had been practically torn apart. I didn’t like how my previous wig had been styled so I bought a new one and gave it to a stylist (whom I’ve known for over 20 years) about three weeks before the con.
When I went to go pick it up Wednesday, it turned out he had forgotten about the wig. He promised he’d be able to get it down by the next day. Honestly, I was a bit peeved considering I paid a lot for him to do the styling.
Day 0
Then finally Thursday arrives. I made sure to double check everything that I had on my list and finally went out. After retrieving my wig, I left to pick Meta up from the airport. On the way to the hotel, Meta contacted Kolezan to let him know we were getting close.
Kolezan managed to walk to the hotel just as we were lining up to get checked in. The fourth room mate was going to be coming in later that day so I had to make sure the front desk were aware of this. That my other friend can just go to the front desk, show his ID, and get the key to the room.
The line for the badges were surprisingly not that bad. We were able to get through the line fairly quickly without having to wait even half an hour. Definitely one of the fastest lines badge pickup lines I’ve gone through in several years.
Prior to landing in Washington state, Meta was actually visiting family in the Philippines. As such, you could imagine the amount of jet lag he was experiencing. After unpacking a few things, Meta was preparing himself for a quick nap.
Kolezan had actually left his luggage in the previous hotel that he was in as he had to check out earlier in the day. I accompanied him not only because I didn’t want him to go around alone (despite he was already doing so both on Tuesday and Wednesday), I really had nothing to do. I did go to Target later to pick up some extra make-up supplies just to ensure I was prepared for my cosplay
The rest of the day followed suit with the rest of the guys and I just not having much to do. We eventually ate at a place called Wild Ginger. As one would expect, the food was expensive and they were stingy on the price of drinks. When Meta ordered a glass of cider, we expected a normal “glass”. He got a wine cup instead. Of all things! To top it off, after we had finished the pot of tea I ordered, I asked if it was possible for a refill. Can you guess what the waiter said?
Uh, I can just fill it up with hot water if you want.
I WAS READY TO FLIP! Who just simply adds hot water to tea that’s already brewed?! It was very clear these people either had no idea how tea is supposed to be enjoyed and/or the owner was that stingy. Thank goodness it was oolong tea…
Honestly, the food wasn’t impressive, but the company always makes up for these sort of things.
The day ended with all of us just hanging out in the room and also finally being able to meet the fourth room mate in person. I had to turn in early as my first photoshoot was going to take place at 9am.
Day 1
I could tell everyone had waken up at random intervals of the night. Especially Meta and Kolezan. It wasn’t that difficult with those two as they snore. I’ve never had much difficulties sleeping with noise. Their snoring wasn’t that loud either.
If I recall correctly, I think I had woken up around 7:30ish so I could prepare my own cosplay. By the time I was finished, just about everyone else was starting to wake up and getting prepared for the day themselves.
Once we were all dressed and ready to go, Kolezan and I went out to go for the first photoshoot of the con! Honestly, I was busy all the way from 9am to 4:30pm (with the only real break being from 2:30pm to 4pm, with which we spent going around the con taking pictures in the hallways and checking out the exhibitor hall). As mentioned before, this was my first time doing booked photoshoots at Sakura-Con. Despite my initial hesitations and doubts, I was able to go through the photoshoots very well and without complaint! I think Kolezan honestly helped me through them a lot more than I would like to admit. It’s also made me realize to never let group photoshoots book for only half an hour.
When I was done with the last photoshoot of the day, Kolezan and I went out to go find Icattails (whom we had met up with earlier in the day already) and Meta. There wasn’t much we had planned so we roamed around the con and tried to see what the exhibit hall had since we had little time before.
The dinner I mentioned setting up with a photographer before was going to be happening later in the day at 7pm. So we walked around and hung out as much as we could before we all went back to get ready to Uber our way to the restaurant we had agreed upon.
