Caroline, Mai, and I got back from Los Angeles late Sunday night from four extremely fun days at Anime Expo.  Not surprisingly, I took a lot of photos — over 3000 — and am still sorting through them. I’ve already finished processing one photoshoot (Valentine and Lucifero from Guilty Gear 2), but it will probably take me another two or three weeks before all the hallway and scheduled-shoot photos are up.

Here are some random thoughts about this year’s AX:

• While I wasn’t surprised about the number of cameras, I was surprised at the range. On the very low end, I saw quite a number of people using their Nintendo DSi’s camera or their phone’s camera.
• On the high end, I was expecting the large number of DSLRs, but I thought almost all of them would be low-end (Digital Rebel / D40 range) DSLRs with kit lenses. I was surprised by the number of high-end lenses and mid to high end DSLRs.
• On the very high end, I was very shocked that there were a non-trivial number of hallway photographers with off-camera flashes. One person I saw carried his camera in one hand and a softbox in the other. Another person was carrying around a small tripod and umbrella setup. Quite a number of photographers set up light stands in the various large open areas. None of these would be unusual for scheduled shoots, but I had never seen this level of lighting sophistication at a convention for hallway cosplay photography.
• Overall the convention was very well organized, but there were a number of weak spots. The shuttle buses were a little chaotic, especially on the first day. Security won’t let people congregate at night in the West Hall lobby even though there it was practically empty. (They didn’t have any problems with the same behavior in the same spot during the day, even though it was much, much more congested.)
• The LA Convention center is very beautiful, inside and out. It makes the Santa Clara Convention Center look very plain.
• The quality of the cosplay was amazing. I thought Fanime had some really great costumes, but AX topped it.
• It was big, and the convention space was vast, with long walks through very crowded hallways between various rooms. I don’t know why I was so surprised by this; Dragon*Con is even bigger and even more crowded. Perhaps I’ve been there so many times I’ve gotten used to the crowds and the venue at Dragon*Con?
• Having to take a shuttle bus to/from your hotel is a major pain, especially when you have a toddler. Dragon*Con is much nicer in this respect – leave your room, get in the elevator, and you’re at the convention.
• The Canon 24-105 lens is perfect for hallway photography on a full-frame camera.
• The LA Convention Center Staff were very friendly and helpful — McEnry staff, please take notes.
• If we go next year, we definitely want to arrive early afternoon on day 0, and leave the day after the convention ends.