SEEN: 'There's no funny looks here'

BY JOHN CLANTON World Staff Photographer
Sunday, July 29, 2012
8/01/12 at 9:45 AM

They wore an assortment of wigs - green, pink, blue and red. Carrying Nerf guns and garden hoses cut and modified to form theoretical steampunk weapons. Lovingly built. Countless hours spent on cardboard horns, custom masks and costumes held together with glue and tape, spray painted or colored with a marker.

Alec Mitchell, 18, of Rogers, Ark., walked around the Tokyo in Tulsa anime convention last week with an oversized cartoon mouse head on his shoulders. He made it himself from a hardhat, a garden globe, foam board and mesh. This is his second time to visit Tokyo in Tulsa, which was held at the Tulsa Convention Center. He feels a connection to the characters through cosplay - dressing up.

"There's no funny looks here," he says. "Instead, I get pictures and hugs."

To photograph the details, I used a 50mm macro lens and attached a macro ring light.

Associated Images:

1. Michaela Gulasy, 16, of Tulsa, is dressed as a Vocaloid named Miku Hatsune 2. A mouse helmet based on an Adventure Time character built by Alec Mitchell. 3. InuYasha's sword built by Michael McNeelis, of McAlester. 4. Betsy Wackwitz, of Houston, holds a piece of costume based on Perona from "One Piece." 5. Sam Gross, a steampunk fan from Wagoner. 6. Eien Carpenter, of Yukon, wears a homemade Bowser costume from Nintendo's Mario Bros. 7. A modified Nerf gun is customized into a steampunk weapon. 8. Caelan Suntken, 8, from Bixby, dresses as Domo. 9. Angelo Moore, 19, from Hays, Kan., painted her teeth to look like Karkat Vantas, a character from "Homestuck." 10. Thin fingers from "Parasite Eve" were built by Hadassah Hendrickson, of Claremore. "I love becoming the character," she says, "and being her for a day." 11. Richard Tripp, of Neosho, Mo., models his Hello Kitty mask. 12. Savannah Dean, of Springfield, Mo., wore a wig, ears and wings to become Fluttershy, from "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic." 13. Sisters Anna and Erica Silliman dressed as Wario and Waluigi from Mario Bros. 14. A Godot mask from "Ace Attorney" created by Cassie Skinner, 15, of Broken Arrow, is made from sandwich baggies she colored with a red marker. 15. Anna Taylor, 14, of Rogers, Ark., built a mask to depict The Prince from "Katamari Damacy."