Hip Shots: ComicCon Baltimore

On August 28, we braved the downtown parking rates to check out the 11th annual Baltimore Comic-Con. Although I love comic books and culture, I'm not always great in big crowds, so I like to feel that I something to "do." This time, I decided to try my hand at some "hip shots," a kind of photography that I learned about from my friend Mary, who's always inspiring me. Her friend Jim has a wonderful weekly series of "hip shots" at Doodlemeister.com, and I sent him some of my shots, which you can see here.
I'm very pleased with how the shots came out. These aren't just crowd shots or off-hand shots, they're really shot without focus from the center of the body. I call my "belly-button shots" because that's how I tended to hold the camera. I got some funny looks from passers-by, but you can get away with pretty much anything as long as you look like you know what you're doing.
Check out the Hip Shots, and then take a look at these photos by Mania.com from the same day. The Captain America I caught browsing the tables is on there, as are the Green Arrow/Black Canary couple that were in line behind us. Nice folks! I wish I had gotten a shot of the GI-Joe characters...some of them honestly looked like life-sized dolls.
As must be obvious, we had a great time. We picked up some artist trading cards, which I matted and turned into art for the living room. I think my photos represent our time at Comic-Con fairly well; after all this time, "contemplating my belly button" has finally paid off!
Thanks Jim and Mary!