dragoncon_lj_archive | Photo wonderings... (Reply)

DragonCon has thousands of people wandering around in elaborate costumes, which they probably ONLY get to wear at DragonCon, and they then spend hours later scouring the internet fan photosites looking for a decent photo of themselves since chances are, whoever they handed their camera to has never used a camera before based on the quality of the photos. Between the poor lighting, unbalanced flashes, and people/stuff cluttering the background, the ever present namebadges on lanyards, it's impossible to have a really good picture from DragonCon of yourself.

This has me wondering.

Could DragonCon contract with some sort of professional photographer to take professional photos with a neutral background? I have to admit I've entered the Masquerade costume contest soley to have professional photos taken against the grey background in decent lighting, and happily swiped them from the website later.

Think about it... a professional that could set up a basic background or two, and then sell generic packages (Like Target/Walmart/school photos packages) do for a decent price could make a killing. If they limited each photosession in time, they'd pump out packages. I would bet the majority of people in costumes would be lining up for this, and could keep these people busy from 7 in the morning well until Midnight. They would probably have to have several backgrounds and cameras shooting constantly. I think there was someone set up doing this several years ago, but they were charging like $50 for one picture, not a decent sized package or anything.

DragonCon could consider this a fundraiser for itself by taking a percentage, and keep the admission price from climbing higher too...

I know that I'd happily pay to have professional photos in all of my planned 7 costumes for this year.

I just don't know any staffers to pitch this idea directly to.