Here's my con report. For each event, a numerical rating is assigned. At the end of each day, the total for that day is calculated, then the total for all days when I'm done.

(Those who have been with me on this trip, if I forgot something, please tell me!)

FRI:
Packed my stuff, spent a bit too much time: -1
Picked up and ate McDonald's: +2
...She was pregnant: +3
Picked up and headed to Quebec City: +1
...EPIC WIN: Drove fast enough to catch up our lateness: +5
Arrived at the university, parked our car in the underground carpark: 0
...It was really humid, the windows fogged: -1
Went to the atrium, couldn't find the Registration desk: -1
...Signage was unclear that we had to walk to another building: -3
Picked up my badge, a Media one, but working for Nadeshicon: +3
Covered Anime Name That Tune: +1
...EPIC FAIL: No one recognized the OP for Vision of Escaflowne!: -5
Drove to ~Soldatoflife's place: +1
...Extra space to sleep and unpack luggage: +3
Friday Total = +8

SAT:
Quick breakfast: +3
Dropped off at the uni, then went to a nearby mall for Tim Hortons for : +1
Arrived at the con, deposited stuff at coat check: +1

Went to panels by Matt Greenfield and Tiffany Grant: +3
...WIN: As Tiffany spoke, she sounded *exactly* like Asuka Langley from NGE! We thought the real Asuka was in the room: +4
Quick lunch, buying cold meals: +3
Quick photoshoot with & friends: +3

Arrived at Green Room, official Masq photos were already done: -3
...Settled for a free-for-all at the photo booth: +1

Covered the Masquerade from between the judges table and the MC's podium: +1
...Lighting was wack, as usual: -2

Ate leftover sandwiches for dinner: +2
...EPIC FAIL: The person who ordered the sandwiches ordered *way* too much: -5
Deposited some gear at coat check, keeping lightstands and speedlites: +1
Found no one to do random cosplay shoots with: -3
Set up a temporary photo booth at one of the red curtains: +1
...Some people were interested, and I got their photos easily: +3
...While I had to snatch most cosplayers walking by: +1

had to return to Montreal early on Sunday, so I drove them to ~Soldatoflife's place to pick up their luggage: 0
... found a separate ride back to Montreal too: +1
Hung around the atrium, meddling with the laptop that played anime music over the speakers: +2
...A con-goer arrived and asked for Caramelldansen, Gangnam Style or similar songs, but none were on that computer: -3
Packed up, picked up and drove back to his place: +1
Saturday Total = +16

SUN:
Packed my luggage, had quick breakfast: +1
Arrived at the con on time: +1
Went to the Hello Kitty panel: +2
Attended the Masquerade Award Winners ceremony: +2
...Took official shots of the winners: +3
Went to lunch, ate the same stuff as yesterday: 0
...FAIL: Huge Caramelldansen and other dances going on in the Atirum, couldn't cover those events since I was eating: -3
Followed and other Homestuck cosplayers for an outdoors shoot/gathering: +2
... led the way: +3

...Had no helper, did what I could with what I had: 0
Went to the Calligraphy workshop, caught the END of it: +1
Chatted with 2 SAO cosplayers and did a mini-shoot with them: +3

Went to the Fashion Show, I was cornered in the auditorium, next to the entrance door of the models: 0
...Handheld flash and dual-wielding cameras: 0
Went up to the 3rd floor to see doing a shoot with one of the fashion group: +1
...Set up a quick, improvised photobooth on the catwalk next to the elevators: +1
...WIN: Caught the models in my "photo trap" as they were heading back: +4

Attended the Closing Ceremony: +3
...Was brought up front with the Staff: +3
...Lent my T1i camera to , who took shots of everyone: +3
Attended the Feedback Panel: +1
...People had some good points: +3
... tried to respond as best as she could to all questions: +3
Shenanigans with in the hallway: +2
Packed up, drove to Casey's: +1
...Most people were already there: -1
EPIC WIN: Tiffany Grant & Matt Greenfield arrived and sat next to me: +5
...They had food allergies and the menu was in French only: -3
...They were offered an English menu: +1
...The paper with the list of allergens was in French only: -1
WIN: I managed to give a good impression to Tiffany, I guess: +4
...I showed her all my convention travels and photos I took: +2
WIN: Got autographs on my program booklet: +4
WIN: Got a photo with the 2 GoHs: +4
...In bad lighting: -3
Said goodbye to many people, including who I tried to convince to attend U.S. cons in the near future: +1
Gassed up the car at Ultramar: +3
...The pump had problems: -1
Drove back to his place: +1
Sunday Total = +56

MON:
Began the long journey back home: +1
...There was a construction zone stretching at least 3 km: -3
...WIN: Roads were nearly empty: +4
Reached home tired but safely: +3
Monday Total = +5

TOTAL: 8 + 16 + 56 + 5 = +85

Pictures taken: 3,948 shots totaling 63.2GB

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. GPS devices can give weird navigation directions. We should ignore them if we're in a familiar area, or if one of the passengers knows the area.
2. Don't leave your water bottle behind your backpack on a chair or on the floor against a wall. You will forget and lose it.
3. Having 2 wireless flash trigger transmitters would've been very useful, especially on a dual-camera setup.
4. No need to order hot meals, cold meals fill your hunger just as fine.
5. Having no assistants for photoshoots is the equivalent of doing the job of 3 people. That, I think you already know.

