Looking back on 2011:
2011 Highlights/Memories/Achievements:
Participation in Movember
Going to Yellow Stone National Park
*etaru's grandmother asking when we were going to marry
Fixing and upgrading desktop computer
Stated playing Futsul

2011 Lowlights:
Unsocial/Isolation
Alienating people
Hate for humans
Not enough 'good times'

Looking forward to 2012:
2012 Work on/Goals:
Standing up for myself
Decide what I want in life
Staying in contact with people
Motor bike license/International license
Exercise

Unlikely Goals:
Confidence
Time Management
Stop wasting time/money on people that don't give a shit
Stop hating people

As this is about my 'Life' I would like to keep it private so the above is a cut down version. To see the whole journal, see the locked LiveJournal entry here: [link] If you don't have an account and THAT interested, contact me and I'll note it to you.

Looking back on 2011:
2011 Highlights/Memories:
Finally cosplaying with ~bianca ^^
Cosplaying with *etaru, =maridah, *Yunie-chan, *Pink-Bunnie and *juunana
Finally finishing Zabuza for ~athira80
'It's like I am wearing nothing at all, nothing at all, NOTHING AT ALL'

2011 Work on/Goals:
Finish all group related costumes – Pretty well succeeded but didn't have many groups
Improve sewing skills – Little improvement but didn't work on it much
Enter a cosplay contest - Done
Enjoy cosplaying – Semi success
Improve wig styling - Fail

Unlikely Goals:
Win an individual cosplay prize – Third 'Best Male' at AVCon
Make a new 'identifiable' costume – Not sure if Lancer was 'identifiable' but it did stand out


Looking Back on 2011 Write Up:

It was a pretty quiet year for me last year in relation to cosplay. Only finished two costumes really (Lancer & Zabuza) and cosplayed another two times (Usui & Oshino) so nothing impressive. I would have liked to have done more but I really have been burnt out lately and trying to get costumes done just adds to it so I wanted to take it a bit easier.

I managed to get Lancer done for the Fate/Stay Night group with *etaru, *Yunie-chan, *Pink-Bunnie and =maridah at FAnime which was lots of fun but very embarrassing as that costume really does not hide anything >< Fanime was probably my busiest convention for cosplays as also cosplayed Usui with =maridah's Misaki Ayuzawa and Oshino with ~bianca's Heart under Blade which were both lots of fun.

Other than that there were a lot of conventions I didn't even cosplay to this year. I did wear Lancer to AVCon and entered the competition and was lucky enough to get 3rd best male. I wore Lancer for a third time when I visited *juunana to do a shoot as she was awesome enough to cosplay Bazett ^^ I also wore Zabuza to Animania which I have promised ~athira80 for so long now so it was good to finally do that.

Other conventions I managed to attend were Supanova Brisbane (April & November), Manifest and SMASH. They were all fun in their different ways but took so much energy (and money) out of me.



Looking forward to 2012:
2012 Work on/Goals:
Cut down on interstate conventions
Attend FAnime

Continuing Goals:
Finish all group related costumes
Improve sewing skills
Enter a cosplay contest
Enjoy cosplaying
Improve wig styling

Unlikely Goals:
Win an individual cosplay prize
Make a new 'identifiable' costume
Attend AX


Looking Ahead to 2012 Write Up:

As you might have noticed, life is pretty stressed and time short for me of late. When that is the case cosplay and conventions are going to be the things that gets cut back.

I still really enjoy cosplaying, but mostly with other people so I rarely do a cosplay by myself any more. Making costumes for me is also difficult and takes a lot of time as I am not very skilled, I am slow and materials are hard to get where I live. That being said, I am not quitting cosplay, just going to try and have another easy and fun year.

FAnime again promises the most costumes My first ever costume, Sanosuke (Kenshin), is getting an update. A new costume in the works is going to be Kiritsugu Emiya (Fate/Zero) so that should be fun. I also want to fix up my second ever costume, Spike (Cowboy Bebop). There may also be a possible appearance of Lancer or a version of him at FAnime, but that depends on other people *wink wink*

Another costume I have to finish is Ougi (Code Geass) as this was another promise I made ~athira80 so I am hoping to have that done this year. I still owe her movie Touga but I have my doubts as to finishing it this year.

There are other costumes I would like to do and finish but that will probably depend on other people and plans made. I would love to do a personal, big cosplay for myself (Mihawk, Gilgamesh, Zero Lancer, Berserker), but realistically I have to accept I am most likely not going to be able to do them this year.

