Cliff Nordman's blog

Dragon*Con Day 2

October 2nd, 2011

I forced myself out of bed (a sleeping bag halfway under a desk) at the unreasonable hour of 8AM because of the Dragon*Con parade. For 10 years, Dragon*Con has taken over the streets of Atlanta on Saturday morning. Some people think Dragon*Con is the parade. If only they knew about the other 100-ish hours of amazing costumes and partying taking place under their very noses! I was not going to photograph the parade itself. Lots of people do that, as you can see below.

No, I was interested in the staging area, where I was sure to catch lots of people in costume waiting around. Perfect for getting mugshots! I’m rather disappointed that I only averaged one per minute, but one can never tell exactly what will happen or whom one will meet in the staging area.

Both Warhammer 40000 and Dragon Age were represented by surprisingly large groups.

Another surprise: using Sharpie as a temporary tattoo! Whenever I offer supplies at Dragon*Con, they are used in a way I don’t expect. Remind me to tell you about the duct tape in 2009 sometime.

The Star Wars costumes at Dragon*Con continue to be numerous, diverse, and impressive.

I was also surprised by the number of beautiful purple women. Note to all aspiring photographers, and everyone, really. Don’t be that guy on the right.

At the Valve gathering, we see internet-celebrity Furin having a bit of trouble with her Wheatley puppet.

The other Wheatley puppet and Chell are unconcerned.

I’m Commander Shepard and this is my favorite Mass Effect group on the Citadel. Apparently there was another secret group that didn’t come to the Mass Effect gathering, but I never saw them and only a few photos have surfaced. Were they real or just a dream?

I was quite lax in photographing my roommates, but you can see one of them oppressing me there on the left. The guy on the right, Party-Rock War Machine, abused me quite accidentally. I leaned in close to ask for a photo so he could hear me through his helmet and over the music blasting out of his armor. He also leaned in and brought his shoulder-mounted cannon down on my head. Fortunately, being extremely tall has given me ample practice with being struck on the head, so I handled it well.

I met Quorra here and mentioned that I had seen Kevin Flynn just a few minutes earlier. After hearing his description, she was sure he was the “Papa Flynn” she had bonded with at an earlier TRON gathering and implored me to go find him. Finding anyone at Dragon*Con is a nightmare, but after two laps of the rear of the Marriott and found him and led him to this joyful reunion.

Soon afterward, I was searching the Marriott once again. The number on my board read “666″ so I had to find a devil or demon. I passed Satan going down (of course) an escalator, so as soon as I reached the top I came back down after him. I asked people at the bottom “I’m looking for Satan.” “Who?” “The Devil!” He hadn’t gone far, and I got my shot. Supergirl’s picture is next to his because they are both pouting.

I am impressed by his authenticity and her ingenuity.

While I was getting The Invisible Girl’s mugshot, some lunkhead jumped into the picture and startled her.

Tags: Atlanta, atlanta fashion police, cosplay, costumes, Dragon*Con, mugshots
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Dragon*Con Day 1

September 19th, 2011

I intended to photograph as many characters as possible at Dragon*Con, and did not limit myself to humans, as you can see.

Instead of saying “And then I went to _____ and shot some mugshots,” over and over again, let me tell you a bit about some of the people I photographed. Black Cat on the left was attending Dragon*Con for the first time. You can find her in pretty much every photographer’s gallery looking like she’s having a great time, which she was. Hit Girl, despite her youth, is not new to Dragon*Con. She remembered getting a mugshot as Coraline in 2009, and also remembered to remind me to change the number after I had photographed her.

Many people held the sign up to their chests and looked sad, which is a sensible reaction, but I appreciate variety.

I did take a break from mugshots, mugshots, and more mugshots to go to ta gathering or Warhammer 40000 fans. Most WH40K costumes are either Sisters of Battles (because costuming is dominated by women) or Imperial officers (because they are humans wearing real clothes) but this guy showed up just just as an alien, but as a giant alien robot! Most impressive.

I stopped the Disney gathering and so did a baby! Disney princesses love babies!

This Disney gathering also provided me with my most literal mugshot.

I kept telling people that they could do whatever they wanted in the mugshot as long as I could read the sign. In a few cases, I underestimated their creativity. THe photograph on a left is a good representation of my reaction to the photograph on the right.

How could I photograph Ke$ha without a hundred bottles of booze in the background? The High Velocity Bar on the right side of the Marriott’s atrium was a great place to photograph people, and also provided an excuse for about twenty friends (including a few I hadn’t met before) to get together on a Friday night.

