State of the Union
Because I’m bored.
First order of business – White Backdrop Shoots 2025:
So it’s almost that time of the year. Here’s my goals:
1. Belle ballgown version 3
I need better pics of this more than my other dcon costumes – but I want to do the embroider first. Going to start looking at it this weekend.
2. Padme (Taylor’s Version)
Need to replace some popped rhinestones, can’t wait to get more pics of this.
3. Lorne
A lot of my dcon pics of this are very dark, and now that I’ve rethought the hair, I’m excited to get this shot on the backdrop.
4. MoM Scarlet Witch
Now here’s my quandary on this one; we’re going to cast the front panel in something flexible. Do I shoot this before or after? I guess it depends on when Chase orders the stuff. I also want to thin the wig.
5. Deanna Troi
Will probably restyle the wig just to clean up the hack job I did in the hotel room.
6. Picnic Padme Disneybound
I hated how I looked in this in the pics from Disney, and I think that mostly comes down to the hair – so going to rethink that before I shoot it. But I really want new pics. Maybe just doing my usual pincurls before will help – I just heat curled my hair at Disney.
7. Queen Amidala Disneybound
I can’t wait to shoot this one too since I didn’t get to do the hair and makeup the way I wanted because of the weather.
8. Rizzo
No fixes or changes here, just shooting for posterity.
And then we move into the reshoot/shooting old stuff categories. Last year I shot 20 costumes so let’s keep it that – so that leaves me with 12 slots.
Let’s say 4 reshoots:
9. Silk Spectre – I saw the boots recently and my Pleather Spidey Sense is giving me a warning that they are going to go soon. This was the first costume we ever shot on the white backdrop, and I’ve always wanted to reshoot it since we’ve gotten the lighting better dialed in. I may have to restyle the wig, and clean up a few costume things, but I do have a new bustier that would look a LOT better than my old one, so I say let’s go, let’s do it.
10. Dr Crusher – easy one. No issues with the costume, but I restyled the wig and just want some shots with the redone wig.
11. Padme Lake Dress number 5 – I just never liked these pics, I didn’t have the wig on at the right spot so the curve in the back wasn’t in the right place, and I just didn’t like my face LOL. Wouldn’t be too hard to redo, everything is in good shape.
12. Pink 18th Century Belle – needs a reshoot since I reworked it after the original shoot. Just need to decide what I want to do with the wig. Leave it in the “harder” curled style? Go back to coiffure à l’enfant style? Choices.
So that leaves us with 7 spots for old costumes that have never been shot. I’m thinking:
13. Emma Frost corset version – I think this might be the most “recent” costume I’ve never done a white backdrop shoot with. I don’t think it needs any repairs. Should be pretty straight forward.
14. Marie Antoinette TARDIS 2014 version – I need to reinstall the bustle lines, but that’s it. But I’d love to get this version shot so I have all 3 variations done.
15. Julia – I just need to buy new sunglasses and get this shot and then toss the accessories, I’m never going to wear it again and I’ve only been holding onto it for a white backdrop shoot (it’s really just the belt. The suit goes with black widow so it’s not going anywhere.)
16. Giselle – I want to get this shot SO BAD but it does not fit me anymore. I need to see if there’s any room to let it out, or just take the zipper out and put in a lace-up back. So this one is contingent on what it looks like when I inspect it and see what can be done.
17. KC Wonder Woman — THISSSSS, ugh I want to shoot it so bad but it needs some clean up. Maybe a fresh coat of paint on everything, the spear and shield both need repairs. But it’s one of my all time favs and it’s a crime I haven’t shot it yet.
18. Amalthea – would need some major reworks and a new wig. But I think if I took the side zip out and replaced it with a lace-up back, that would work? I hate to have to buy a new wig just for this though. Maybe I could make Aelsa work if I took the horns off? Things to think about.
19. Asuka Plugsuit – I need to get this shot before the pleather on it dies – if it hasn’t already. There’s not a lot, but enough I need to get this catalogued and permanently retired.
20. Selphie – I really wanna do this one. I think I can still fit in the dress – we’ll see. Still have the boots, and the hat. The nunchucks are broken but I could get some red duct tape, good enough for a photoshoot.
Alternates in case any of those don’t work out:
-Yuuko – I know it would need a lot of repairs and possibly some alterations but I’d love to get this
catalogued so I can stop worrying about the state of the wig everytime i see it when looking through my wig boxes LOL
-Manga Belldandy – again, it’d need some repairs. The hoop from the skirt is missing. But I want pics!
-Ruby Moon – god I’d love to cobble this back together for some photos, especially since I think the biggest photo I have is like 600px tall LOL. The thing with this one is that I know I’m going to have to remake some of it. I know I’d need new gloves, make new jewelry pieces, and restyle the wig. Not too bad at the end of the day. Hmm now I’m thinking about scooting this one past some of the higher up ones…
Anyway this list is really just for me so I can refer back to it once I start getting stuff ready to go.
Next Order of Business: Site Redesign
I’ve been shopping for a new theme, since this one is slowly kicking the bucket. I think I’ve found one I like but I’m going to keep shopping a bit more before I pull the trigger, since it’s not cheap.
The problem is is that everything looks the same. Every single thing looks like a restaurant’s website, or a nail salon. I’m not selling anything. I don’t want minimalism. I don’t want a giant splash page banner at the top of every page. Like obviously I know all this is editable, but like, how can I be sure? If I spend $70 on a theme and get it in here and there’s no way to change the fucking MASSIVE header image, I’m going to be pissed. I don’t need a giant picture of me that slides across the screen and little boxes pop up. I just want a blog where I can add pages. And most of the blog layouts I find are boring AF. I still really like my current theme and wouldn’t change it if it were still being updated to keep up with wordpress! Major bummer.
Anyway, once I find something, I’m probably NOT going to take the site down – I’m probably just going to be working on it on the fly so things may be weird or broken, but I don’t get enough traffic here to worry about it too much.
Last Order of Business: Cons of the Future
If you’ll notice my “Future Cons” sidebar is empty. Won’t be at either MCX or the West TN Con this weekend – we are booked with a wedding on saturday and grown up house projects on sunday. Won’t be at MCFC either.
I am planning to be at Daughters of Dorkness on 10/5. Wearing what?? I dunno. May depend on weather. I also had wanted to check Memphis Monster Con but I just realized that we already have something going on that weekend. Boo. Maybe I’ll see if I can go and Ash wants to go with me. We’ll see.
That’s kinda it for the moment. I started to go into why we don’t really do as many local cons anymore, but eh, I’ll save it for another time when I can get my thoughts together better because a lot of it is rooted in how the con/cosplay scene has changed (everywhere, not just local) as a whole and it’s going to take me more time to really explain my feelings.
Anyway, I’ll be back Monday with a usual week update.