Woohoo! 2 dear friends - and very known otakus from Montreal - had their wedding yesterday (May 4th) and I was their official wedding photographer. Roshy and (Misa-chan) are now Mr. & Mrs. Jean-François (J-F) & Marlayne! The ceremony and reception had over 120 guests. This was my first wedding shoot ever! It was difficult, but I was flanked by my helper and right hand and had Solange D. [link] as the second photographer. Being the wedding of 2 otakus, we had the presence of a lot of members from the anime cons, comic cons and cosplay scene, such as .

Perfect weather (sunny, warm, no clouds, no winds) commanded bright daylight, which caused harsh outdoor lighting conditions. I did what I could with my flash, such as going into High Speed Sync mode to eliminate shaded subjects. Also, doing a photoshoot in a park meant trees everywhere, and avoiding the dreaded "tree branches through people's heads" effect was really difficult...

Let's recap the day:

After taking too long to pack my gear, I went to pick up . We went quickly to Tim Hortons, then picked up Solange to drop her off at 's place. We drove 15 more mins to get to Roshy's place, where I took his preparation shots.



Most of his outfit was already worn, so I just had to take pics of him putting on his tie, jacket and shoes, among other things. Then we had a group shot outdoors at the entrance of his house.

They had to leave ahead of schedule to set up the reception hall. But Roshy's dad lead the way with his car, which we followed with mine. We arrived to a park next to the church which was a good place for photoshoots, then crossed the street over to city hall, which had more spots. The father rushed back to the reception as me and walked to the church.

Once there, we met up with , which I haven't seen for a long time! He brought a lot of gear and was the "acting" Third Photographer. The "acting" Videographer of the wedding was an old, heavy-set man. Guests arrived little by little. There was a mass inside the church, the Paroisse Saint-Léonard, when we arrived, so we couldn't enter right away. As the church emptied, Roshy and his family arrived, and all the guests went inside.

Then the bride's party arrived, in a Lincoln Navigator limousine! As the bridal party entered and walked down the aisle group by group, I took photos of each of them.



The ceremony was solemn. There were many prayers, and there was a live church singer with a live organ player. Tears and smiles of joy could be seen on everyone's faces. After the Marriage Certificate was signed, the Main Couple exited the church in great pomp.

We took the group picture with the bridal party and all the guests in front of the church. Lighting was wack, and I did what I could with what we had.



The bridal convoy departed, cars in the streets honked. After passing in front of 's house, they turned around and parked at the park's carpark. (Phew, the word "park" appeared 3 times in a sentence!) We did a shoot with the Two Families on the side of a path, then of the Main Couple on a wooden bridge. Being a cloudless sky, the sunlight was harsh, and I had to use flash through an umbrella to lighten the shadows. The contrast of subjects in the sunlight and in the shade was at least 3 stops of difference.

We crossed the street over to the borough's city hall, when we encountered another bridal party doing their own day photoshoot too. We settled at an arch-like structure for some shots of the Couple only, then moved to another wall with tulip flowers in the foreground. We moved back to the arch structure where the Main Couple drank the traditional "champagne in glasses" before heading to the reception. Here they crossed arms as they drank:



Rest TBA

The "unsung hero" for this wedding day was and her store, Dracolite, who designed the wedding dress of the bride.

Pictures taken: 2,264 shots totaling 49.1GB

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. Wedding shoots are difficult. Be mentally and physically prepared for the heavy tasks ahead.
2. Sleep well the night before to have better reflexes and more accurate people action predictions.
3. Bring more memory cards than you usually would. But battery usage (cameras & speedlites) should be normal.
4. Your water bottle will run out of water. Wedding guests will be thirsty. Bring extra water for you and anyone who needs to drink.
5. During the ceremony, even if people seem to be doing nothing, they'll do something random at times. Golden moments are fleeting, and cannot be repeated, so have your camera at the ready and the lens pointed at your subjects at all times.
6. TBA
7. TBA
8. TBA
9. TBA
10. TBA

This Sat, May 11, 2013, I'll host a mini-photoshoot at the Montreal Botanical Garden in the flower trees area near the Japanese Garden section. Cosplayers, Lolitas and other people are welcome.

Meetup time: 8:59 am (please arrive before the gates close)
Meetup point: Benches next to the Lion Statue
Photoshoot location: The section beyond the Japanese Garden where there are a lot of blossoming trees

I'll be there till whenever people want to leave. See you this Saturday at the Montreal Botanical Garden!