When the boys at Radnerd.com were asked for a photos to accompany an upcoming interview, who did they come to? Yep! BlankLogo, of course!

We set out from the Rad Pad to shoot in front of some nearby graffiti/murals. We got a few photos in front of the big tech mural and another at the Giant Robot scrawled at the corner of Sunset and La Brea, but it wasn’t until we drove past a sprawling field of electrical towers that I knew we had found the epic location we so badly needed! Visions of North By Northwest flashed in my head. We quickly parked, ignored the no trespassing signs, squeezed through the gap in the fence and proceeded to uncork the Awesome!

Click the Nerds below to see the full set. The interview with GameGirl.com can be found here!

Just a quickie update here! Made a few small changes to the gallery side of BlankLogo, breaking up the events section, which was getting quite cluttered, into sub-categories. There are now separate sections for Conventions, Gatherings and Red Carpets.

The Spike Video Game Awards Red Carpet has been moved into the correction subsection and I just added two additional albums - the Mutant Chronicles Premiere Red Carpet (with Ron Perlman) and the Spike Guy’s Choice Awards Red Carpet (with Halle Berry and others).

Check out both albums (click the thumbs below) if you’re into celebrities!

(Side note, about 80% done with Fanime photos. The last batch should be up middle of this week!)

I know everyone’s waiting on Fanime photos at the moment (and yes, they’re coming), but these were overdue. Way back in April I was asked to help shoot a Bleach gathering down in Fullerton. The entire cast would be represented and only one other photographer was going to capture it all. I’m always down for an epic cosplay shoot, so I happily agreed.

We met at the park mid-afternoon, which was a bit later than I would have liked considering the scope of work to be done, but 18 cosplayers take a long time to get put together. Anela (the other photographer) and I agreed in advance to split the group down the middle. She would take the captains and I would handle the vice-captains. There were three shots we would work together on - the full cast, the captains and finally the vice-captains.

Everything was pretty rushed. Anela and I both needed to be done by 5:30 or 6 to head over to Gallery Nucleus for the Street Fighter gallery opening the same night. We were able to complete the cast shots and the list of duos and pairs that we received in advance, but sadly were unable to find the time for individual shots. Maybe next time?

Click Zenpachi (below) to see my full set.

(You can also see Anela’s amazing set here!)

Fanime was quite the adventure. The events of one day didn’t really lead into the next, so each day was completely new and unexpected. I missed a few Daily Updates this time around, but with so much to do (mainly involved with having fun) it was tough to find time to update the BlankLogo. The Day 2 update was done around 4am from my bed on BlackBerry Storm! (All my updates are done remotely from my Storm at the moment as I don’t have a laptop…I can dream though). I’m back in LA now and will quickly recount miscellaneous adventures previously missed.

Day 0
See Day 0 Daily Update

Day 1
First thing in the AM, Chris and my two Deviant models headed out from his house to get our own room at the Fairmont. Chris and I prepped our respective camera equipment, the girls donned their first costumes and we all headed to the convention just two blocks away. We went our separate ways quickly.

I checked out the costumes around, but mainly wanted to find out who from my LA cosplay ‘clique’. Since we’d gotten such an early start from his house, we beat any SoCalers heading up in the morning. There were a handful of cosplay and photography peeps to be found and the number continued to grow into the afternoon.

It was around noon I finally found Shiya in her Disgaea costume. Unfortunately after 30 minutes and one or two location changes, we realized we’d left her purse at the first location (100 to 200 feet back). We ran back, but the purse was already gone. Not more than 5 minutes had passed since it was last seen. Spent much of the afternoon wandering looking everywhere and at everyone trying to find it. We contacted lost and found, security, police and even texted everyone we knew who was at the convention. The purse was eventually returned intact - minus cash. It was a miserable way to start the con and left a bad taste in my mouth for the afternoon.

At 4pm, I ran into two of my other favorite cosplayers, Angela and Louis, and attempted to get my mind off what had long ago become a fruitless task and get back to work. The two, appropriately, design couples outfits. In this case King Mickey and Queen Minnie from the Kingdom Hearts series. Their costumes were adorable and they brought a lot of energy to the set.

Final work for the night was shooting Aza as the Meiko Vocaloid for an upcoming set on Cosplay Deviants. We went with a stage performer theme for the set - the hard working Meiko comes backstage in her day clothes, puts on her makeup and changes into her performance costume before heading up on stage. The set came out wonderfully and will hopefully be up in the next few weeks.

Just shy of midnight, I hooked up with @midusunknown and posse for some nachos at The Big Iguana. The boys had been drinking for several hours when I joined them, so I wasn’t quite as jolly as the rest of the group, but it was a good time, after which we headed BACK to the con for some unmentionable anime, which I found too silly to sit through. I checked the con for interesting cosplayers or friends and headed back to the hotel just shy of 3am.

Day 1 photo total = 480!

