Last weekend I attended C2E2 at Chicago’s McCormick Place once again. It’a convention I recommend to all my Chicago friends to attend as it’s very convenient to attend and is quite affordable since they wouldn’t have to travel far.
If you weren’t able to attend, check out SyFy Wire’s youTube channel. They have videos of most if not all the panels that happened at C2E2 as well as many other conventions across the US.
One of the things I’ve noticed is how SyFy Wire’s presence keeps getting bigger and better. They have a mini-stage that is getting more foot traffic and the seats are filling more. This is a stage that is on the main floor and as far as I can tell, no one is keeping track of who sits or stands. So in a nutshell it’s very easy to attend. The panels are pretty amazing with wonderful guests.
Cosplay
This year I spent a bit more time taking photos of cosplayers than at panels. Like every year, the cosplay community gets bigger and better every year. I think it has a lot to do with the Crown Championships of Cosplay taking place in Chicago every year.
Crown Championships of Cosplay
The cosplay and craftsmanship of the contestants blows me away every single year. As a photographer, I love to attend this since I stand to the right of the stage and take photos the whole time. I haven’t really had any issue with anyone chasing me away.
This year, I rented out the Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS Lens from BorrowLenses. It’s a really expensive lens. I wanted to try it’s zoom for the main stage competition and panels. Overall it was really great, but I don’t recommend hand holding it for shots for long events. I did bring along a monopod to help me steady the shots and relieve my arms from holding it. I would probably never buy it as I only use a lens like once or twice a year, so it’s not worth it for me to own. If you would like to rent photo gear, check out BorrowLenses.com.
Panels
I wanted to hit up more panels, but the lines got full real fast– like 1 hour before the panel even started. So I ended up skipping quite a few of them I planned to attend. One of the really nice things is the C2E2 app gives notifications of when the line for panels are full so you have an idea of whether or not to head that way or not.
Photo Albums
Here are links to all the photos and albums I created on Flickr. I’m actually paying money to be their customer this year, so I’m going to try and push my content on there a bit mroe.
- 2019 C2E2 - Cosplay
- 2019 C2E2 - Crown Championships of Cosplay
- 2019 C2E2 - Ming-Na Wen
- 2019 C2E2 - Clueless Reunion
- 2019 C2E2 - Freaks and Geeks Spotlight
- 2019 C2E2 - Cobra Kai Season 2
- 2019 C2E2 - Yaya Han Chat
Final Thoughts
As long as I’m in Chicago, I’ll keep going to C2E2. It’s a fun and inexpensive convention in the midwest. If you plan to attend popular panels, I recommend going at least 1 hour early to either get in line or attend the panel before. The C2E2 app is fantastic way to plan your weekend, where you should have a plan A, B, and/or even C so you always have something lined up to do in case things don’t work out. Speaking of letters of the alphabet, for parking, leave early so you can find decent parking in either lots A, B, or C.