I’ve always been the kind of person who enjoys hosting things and making sure everyone’s happy during an event. Even though most of the people who ended up coming were mostly friends with Evan, I still enjoyed their company and tried to make sure everything went well with them too. The dinner really helped further solidify what I’ve always felt: I enjoy bringing people together.
The restaurant we ended up going to was a place in the International District of Seattle called Hong Kong Bistro. Personally, I’ve never been too big of a fan of Chinese food and wasn’t too impressed with the lineup the restaurant had. Thankfully we all agreed to go to a small tea cafe that was close by called Oasis Tea Zone. It was there I was able to fill up a bit more and enjoy the company of my friends.
It certainly was a great way to end the first day of Sakura-Con!
Day 2
Just like yesterday, my first photoshoot was going to start at 9am. Thankfully the photoshoot was right at the staircase next to the escalators of my hotel, so I was able to sleep just a tad bit longer.
Actually, compared to yesterday, all the shoots were relatively close to each other. Kolezan and I did a lot of walking for each of the photoshoots yesterday. As the day went on, both of us kept exclaiming at just how much easier this was for us. I was also surprised at the fact Kolezan had been accompanying me to all of the photoshoots I had scheduled. He had originally told me that his ability on assisting me would depend on whether or not it would conflict with a panel he was interested in. Kolezan later admitted that he realized the panels were not that interesting nor would they have really provided an experience that would be meaningful. He had felt that these photoshoots would be a lot more fun than watching people do their thing in the panels. I was pretty happy to know by having him assist me with my photoshoots, I was giving Kolezan a very unique experience that should certainly add a bit of flavor whenever he recollects memories regarding Sakura-Con. Plus, having Meta and Icattails accompany us from time to time really added to the experience!
After our fifth photoshoot of the day (which ended at 1:30pm), we had about three hours to do whatever before the next shoot. Can you guess what we ended up doing most of the time? YEP. The Love Quest circling of the con taking pictures of people in cosplay. We also spent some time in the artist alley to pick up a few prints. There was quite a selection this time around! Though to be honest, I didn’t have the time to visit the artist alley last year so I can’t really say that… Still, it was nice browsing around!
We regrouped with Meta and Icattails to go to the FGO photoshoot held by Aniplex. If there’s one thing that I’ve always hated about these photoshoots is the sheer fact there are so many similar cosplays in one area. Forces you to take wider shots. Not only that, we were in the exhibit hall area which resulted in a very cramped area. Plus, the exhibit hall area doesn’t really have the most appealing lighting that can make white balancing a nightmare. Still, it was fun to be in front of the camera for a little bit.
Shortly after that, Kolezan and I had to go to the next photoshoot. I actually ended up changing the location a bit last minute as I wasn’t really too sure if the original spot I had in mind would work out for the character. Where I did end up choosing did fit a bit more with the character, however it also proved to be quite a challenge due to the low light. Thanks to Kolezan’s foresight, we were able to use some of the portable lights he had purchased shortly before he left Sweden. We managed to make it work out and the cosplayer was relatively happy with what we were able to accomplish!
For the next photoshoot, I actually relieved Kolezan as this one was going to be a boudoir one (at least, half of it was). It was definitely challenging in the sense that the first half had a lot of low light situations and the second (boudoir) half was just something I’ve never really dived into at all. I was slightly displeased with how unprepared the cosplayer was, however it was the last one of the night so I didn’t mind it as much.
After I had finished, I sent a text to the group asking them where we were gonna have dinner. Turns out they were at the restaurant next to the hotel I was just taking pictures at! Was extremely convenient~
All that was left was one more photoshoot and that was at 1pm… I was going to finally be able to sleep a bit longer this time around.
Day 3
Finally was able to sleep as much as I wanted to without having to worry. It was certainly a nice welcome.
The first thing we got started on was the interview Meta has been doing lately with all the toy photographer he meets up with. So instead of dressing up, I went casually and we started recording on a rather empty area so we wouldn’t have too many people passing behind us and relatively “quieter”. As the first part of the interview went on, Kolezan mentioned that the recording light was no longer on. Turns out the camera can only do 30 min max recording each time.