Day 2
See Day 2 Daily Update

Day 3
Court and I enjoyed working so much together on his Tron Sora cosplay the previous evening we talked about shooting his Jin Saotome costume another time. And another time turned out to be Day 3. We hooked up at the early hour of 1pm (aka after I’d dragged myself out of bed) and met in front of the con’s fountain/gathering spot. We proceeded to shoot in every possible dangerous spot we could find, with friends, other cosplayers, photographers and passersby telling us we were nuts. But a dangerous perch is only as dangerous as you make it and we were as careful as we could be. Epic photos will be posted soon!

Angela, Louis and their Final Fantasy IV cosplay group waited patiently (for about 30 minutes I think) for Court and I to finish our antics before I excused myself and joined their group. Louis had to bow out quickly due to a foot injury and was only able to pose in the group photos. We moved away from the con and into the streets of San Jose for the individual shots. Between the con and the Fairmont is a lovely park with several trees that tower above all but the tallest buildings and a series of fountains surrounded by benches and long stretches of green grass. Kids running through the fountains and cars moving about the fringes of the park were about the worst obstacles I had to deal with, but the kids were so cute running through the water (and ruining several shots) that we couldn’t help cracking up. Once finished we headed to Johnny Rockets for some well-deserved food and even more-needed hydration!

Becky, in her Rachel (BlazBlue) dress, joined us for lunch and we once again…headed back to the con! We made our way to the Hilton for some photography and location scouting. The Hilton provided several cool spots to shoot in and we took advantage of each! I hooked up with Angela and Louis again in the arcade and we took a few random photos for the heck of it, before they went to grab some food with friends.

I headed over the 18+ Pin Up Photography panel, which really had no reason to be 18+ except for one unnecessary boob shot. The panel kept seeming like it was going to get better, but never did. The photographer/speaker showed no photos of his own work, for starters and no photos or paintings related to pin-up at all. A model/speaker attempted various poses according to the photographer’s dictates and audience request, but the stage set up mostly meant seeing only partial poses, at best. What was really missing, I feel was organization and an air of authority. The photographer claimed to only be working in Trade and not having any photography of his to reference, left me with little impression of his being anything other than a glorified fanboy. I’m hoping next year’s panel will be better planned and have more visual aids…no requirement or request for nudes, as Pin Up in most cases is sexy, but not pornographic. Even something as simple as Alberto Vargas paintings would have been a huge improvement.

But I did meet up with @midusunknown at the panel and we headed out to find something to occupy us as it was just past midnight. Hunger got the best of me, as it had been 8 hours (ish) since lunch. I called up Court and together we headed back up to Jack In The Box. After only 2 days at Fanime we’ve become BFFs! Haha…we returned to the con, sated and headed to the gaming room, where we discovered Ninja! And discover it we did! We started playing with a group of random other con-goers at 2am for just a game or two and finally decided to call it quits after the sun came up at 6am. The game was so crazy-addictive, we just couldn’t abide by our “one last game” mantra. Exhausted, we split for our separate hotels and an hour or two of sleep before packing up our rooms in preparation for the return to LA LA land.

Day 3 photo total = 299!

Day 4
Chris, the models and I packed up and shipped out by noon. I estimate I was running on 1 hour of sleep, give or take 10 seconds or 30 minutes. I honestly have no clue. I was about 90% after returning the previous “night” and attempted to catch a few more ZZZs than my roomies, but the commotion involved with packing pretty much made that impossible.

And being the Ninja-addict I apparently became overnight, I headed back to the con for a bit more Ninja. Unfortunately, Court couldn’t make it and even more unfortunately, no one was playing the game. But in the strange, addicting ways Ninja has on its participants, I happened to see some of my former Ninjas from just a few hours ago in the gaming room and said hi. In about 30 seconds we went from recognition to “DO YOU WANT TO START A NEW GAME?” “HELL YES!” and many high fives and fist bumps. I grabbed @midusunknown and Chris and we started a new set that lasted until the gaming room closed at 4pm and they started breaking everything down! It’s amazing how a silly game of, essentially, turn-based tag can become so addictive and spark so many new friendships. The last handful of us left as the gaming room was closing traded emails and will try to set up games in our respective areas (NorCal and SoCal). I was honestly sad to leave the con, but Fanime for us SoCalers was over. We had a 6 hour drive ahead of us.

@midusunknown and @deathofafriend and I made our way back to the car and hit the open road for the afternoon. Being as ridiculously tired as we were, we joked about stopping and playing two-man Ninja on the road to keep our energy up. And 50 miles into the drive, we did just that, stopping at a pull off next to a beautiful lake off the 152. We ran up the nearest hill and looked out over this amazing vista that reminded me of photos of the Scottish Highlands. Strong gusts of wind blowing through our hair we entered our Ninja poses and played mano a mano for about 10 minutes…long enough to work up a sweat and get the blood pumping. We repeated this a few times on the ride home, including in the parking lot of the Del Taco outside Magic Mountain. Everyone must have thought we were nuts!

Arriving home around 10, we played one last set (and another last set and finally a third last set) in my hood before I headed up to my apartment, exhausted and slightly lonely, but just about as satisfied with my Fanime experience as I could have hoped and certainly much better than I ever imagined possible. In the history of cons I’ve attended (all 15 years of them), this is probably the best individual convention I’ve attended. Comic-Con International will always hold a special place in my heart as “The Con”, but Fanime just ran off with the trophy!

