/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

There is certainly a "upper crust" within the norcal scene involving many con staff, known photographers and popular cosplayers. Mostly their harmless as they just keep to themselves and party however between this huge group not one of them keeps a badge and you don't seem them participate in con activities minus throwing room parties

>>7333251
Doesn't the same go for SoCal cosplayers too?

Is Sac-Anime the furthest North we have a con? Fuck. I'd like one in Butte or Humboldt county.

>>7333264

SoCal is messy, and everyone has their 15 mins of fame. NorCal is neater, and the famous are separated from the casuals.

that's just how I feel about it.

>>7333274

If you drop your expectations and just go to gatherings, then there's plenty. Large organized cons aren't too popular that far north due to a lower population.

>>7333251
The "known photographers" are pretty nice up here. A lot of them do buy their badges if only so they can roam inside and grab people for shoots. That and it's like $50. Photogs up here spent a lot more than $50 on their gear, that's for sure.

>>7333273
This is very true. The popular people stay popular and don't grow their ranks solcal is a giant swarm. Meanwhile with Socal its easier for non popular to get buzz meanwhile in Norcal its "popular" and "never heard of him" there is no middle ground.

>>7333281
I'm curious which cosplayers you guys consider "popular" in norcal. I'm in norcal too and the only people with I'd consider with some degree of fame to their name are photographers.

>>7333293
The IchiGoGo Twins are pretty popular
Imari Yumiki is based out of NorCal and she gets a ton of love through ACP

>>7333293
Off the top of my head it would be Angel Hearts and maybe the Ichigo Twins. For the most part its the photographers and the staffers that form the clique and posse that hangs around them. For the most part the "in crowd" is harmless though its kinda obnoxious how they keep going "We're gonna go support this con!" and non of them buy badges and just stick to their rooms

>>7333315
>non[e] of them buy badges and just stick to their rooms

Ugh, I hate when people do that at cons. "I spent all my money on the room already, so I'm just going to do the free stuff at the con.

>>7333273
Mostly everyone from Norcal is casual. Hell a lot of people here don't even have cosplay pages. People are known for what they've done or just known for being regulars. Examples would be the guy who's always an ear of corn or the one asian guy who always shows up as a Storm Trooper.

>>7333324

As someone from Southern Cali, I can definitely say that I would not be sufficed by being labeled a casual. I'd have to grind my way to fame somehow. I have no idea why, I just feel that way. The cosplay (and photography) culture down here are definitely not one of casual hobbies.

>>7333309
>looks up Ichigogo twins
Wow, nothing impressive. Why are they famous?

>>7333315
I wonder if any of these NorCal people could survive a con like Katsucon where they would have to buy their badges just so that they could have their photo opportunities
>>7333357
Because they're a chill group to hang around with plus once in awhile they'll make a gem
http://www.youtube.co/watch?v=HxbSz0h3CT4

>>7333315
I wonder if any of these NorCal people could survive a con like Katsucon where they would have to buy their badges just so that they could have their photo opportunities
>>7333357
Because they're a chill group to hang around with plus once in awhile they'll make a gem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxbSz0h3CT4

>>7333357
They're chill, good looking, actually care about wigs and makeup and cosplay things that are popular

>>7333364
Getting in isn't a problem as many of them get press/industry badges or get hook ups

>>7333400
>get press/industry badges or get hook ups
This. I go press to every convention and concert possible. Once you start you just don't stop. Before I had a decent job I went as press and now that I have a decent job I still go as press.

Even if I had to drop cash on a badge I wouldn't care. I go to SDCC and that is going to hurt you any which way you slice it. Once you've paid $1000 for a room for four nights the extra $150 for a badge doesn't hurt anymore.

if you're closer to the bay, you're likely to go to more of the events since all of them take fuckin place in san fran or san jose. Anyone near tahoe area or higher up gets fucked hard then. I've talked to the people who host some of the events asking why they don't try for more middle of nor-cal for events "Eh it's a shit hole up there" "There's no place to have it" "It's too far of a drive for us"
Well fuckers your events are too far for a lot of us in the rest of nor cal.

Unless you're a homestuck, then there are still like a good 2-5 events monthly all over nor cal, but fuck that.

>>7333413
True and it makes me kind of sad because there's got to be some hidden gems in the outskirts of California when it comes to people. We have the quarterly Norcal Cosplay Gatherings but they're all in the bay area. Farthest north is San Mateo, south is San Jose, east is Fremont. Tahoe with snow might be cool.

I even consider SacAnime too far for me, haha

>>7333413
Yeah. An anime convention in Roseville or Folsom would be nice.

Roseville would be a nice place for a con, and there certainly are numerous venues for it. Plus, parking would be free (heck yeah suburbs).

>>7333552
Would people actually go though?

Off topic there was a con in Bakersfield and the attendance was so local that no known photographers showed up. It was weird going to a con and not seeing a single photoshoot take place

>>7333448
dude those are both super close to sac, why would we have a con in places that are tiny as fuck when it comes to areas a con could be held in. I'm more surprised places like Redding don't have a con near by for them and other northern cali people.

