Dragon*Con 2011: The Photography of Jessica Lilley (plus a review!)

Jessica Lilley is a fantastic artist and photographer from the lands of New England who ventured to this year’s Dragon*Con 2011! Also known as The Lady of The Graves, her pictures have an adventurous spirit attached to them, making her pictures tell you a story with a word count of over a thousand. Her Nerf Punk pictures at Dragon*Con are worth checking out (you can see a few here but all of them are on her Flickr account). If you are looking to hire someone to give you not only good pictures, but exciting narratives embedded within, contact her at ladyofgraves[at]gmail[dot]com! Below is her thoughts about Dragon*Con and her photography, as well as a sample of her work.

How is Dragon*Con different from the many conventions that exist today?
Dragon*con is like the mecca of geekdom. It’s a huge convention in downtown Atlanta, GA, which has grown to encompass 5 hotels. It’s 4 days of absolute insanity. They have fan tracks for everything you can imagine: Sci-fi of every sort, comics, Steampunk, Paranormal, Star Wars, Star Trek, LOTR, Whedonverse… There are about 30 in all. Celebrities of all kind host panels, sigh autographs and actually mingle and party with congoers. I could sit here and try to describe Dragon*Con for days and it wouldn’t even begin to cover how awesome it is.

I find that it’s different from most conventions in it’s size and atmosphere. It’s a HUGE convention but it’s situated in hotels so even though it’s enormous, it still feels more personal and intimate than something like say, San Diego Comic Con or one of those giant conventions in a convention center. Also, the way the celebrities just walk around and hang out with the convention attendees is something I’ve never experienced anywhere other than Dragon*Con. Most times the celebrities are body-guarded and rushed through the lobbies and halls away from everyone. Not here. I stayed on the same floor of the Hyatt as William Shatner and he was just wandering around shouting ‘HEY’ at my friends for no apparent reason. I walked past Christopher Lloyd standing in front of the Hilton and almost ran over Amy Bruni of Ghost Hunters in the lobby of the Hyatt because I could barely see out of the mask of my Tali costume.

What was your overall impressions of the con? What were the highlights? How were the panels?
I loved every second of Dragon*Con. It’s a great convention. To be honest, the highlight for me was getting to see and party with friends that live in Georgia that I only get to see about once or twice a year. That and party with The League of S.T.E.A.M. all weekend! I really didn’t get to make it to any panels because of running around like a mad woman, taking pictures and finding people. The friends I stayed with all went to panels and I heard nothing but good things about them. Everything seemed to be organized well and they were impressed with the celebrity panels and they way they were run. Everyone was able to stand up and ask questions, get answers and things like that. The only complaint I have heard about any panels at Dragon*Con is that sometimes the panel hosts do not show up for morning panels. None of my friends experienced that though.

Do you have any criticisms?
Not that I can think of. I hear pre-registration lines can be gnarly. On Thursday afternoon when I walked over to the Sheraton to register on-site, the pre-reg line was wrapped completely around an entire city block. I can’t even imagine how long the wait in that line was.

How was the level of cosplay here compared to previous years or at other conventions?
It’s funny that you ask that. I remember thinking a few times throughout the weekend that I saw much less epic cosplay this year than I did last year. Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of good cosplay. Just not as much as last year. The really amazing costumes were few and far in between. For instance, there was so much Doctor Who cosplay but most of it was just plain old David Tennant suit & chucks or girls dressed as Amy Pond in a store bought police outfit. There were a couple of awesome Doctor Who cosplays such as The Clockwork Men from The Girl in the Fireplace or the Sisters of Plenitude. I’m a huge fan of obscure or more interesting cosplays and I come from a technical and artistic background so I’m really impressed by things that are made by hand and things like that. I’m much less impressed with store-bought costumes. Another type of cosplay I am impressed with is a well done gender-bending cosplay.  For instance, I have this really gorgeous female friend that does an amazing 11th/ Matt Smith Doctor. No offense intended to ANYONE. It’s just personal preference. My motto when it comes to cosplay or any project in general is “Go big or go home.”

What adventures did you have in taking photographs there?
Every time I asked someone to take their photograph it was an adventure. Most people are so friendly and excited that you like their costume enough to take a picture that they start talking your ear off. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all! I just learned so much about costume creation and the people wearing the costumes. It’s always such an amazing experience.

How long have you been doing photography? What kind of camera do you use? How did you first get started taking pictures?
Wow, I’ve been taking pictures ever since I could hold a camera. I really got into it about 15 years ago when I took some college level photography courses in high school. I was really into it because it was all film and I learned how to process everything myself from start to finish including developing the film, printing my own pictures and making exposure or contrast adjustments in the darkroom with nothing but light. I refused to switch to digital for the longest time because it felt less creative to me but I got over that when I realized how much money i could save in the long run and learned what Photoshop was! I use a Canon Rebel T1i.

What would you say are your top three (or more) pictures you have taken at Dragon*Con. Why are they your favorites?
My favorite is definitely Zorg and friend from The Fifth Element and then I would have to say the two Doctor Who cosplays I mentioned before, The Clockwork man and The Sister of Plenitude. That’s if I’m picking pictures without my friends in it. Otherwise I would have to also include some of the Nerfpunk pictures. The concept and execution of that entire group is just brilliant. And I’m not just saying that because I am friends with most of them!

Any last comments about DragonCon?
It’s amazing and worth every penny. Anyone who is questioning whether or not they should go? There is no question about it. GO.

*****

All photographs belong to Jessica Lilley

Jessica Lilley (also known as The Lady of Graves) is a freelance photographer & mixed media artist living in the Boston area. You can learn more about her, where she will be and what she does at her blog. If you would like to contact her about photographing your event, commissioning an art piece or just want to say hi, you can use the contact form on the blog or email her at ladyofgraves[at]gmail[dot]com!
You can see all of her Dragon*con photos here!

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