naka kon anime convention – Kansas City Photography

On Location at Naka Kon!

March 19, 2018March 19, 2018 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

First off, thank you SO MUCH for those who supported our booth at Naka Kon! This was our busiest year yet and we were so thrilled to see all the hard work and details you all put into your cosplays!

We were so busy, in fact, that we didn’t even have time to post a Sunday blog – but don’t worry, your pictures ARE coming! <3

We decided to add a new package this year – on location shoots! For more info on that, check out our NDK blog in Denver!

Our first shoot at Naka Saturday: Scarlet Heart Cosplay!

She created this Valkyrie Mercy cosplay from the popular Blizzard game “Overwatch” using various textiles: suede, faux fur, leathers, foam, etc.

Now, the Overland Park Convention Center leaves something to be desired when it comes to scenic areas, but I found this one little corner of the building that was a treasure! I love the crystal clear reflection of Tiffany’s cosplay, showing multiple angles in one shot.

We never pass up a challenge or photo opportunity! Give us a plain brick wall – and we’ll give you a badass action pose with your weapon ready for that critical hit! *pew pew*

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Our next Cosplayers booked us for a full 30 mins!

Arthur J. Kirkland and Faylinn Blair were Marie Antoinette and Lady Oscar from the series “Rose of Versailles.” I am so ready to binge this anime because I’m all about that French aristocratic aesthetic.

After the planning process, this gorgeous dress only took Arthur 3 months to complete! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?! I couldn’t pass up getting detail shots.

With the 30 minutes, we were able to take shots both indoors and outdoors, as well as individual and group shots! ALL THE PHOTOS!

We were so thrilled when we heard that they ended up winning Master’s Runner Up in the cosplay contest. Seriously, much deserved! Congratulations again! <3

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Next up is Morgan, who booked us for her very first cosplay shoot:

Although she was pretty much a pro at posing. WORK THOSE FIERCE LOOKS, GURL!

Morgan cosplayed Tharja from “Fire Emblem.” I felt so sorry that her shoot was at the chilliest time of the day, but it was so worth it! She installed LEDs in her magical book prop to give it a purple glow. So cool!

I’m so glad I had my trusty prop and bag holder, Ashbear Cosplay, to add another trick to her resume: cape swooshing! The details of Morgan’s cosplay were really put into action with this technique.

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Speaking of Ashbear:

She was our last shoot of the weekend!

Ashley cosplayed Punk Sailor Mercury, paying homage to one of her special attacks “Galactica Gales” on her vest. Very clever!

She gave us a hand here and there with promoting at the booth as well! She is truly a magical girl. Thank you, Ashley! <3

We had an amazing con and hope you all did as well! Next up: Anime St. Louis in May.

Reserve your on-location shoot ASAP!

Naka Kon 2018: Day 2!

March 17, 2018 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

Wooooo, Naka Kon! It was quite the busy day for us! Between on-location shoots and photobooth sessions, we were on our feet all day. It was so great to see all the hard work everyone put into their cosplays!

Take this example from Scarlet Heart Cosplay, who booked our first on-location shoot of the day!

We also had the photobooth open, and saw more than 50 of you there! We saw a good mix of everything — Sailor Moon, Final Fantasy, furries, original concepts, and even some people just enjoying the convention out of cosplay!

We are still workin’ away at the photos taken at the booth today. But we do have some on-location teasers prepped for you all!

Below you’ll see wonderful cosplayers bringing Rose of Versailles, punk Sailor Mercury, and Fire Emblem to life. How neat is that?! These are just the teasers … we are going to have a full blog on each of these individual cosplayers Monday!

Thank you for letting us capture all of your amazing hard work!

This blog will be updated with the photobooth shots when they’re all ready — so keep checking back!

And, while we still have you here, make sure to follow us on Facebook!

Naka Kon 2018: Day One!

March 17, 2018March 17, 2018 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

We have been busy bees working at Naka Kon 2018! We have a photobooth up in the vendor’s hall and have already met so many amazing cosplayers — and it’s only Friday!! We still have two more days of fun ahead of us!

This year, we also set up on-location photoshoots! Those are shoots we can do outside. We are booked all of Saturday, but have room for possibly one more on Sunday!

On top of our slew of on-location shoots tomorrow, we will also have the photobooth up and running in the vendor’s room! We are looking forward to making this the best Naka Kon yet!

Here is a gallery of photos of all the amazing cosplayers from today!

We are also super excited that we have a PRINTER at the booth this year!! So, don’t forget about those print packages! 😉

Make sure to come find us! Look for the big, blue backdrop!!

Also, keep up with us on Facebook!

Day Two & Three: Naka Kon!

March 14, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

WOW. Saturday was the busiest we’ve ever been at Naka-Kon, thank you everyone for stopping by our booth! We had hundreds of people stop by to get their photos taken. Tatiana and I were busy, busy bees!

We met so many fun people — and from the sounds of it, we’ll see a lot of you again for outside cosplay shoots! We also had someone look into us for a wedding and family shots! It’s just the con that keeps on giving.

We hope we get accepted for next year and will hopefully see you there in 2017! We will have a Canon printer right at the booth next year for faster prints!! I am so excited about it!

Highlights:

One of the best Serenity cosplays I’ve ever seen, complete with a silver crystal. Getting to hang out with Tatiana all weeked!!! A Kakashi with a sweet sharingan contact. Dabbing. Lots of dabbing. Some of the best handmade props I have ever seen in my life. TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, SEMPAI! Plus, getting to see my regulars every year! I LOVE catching up with everyone and seeing what they’ve been up to!

IF YOU USE ANY OF THESE, LINK US BACK: http://facebook.com/kansascityphotography

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Naka Kon 2017: Cosplay, Photography, and MomoBunny!