Oops…missed Day 1 update due to staying at the con until 3am. Got back to the hotel, hopped in the shower and crashed…or at least attempted to. Rooming with three people is hard on sleepy-time. I’ll have to update Day 1 in my final post.

Day 2 started off slowly…got up at 1…which meant feeling lazy and uninspired for a while. Ran into Abe after a half hour or so and got in my first shoot. We ran into Shiya and Jason (i360). Switched over to Shiya in her Etna costume for a shoot in the nearby park. I wandered around solo for a bit, couldn’t find anyone I knew and decided to head over to McD’s for a cheap bite.

I got a text from Court asking if I was ready to shoot his Tron Sora costume just after 10. I had jumped at the chance earlier in the afternoon…cause it was just too damned awesome to pass up! With a small entourage we headed back to the convention center to shoot some late night cosplay goodness! In between people running up and begging for hugs and photos, we came away with some amazing shots showcasing his costume. Our last stop was the late-night Fanime “rave”. Court wanted some pix in the dark on the dance floor with ravers and disco lights all around.

Started out from LA with @midusunknown and @deathofafriend at 1am. After a misadventure with LAPD we hit the road north. The drive was long, but otherwise uneventful. We reached San Jose around 7am and checked into their room at the San Jose Fairmont half a day early. It didn’t take us long to unpack the car and crash in the room for a much needed nap. Not much to report for the rest of Day 0 except hooking up with random friends and having fun doing pretty much any random thing around the hotel and neighborhood. I picked up my Press badge, provided by my friends at COIN-OP TV. I received a call that the friend I was supposed to room with over the weekend and two of my three Cosplay Deviant models had arrived and I left the hotel to crash with them for the evening. Rock Band and Bleach follow, then sleepy time. Night!

Posted via my BlackBerry Storm, live from Fanime!

Every photographer has a favorite model (or two or three) to shoot with. I have a few on my shortlist. There are a handful of cosplayers I just LOVE collaborating with and Shiya tops the list. Her costumes are always the best of the best, put together with obvious love and care. And modeling seems to come naturally to her. Her smiles are always authentic and her expressions always seem to be exactly what is required.

We’ve been trying to get together for another shoot (outside of conventions, our last shoot was the Kingdom Hearts beach shoot), but everything kept falling through. I guess it was only a matter of time until circumstances stopped fighting us. We were finally able to get together on April 8 for an afternoon at Lake Balboa. Shiya had missed the Sakura gatherings this year and wanted to do a shoot under whatever Cherry Blossoms remained. It turned out the bloom was finally beginning. Several trees around the lake were close to full and virtually every tree had a fair amount of blossoms.

As it turned out circumstances weren’t quite ready to let us be. The air was cold, the wind was harsh and the clouds moved in quickly, but we were able to get in a fair number of photos before the weather gave us no choice but to pack up and go. Looking at the photos we took, however, you’d never know the day was anything short of perfect! Enjoy!

In anticipation of an upcoming Impromptu Fashion Shoot with Coin-Op TV Live co-host, Hailey Bright, I decided it was time to post up a set I shot of her back in December 2008 for Busygamer.com. The set was shot for her month long reign as Gamette for January 2009. Hailey was sent her choice of several BusyGamer.com shirts to wear for the promotional shoot.

Hailey is a model and actress with feature film credentials and experience hosting for the Championship Gaming Series on G4tv and Direct TV. Hailey handles hosting duties on location and also interacts with live viewers via the chat room. She was featured on IGN as their ‘Babe of the Day’ in Jan. 2009 and has modeled for Elle Magazine.

Well it was supposed to be that time of year again - when the Sakura (Cherry blossoms) bloom and everyone heads up to Lake Balboa for wonderful pink vistas and hours of posing and shutter snapping. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way. Anyone who recalls last year’s amazing bloom (http://blanklogo.com/gallery2/thumbnails.php?album=41), will remember you couldn’t walk five feet without running into another tree in full pink regalia. This year was nothing like that. The trees were sparse, the best of them being, maybe, halfway in bloom. And waiting didn’t seem to help the cause.

On Februrary 28 and again on March 15 I headed up to the park with friends and other photographers in tow. In the end there was little pink to be found and the schizophrenic weather - warm, sunny patches interspersed between harsh, cold winds - was little help.

Still, I came away with some really awesome photos, just not many with cherry blossoms in them. Got a great small Street Fighter set, a few shots of a friend as Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura and a VERY impromptu fashion shoot.

A side note on something I’m quite proud of:

For those who don’t know, I have been working recently as a gamer at G-Net Media. All I do day after day is capture game footage for the PS3 exclusive game inFamous for use in the first of three trailers Sony has hired us to produce. After six weeks of eight hour days playing the same scenes over and over again in order to get that perfect shot, the work is complete. The trailer was released today on GameTrailers.com.

It’s not photography work, which would still be my first choice in a day job and the days can be quite long when you know every pixel of a game, but the end result really makes the long days worth it. To have produced something that thousands of people are going to see (and from the looks of the comments, drool over) is very satisfying. Now, on to trailer two!