>NorCal
>Upper Crust
>famous
>casuals
I've lived here my entire life and I never really got this vibe at all. People up here are really chill. Whether you cosplay for fun or to further your craft, there's no judgment. Sure, everyone's got their groups of friends, but that's not the same as the ~cosplay celebrities~ and coattail-riders that other places seem to have. I had a few friends move here from SoCal and they all say NorCal cosplayers and photographers are much more relaxed and friendly than their SoCal counterparts.
>>7333351
>I'd have to grind my way to fame somehow.
Probably because of things like this going on in the SoCal scene. God, that sounds awful.
>>7333413
I don't know if you ever saw it, but I remember one dude on the Cosplay.com forums a few years back that complained that there should be more cosplay events in the central valley. He threw a tantrum and started trying to organize one in Davis and blew it, thusly pissing off a ton of NorCal people. If you want to organize a gathering closer to your area, do it! No one is stopping you and no bay area people are going to get huttburt that it's too far for them. The gathering will be small at first, but word will spread, just like it does with the bay area people. Just plan a few months in advance and get your ducks in a row and you can have your own gatherings wherever's convenient for you.

>>7334035
I think what people are trying to say is that here is an identifiable upper crust of people in norcal but its only reserved for room parties and photoshoots. However people don't really care if they're not famous and are known for what they do/reputation as opposed to how many FB likes they have

>>7332418
>>7333251
as a related question, who are the good photogs in norcal? i'm pretty new to the norcal scene (went to fanime last year), so i don't know any of them. i'd love to do some shoots in the future, but all the photogs i know only do east coast cons. i make pretty nice shit and have won a few best in shows in the past....so what's the easiest way to break into the scene and get friendly with the photogs up here?

>>7333357
They're the popular ones of NorCal? Wow, I'm a soCaler and you guys up there really suck don't you?
The Ichigogo twins are only popular for being chill? They're costumes suck.

>>7334362
The room parties thing is less a staircase of elitism and more of just groups of friends. People bring plus-ones all the time to afterparties and con parties and it's never a big deal. I think any sort of "upper crust" is less founded on who's the most talented and more along the lines of who's been going to the gatherings the longest. People know them because they've been cosplaying for ten years, and once you've been doing it that long, you know everyone and everyone knows you.
>>7334379
"Good" is a pretty objective word. Depends on what you're looking for in a cosplay photo. If you go to the NorCal gathering pages, lots of the photos post their albums there.
>>7334384
You're so stirred up over two people being popular that you're making grammatical errors. Why so mad, anon? One page having a lot of likes shouldn't affect you so much.

>>7334443
A lot of these folks go on /cgl/ but if it is seriously a reason why staff of a lot of CA anime cons have been running cons poorly then this shit needs to finally get called out

>>7334443
okay, well maybe good wasn't the right word. who are the big players in the photo scene that are reliable for posting photos and do shoots for a reasonable fee for someone they aren't already BFFs with?

im from norcal and I'd have to agree on a lot of things said in this thread. everyone kind of separates into their own groups and its generally pretty laid back. I know some people are starting to fall into the facebook popularity contest... which I feel is kind of a bummer. from my experience a majority of people are really nice and I can openly ask them for help. but with others I feel like they're so comfortable with their circle of friends that they refuse to open up to new people.

>>7333324

the stormtrooper guy is actually pretty chill. that and he's part of 501st. he usually uses gatherings and cons to spread word about it.

>>7334554
Blizzard Terrak
Kei Tsubasa
Toshiyasu Morita

These three people are very generous with their time and equipment and will approach anyone with a good costume for photos. Even if they don't approach you, asking politely yields good results.

In addition they have fast turnaround however it is based on cons.

>>7334500
Ichigo Twins don't even staff cons. What the hell are you smoking

>>7334562
The group forming is really obvious in the gatherings however people are still really social in them. Mainly they form based off of fandom. In gatherings you can see the Pokemon, Titan and Homestuck growing. Interesting enough there seems to be a growing interest in Jojo in each con with people having posing sessions. I thought it was interesting just cause of how different that group compared to others who just sit in a circle and chat

>>7333309
>Imari Yumiki

She's an ACP mod. Or course she's going to get a ton of love thru ACP.

>>7334500
How the hell do cosplayers ruin how staff runs a con?

>>7334698
She's so overrated and photoshopped to hell. Half her cosplays are casual closet stuff.

>>7334698
>>7334909
She's very involved in volunteering at conventions doing promotions and social networking for ACP, of course she'd be a bigger deal than most other cosplayers. I wouldn't call her a representative of famous NorCal cosplayers but that's just me.

>inb4 whiteknight

>>7334554
Fees? It's going to be weird to some people but there are very little charges out here. There's too many photographers around to charge because if you charge, someone else good does it free.

>>7335227
oh really? well that's refreshing. i'm used to paying for shoots by some of the well known photogs in the east. usually only get free shoots from friends. thanks!

I always thought Imari Yumiki was a guy crossplaying. Good to know!

>>7335376
make sure to get your butt to the norcal cosplay gatherings so you can check some people out and get to know some folks.

it's basically two things: photographers, and cosplayers, and goddamn there's a lot of both. the difference between this and a convention is that all of them are within eyeshot and not hidden in 50 different places.

next one is in San Jose on March 14th

>>7335673
awesome, thanks. hopefully i'll be able to make it and meet some folks.

Who are the famous cosplayers in NorCal. I've been to the gatherings and I honestly can not tell

>>7335872
search for "NorCal SPRING Cosplay Gathering 2014!!" on facebook for the event page

SoCal is better, we got all the pros while Norcal has all the shit.