When broken down for transport, Lionel’s TRON bike looks suspiciously like a giant USB flash drive. The desert raider’s outfit is also not as it seems. Not only are the Molotov cocktails drinkable, the propane tank on her back held about three gallons of booze that was dispensed through the flamethrower nozzle. She emptied and refilled it several times during the long weekend.

This is Dragon*Con! Sexy Pokemon! Wrestlers! Guys with beards! People in line! Evidence of alcohol consumption! Happiness! Excitement! Bad lighting!

Although I prefer my own sign above others, I won’t turn down a funny picture just because it involves official signage. I ended the night by bungling my request for a mugshot so badly that Tank Girl actually forced me to photograph her. For a moment I feared I would not get my sign back.

According to my EXIF data, I took my last photo at 3:12AM. I had to get up at 8AM to photograph people at the parade staging area. Could I do it? Stay tuned for my next blog entry.

Tags: Atlanta, cosplay, costumes, Dragon*Con, event
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Dragon*Con Day 0

September 17th, 2011

I hear that the journey is better than the destination, but Dragon*Con is quite a destination, and I don’t enjoy flying. I try to emulate the attitude of my friend who thinks it’s amazing that people have invented giant metal dragons that propel themselves with fire at nearly the speed of sound. It’s hard to remember when my alarm is ringing at 3:30AM and I have hours of traffic and lines before I get to the seat that I don’t quite fit into. Three-thirty in the morning! That’s bedtime at Dragon*Con! The lady who sat next to me on the flight to Atlanta wore a Wonder Woman t-shirt and was glued to her smartphone until it had to be switched off for take off. “This person, ” I thought as I rearranged dozens of tiny stickers into numerical order, “is a nerd!” Perhaps the stickers require some explanation.

Two years ago, I collected mugshots of 760 costumes under the name “Atlanta Fashion Police” I quite enjoyed it, and even better, so did the people I photographed, so I decided to repeat the gimmick this year. Each costume gets a unique, sequential number, so I was arranging sheets of stickers in a manner that would hopefully allow me to quickly switch numbers. It was not as convenient as I had hoped. On the train ride to the hotel I accidentally convinced a couple of young women that I had worn a Slave Leia outfit at a previous Dragon*Con, which is completely untrue, by the way. I quickly collected my room key, my badge, and quite few people I knew! Walking into the Marriott, out from under the balcony and into its 500-foot bestial ribcage gave me chills. I was really back at Dragon*Con. It didn’t know how much I missed attending in 2010.

Day 0 at Dragon*Con is as big as most cons can ever hope to be. Over and over again I heard and thought, “But it’s only Thursday!” Giant robots? Nearly naked women (and men)? Crowded bars? Paramedics? It’s only Thursday! How do we go up from here? Dragon*Con would answer, but for now I was in the Pulse Loft with a score of friends new and old, listening to a great cheer sweep across the lobby as midnight struck and Friday, the official beginning of Dragon*Con, began.

Tags: Atlanta, cosplay, costumes, Dragon*Con
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Seattle Tattoo Expo

August 16th, 2011

How fun are tattoos? This fun.

When I go to comic-cons or photograph cosplayers, I’m impressed by how a costume transforms a person into someone more than ordinary. Tattoos have the same effect, but are permanent.

I’m also impressed by the tattoo artists, who work on a soft, moving canvas with limited ability to correct mistakes. Many artists sold artbooks at their tables, since their skills also work on paper.

Kids are welcome at the Tattoo Expo, but the artists check ID, so don’t try to get ink if you are under 18.

This woman entered her phoenix in the “Tattoo of the Day” contest, open to tattoos created that day at the show. Her tattoo was so new that she had not yet seen it.

See all 33 photos (Flash slideshow) (HTML pages)

Tag yourself or your friends on Facebook

Tags: seattle, seattle center, seattle tattoo expo, tattoo
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Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire Part 1

August 15th, 2011

Welcome to the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire! I’m posting photos from the first weekend just as the second weekend wraps up, and I’ll be back next week for the third and final weekend.

There’s plenty to do and see at the Faire. Performers at various stages vied for attention and applause. The Professional Showoff delighted the crowd with dangerous stunts and witty banter. Instructors from Academia della Spada demonstrated a variety of sword-fighting techniques. There were also musicians, actors, puppeteers; even the wandering merchants were entertaining.