It’s time for a short recap of this year’s SVScon in Herning, Denmark.
Being the second “big” convention in Denmark and held for the third time, SVScon managed to deliver an overall solid convention in spite of having a new and unfamiliar location this year.
Expectations were high but all the major bases were covered:
Acceptable sleeping arrangement at the convention site
Possibility of taking a shower with hot water
Decent hotel just next to the convention site for the luxurious people
Creative use of a event/game/dealer multi-room
Good seating arrangements and stage light for the cosplay competition
Gophers wearing bright red hats to make them stand out and easy to find
No major delays on events or competitions
Good check-in system helped avoid long, time consuming queues at the entrance
When that’s said and done, there were a few things that could have been planned and executed better, although not all of the following are that easy to get down just right:
Low number of dealers made the dealer part of the multi-room look somewhat empty
The event schedule could have done with a few more events
No checking of badges/armbands, although convention site placed somewhat remote
Remote convention site made getting food other than cafeteria fast food hard to get
Lack of ‘chill-out’ area to relax and read a manga without ‘convention noise’
No convention guide!
The convention itself went off with only minor problems that always pop up out of nowhere and the occasional fan girl that runs through huge glass frames and wins a 911 call. It was quite refreshing attending a convention where I wasn’t a part of the organizers and could just walk around and enjoy the weekend with friends.
The convention wasn’t entirely without strings attached. I was one of the cosplay judges at the main cosplay competition, where amongst others, one of the two Danish competitors for EuroCosplay in London was selected. For those interested, and those who just want to see it again, I’ve included a video of the winning act.
Hatsune Miku – Vocaloid
The only thing I look back on and regret a bit is that I didn’t have time to do any photoshoots with cosplayers during SVScon. Good thing there’s always another convention around the corner then!
This weekend I’ll be going to Animecon in The Netherlands. Be sure to check out their website for future reference!
Finally got around to making this post. Been a bit stressed with exams coming up and such.
UppCon was definitely an entirely different convention than Danish ones, in a good way of course :) It was really great to see how a convention is held in Sweden and get inspiration for when planning the convention I’m a part of (no need to invent the deep plate twice, right?). Anyways, I took some photos during Uppcon10 and I must say I really enjoyed seeing so many cosplays I hadn’t seen before in Denmark ever.
Complete gallery in the bottom of the post.
This dude had made the most awesome Noctis sword. The most amazing part was how easy he made it sound to make one.
Lots of differnt cosplays were seen at UppCon including this WTSnacks cosplayer complete with ban hammer and all.
My good Friend Tung “Heavy” who helped out at the table top section of UppCon. There were all kinds of cool games to play I never heard of before and the organizers were really helpful and friendly.
I was on my way in the other direction and didn’t have time to pursue this guy but I just found the idea of cosplaying a raving rabbit was so epic. Sadly I couldn’t find him later on so this is the only photo of him I have.
Another cosplay you don’t see so often, at least not at the conventions I’ve been to is GITS cosplay and this one got it down quite good. kudos :)
The Game room had it’s moments as well, like here with a TF2 Spy watching some dude play.
I never thought I’d actually see this cosplay being done and especially not without a bodysuit or anything else than just a pair of panties underneath. First of all because I never thought it would be allowed at conventions due to the level of skin exposure or that someone actually dared do it. It was quite fun to see the small crowd of nerds that followed her around and took as many photos as they could get.
One of the more impressive cosplays at Uppcon.
I had to laugh a bit when I noticed the note stuck to her back.
And no convention is complete without a cookie monster! Om nom nom! >_<
I got this quick snapshot of a Gundam cosplay early on at the convention and she (yes, it was a girl inside) won the Swedish qualification round for EuroCosplay in London in October.
All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go.. and even tho I won’t be leaving on a jet plane, I’ll be off to SVScon in a few hours and hopefully enjoying a nice weekend with awesome people. I’m particularly looking forward to the cosplay competition Saturday evening since SVScon holds one of the qualification rounds for EuroCosplay in England. There’s also another reason why I’m looking forward to the competition, but it’s a secret until the show starts.
The last couple of weeks have been quite busy. I’ve had a lot of studying to do and since the 28th of March I’ve barely had one full day of rest and relaxation due to traveling and meeting up with friends.
I started out by taking a flight to Cologne, Germany and spent some days with Calssara, Lumis-mirage and moondoggie. We had lots of fun, went to the zoo in Cologne and saw some Okapi, ate delicious sushi and even did a Romeo x Juliet photoshoot at Castle Benrath just outside Düsseldorf. The whole photoshoot will be up soon.
I then went on to Eindhoven in the Netherlands where I met up with an old friend of mine and went to Trance Energy in Utrecht. It was the most amazing party I’ve ever been to in my life. thousands and thousands of people of all ages came together and enjoyed a night of simply amazing music.
On the way to Copenhagen I had just enough time to stop by the family and have a nice evening and family dinner, which was really nice since I hadn’t had a chance of seeing them the last 3 months.
The following week after after Easter went by faster than the speed of light and all of the sudden it was Friday and I was packing for my trip to Uppsala, Sweden where I attended Uppcon (the largest anime convention in Sweden) and had a wonderful time there, taking photos and getting inspiration to use in the planning for J-popcon in November. I hope to be done sorting and putting together an album from my trip to Uppcon by tomorrow and have it up and ready here on shashin.dk.
For now tho, the main focus lies on the event this weekend, were the Japanese embassy together with the Sakura committee are hosting a Hanami (sakura festival) in Copenhagen and celebrate the blooming of the sakura trees. I’ve been asked and put in charge of hosting a cosplay event both Saturday and Sunday at Hanami and I’m really looking forward to it and a bit nervous. Hopefully everything will go smooth.
One of my awesome friends and great cosplayer, LillyKitsune, has been part of a group performing a musical adaption of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. When the day finally arrived where I had a ticket for it, I thought why not bring my camera and see if I can get some photos taken. Before this I hadn’t done much shooting on stage so the low lighting and not being used to people moving around all the time made it quite a challenge for me to get the photos down just right. After reviewing the photos on my computer I did find that some of them turned out quite nicely all things taken into consideration and so I thought why not share them with everyone.
It was a nice change of scenery for developing my skills and trying a new situation as a photographer.