March 14, 2017March 14, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

Note: We will have a blog up with a gallery of photos from the con later today!

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Hey, everyone! This is Tatiana (aka Momo Bunny Cosplay), the newest photographer on the Kansas City Photography team. I was asked to shed some light on my experience at Naka-Kon and my cosplay construction.

Here I am cosplaying Viktor Nikiforov from the award-winning anime “Yuri on Ice.”

I’ve been attending Naka Kon since 2009, back when it was based in downtown KCMO with 1,500 or less attendees. It’s touching to see the first anime convention I went to grow and evolve as my cosplays have over the years. Now, it is based in Overland Park, KS, and the attendees almost reached 9,500 people! YOW-ZAH!

Some of you may be wondering: “what the heck is cosplay?”

Let me break it down for you!

Here’s the technical definition (thanks, Google):

cos·play

ˈkäzˌplā,ˈkäsˌplā/

noun

a contraction of the words costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.

Here is a photo I took at the Kansas City Photography photobooth of Caitlyn Rook cosplaying the White Queen from Tim Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland”.

Cosplay, to me, is an art form. I have unlimited outlets to create (sewing, welding, sculpting, thermoplastic, makeup, wig styling, etc.) — and endless possibilities of characters to choose from! Sometimes, it can be putting an outfit together to create a characters image:

Above is a photo Christine took of my Prompto cosplay from Final Fantasy XV! Although I purchased all the pieces of this look, I styled the wig, detailed the vest with studs and patches matching the character, and used fabric paint to create the undershirts design.

Another awesome Prompto cosplayer above!

Each year, there’s always a favorite anime or character that you see EVERYWHERE! Naka was flooded with Prompto’s since the voice actor for him was a guest at the convention (Robbie Daymond). Cons will often have special guests (voice actors, actors, artists, famous cosplayers, etc.) to draw more people in.

Oh, look! Another Prompto!

It was amazing being able to meet so many talented and kind people at the booth. This was my first time getting a taste of the vending life at a con, but it was a lot easier to connect with people being in one location vs wandering the halls.

Above: Check out Christine and I from Saturday as Punk versions of Sailor Venus and Chibiusa from the Sailor Moon series! We took concepts from the original character designs, such as Sailor V’s signature red bow and Chibiusa’s buns and pink obsession, and put our own spin on things for a unique costume design!

It’ll take weeks to months — even YEARS — to create a cosplay for an event such as Naka Kon, so I give everyone out there mad props (haha… props) who came to our booth to capture their works of art on camera!

Above: Featuring Madison Hankins from Akarii Cosplay as Neo from RWBY. She creates all of her cosplays herself! AMAZING!

Naka-Kon is a welcoming, happy place where I feel safe to talk to strangers and connect through the love of all things nerdy! I recommend anyone who feels shy or uneasy about expressing their interests to go and make friends! It’s impossible to NOT to find someone to share your fandom with and create wonderful memories.

Above: My niece Nya as Vocaloid Miku! Naka is a family-friendly event and I love that so many children have a way to express themselves in a safe, positive way.

Joining Kansas City Photography has opened up a whole new world of possibilities and fun times ahead! The Con season has just begun, and I’m excited to see how my photography and cosplay can inter-loop again.

A silly photo to end a memorable weekend. Lolita style!

Day One: Naka Kon!

March 11, 2017March 28, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

Day one of Naka Kon has come and gone. We met some great cosplayers and are looking forward to today!

Did you come to our booth yesterday? Make sure you come pick up your CD and I’ll show you our print packages!

One of my favorites was Diane from “Seven Deadly Sins.” She was the only cosplayer from that series I saw. She made the dress in one day!!

And of course our own Tatiana was gender bend Yuri. She’s always so gorgeous … and I LOVE “Yuri On Ice.”

I met so many people who made their own props, sewed their own outfits, and even custom made wigs I’m always so in awe of how talented people are! I can’t even sew. 🙁

I didn’t see any “Sailor Moon” characters. That makes me sad!! So, any Sailor Moon cosplayers get $2 off if they visit me today!

Please note, if you use ANY of these photos, link us back! http://Facebook.com/kansascityphotography

The Best Anime Convention in KC

February 2, 2017 by Kcityphotography, posted in Photoshoots

It only happens one weekend every year. Thousands of people get dressed like their favorite anime / comic book characters, and gather together …

It’s Naka Kon!

Kansas City Photography has been a vendor there since 2011, with a break in 2015 since I was pregnant and my youngest daughter’s due date was the weekend of the convention.

That would have been fun — having my water break at the convention. One for the headlines, right?

For anyone that knows me well, they know I’m in big time love with Sailor Moon. I just adore it. Any time I see a Sailor Moon cosplayer (cosplayers are the amazingly fun peeps who dress up), I (not creepily) fawn and ask if I can take their picture. #OkayMaybeALittleCreepyOnAccident

Even Sailor Moon crossovers are in my realm of obsession.

(Here’s the formula. 1 Anime + 1 Different Anime = Crossover)!

Let me give you and example. Below are Sailor Moon / My Little Pony crossovers done by the glorious Momo Bunny Cosplay and AshBear Cosplay at the convention last year!

Many of these cosplayers make their OWN COSPLAYS (like the two above). I am always in awe — this gal doesn’t even know how to sew.

Here are some more crossover shots we took at a separate photoshoot outside of the convention (another great reason to do biz at a con is to meet people to book outside shoots like this!):

Also shout out to Vera Cosplay, who is featured in the far left photo!

BONUS: Here is me and the entire fam at Naka Kon last year. We were a Pokémon family! I was Squirtle, and my husband was the Pokémon trainer Ash. My oldest was Charmander, and my youngest was Pikachu!

Planning to go to Naka Kon this year? Make sure to stop by our booth and get your picture taken!