To try and help my stress and financial issues, I am probably going to be cutting down on interstate conventions. AVCon and Animania are likely to stay at the expense of Manifest and SMASH. I really enjoy SMASH so would be sad not to attend. Manifest isn't as good as it used to be, and while Melbourne has the attraction of lots of people I enjoy seeing, it is facing the cut. The situation isn't helped by Brisbane/Gold Coast having so many conventions now.

Looking back on 2011:
2011 Highlights/Memories:
Being part of the 'Cosplay Revolution' exhibition
First Wedding
Shooting with so many fantastic people in America and Australia
Working in a photobooth for SMASH!
Getting a D7000
Beach shoot with *juunana

2011 Work On/Goals:
Faster Output/Processing - Fail
Improved lighting setups – Mostly Fail
Organise more shoots myself – Total Fail
Goal/idea/story for the photos I take - Fail
Upload to DA once a fortnight – Started well but failed

Continuing Goals:
Model Direction/communication/control – Minor Success
Be published again – Success (Animania Calendar, Cosmode)
Getting on front page of DA - *juunana did with some of my photos, but nothing I uploaded did
Sell some photos on website - Fail
Take less but better photos - Fail
Be more confident with myself and my style – Myself: Fail, My Style: Minor Success

Impossible/unlikely Goals:
Get a Daily Deviation - Fail
Getting a paid, published work - Fail


Year Result – C
Even though not a lot of those goals were achieved, being happier with my style is a big thing so along with the published works and exhibition I rate the year a pass.


2011 Photos:

Most Popular:
Uploaded by me:
Taken this year:
     
Uploaded this year:
     
Uploaded by others:
     


Under Appreciated:
Uploaded by me:
     
Uploaded by others:
     


Personal Favs:
     


Looking Back on 2011 Write Up

More things change the more they stay the same All the good intentions and plans I had pretty well died in a great ball of fire ><

While positives such as being published in the Animania Calendar again and a small picture in Cosmode, the best thing that happened was five photos in the Cosplay Photography Exhibition organized by *SorceressMooNBlaDeR. It has been a dream to have some of my work exhibited, but I never thought it would happen, so much so I didn't even include it on the Impossible Goals list. So even though it was just for one day and I didn't get down to see them, it was a real highlight of the year. I also had the 'experience' of being the photographer for my cousin's wedding, and while I don't think I did a fantastic job, I think I did okay (though I still have to send her most of the photos >< ).

The year though was filled with more of the same negatives as in the past. My reputation of being slow to get photos to people is getting worse, I haven't organized any shoots and generally all my goals listed above I wasn't able to achieve. A lot of the reasons for this come down to personal issues which I am trying to deal with but the year ahead will probably be very similar to last.


Looking ahead to 2012:
2012 Work on/Goals
Faster Output/Processing
Level up Camera skills
Improved lighting knowledge
Organise more shoots myself
Make photo book
Enter a photography contest
Website

Continuing Goals:
Model Direction/communication/control/awareness
Be published again
Be more confident with myself and my style
Upload to DA once fortnight
Goal/idea/story for the photos I take


Impossible/unlikely Goals:
Get a Daily Deviation
Getting a paid, published work
Sell some photos through website
Take less but better photos
Getting on front page of DA (Practically impossible now that DA have changed their algorithm to shun cosplay)


Looking Ahead to 2012 Write Up:

That is a lot of goals up there >< Most are ones carrying over from previous years with new ones being added.

Main goal once again is to be faster with my processing and output. I am working on a plan to try and accomplish this, but previous plans have not worked so well so I am unsure how well this one will work. The plan mainly involves taking less but better photos instead of my usual 'spray and pray' approach along with the assistance of some new technology and output ideas.

I now have a card and app that sends a copy of the photos straight to my phone so I can do an initial rating and cull on the go without having to be home. Then the idea is to upload a low resolution image to a locked gallery so the cosplayers can pick the photos they like, and then they or I can edit the originals. Of course this relies on the cosplayers not going an uploading ALL the low res photos and me doing the final editing (and Lightroom working which it isn't at the moment and it is making me very mad) but it is at least a plan I think is achievable.

The other goals mostly speak for themselves. I am going to try to upload to DA once a fortnight once again which I wasn't able to achieve last year. In the past I have been hesitant to upload photos I have taken that others have uploaded but I will probably start doing this after the originals have been up for a suitable length of time.

If those main things go smoothly, it should be easier to improve on the camera skills I have set myself, organizing shoots and producing things.