Time was starting to get closer to the last photoshoot, so I went back to the hotel to get changed into cosplay for the last time. Since we had just a little bit of time left, we decided to eat at a Jimmy John’s nearby. The place happened to also be inside the building where I was going to hold the shoot too. While we were eating, Meta filmed the second (well, technically third since he did a short interview back on Saturday) and last part of the interview. This time around, we began discussing nendoroids vs figmas. Though I don’t think there’s much to be said… nendoroids are superior!
With the final photoshoot done, I was able to finally just roam around and enjoy my time around the con! Except I had realized I dropped the cosplayer’s badge around the last sight… so I had to quickly find it (which ended up exactly where I thought it was) and return it. I felt pretty bad as I was supposed to be responsible for the badge. Thank goodness nothing had happened!
Since Kolezan also knew his obligations were all completed, he then left with Icattails to finally do the figma photoshoot they had planned on doing. I would do my usual circle, pop up and see how they were doing, and repeat the process. That’s how I got most of my hallway shots for the con.
All of us stayed around as much as we possibly could before Meta and eventually Icattails had to leave. Then it was just me and Kolezan. He still had a day left before he would eventually leave back to Sweden. I figured we might as well spend my last day in Seattle with him as much as possible and finish it off with dinner.
Before, when we were thinking of places to eat at for the dinner with Evan, he had expressed interest eating at a Japanese restaurant. With that in mind, I asked if he was up for that. Of course, he almost perked up at the mere suggestion. So I looked around Google maps trying to find one that was still open on Easter Sunday. Once I made my decision, we left to go eat dinner.
Unfortunately Google Maps misled me in the entirely opposite direction before it corrected itself. Was honestly quite odd and somewhat embarrassing, but hey, that seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life.
We finally arrived and entered the restaurant to see one side completely busy whereas the other side was practically empty. The greeter had asked if we were more interested in cooked foods (busier side) or going more for sushi. We both were fairly hungry and didn’t mind going for sushi, so we went with that.
The final moments of us spending time together felt somewhat bitter, knowing it was all going to end very soon. Not to mention that it would not be easy to visit each other considering the fact we live in different countries. Despite that, I was already familiar with this feeling and was able to pay it little heed.
Once we had finished eating, we decided to go back to his hotel room to chat for a bit longer. On the way, it surprisingly hailed to the point it was starting to hurt. They got pretty large!
Having being able to sit back down in the hotel room, just taking in the fact it’s all about to be over, I had difficulties forcing myself to get back home. It was time though, and I said my final goodbyes and left.
…
The next two weeks after that, I practically did nothing but edit pictures. I wanted to be able to deliver all the pictures in the time I had promised I would be able to. If there was one thing I always enjoyed was being able to relive a bit of the con with each picture that I edited. That was one of the reasons I never really felt that “Post Con Depression” people would constantly post about. Though my friend, Nightmaren, made a very good point that I think hits the nail on the head.
I’d say that the more precise reason is likely because your enjoyment of the con no longer depends on your own personal enjoyment, but rather the manner in you are able to help others enjoy their time.
I can always leave it up to Nightmaren to leave such insightful comments. The more I thought about it, the more I can’t help but laugh just how well Nightmaren seems to know me.
It’s true though.
When Kolezan was messaging me and mentioning just how much he had enjoyed the con, I was absolutely thrilled. When Icattails had told me we had made her weekend, being one of the best times she’s had, I was really happy. When each of the clients had exclaimed just how happy they were with the pictures I delivered, I was completely ecstatic.
This Sakura-Con was definitely one of the best ones I have ever had. It really is a shame both Leyzee and her husband were unable to attend… however I have a feeling when they are able to, it will only get better.
I’m pretty sure because I know what I have to do in order to make sure it’ll be the best one yet. After all, what’s a convention if you don’t have an amazing set of friends to experience it with?