I first met Phil Brayton a few years back, at a comicon in Houston. He was dressed as his Barbarian character. I knew that when I saw him, I immediately wanted to get his photo. This first photo is from the first time I ever met Phil.
When I decided to work several weekends at the Texas Renaissance Festival, I didn’t expect to see Phil there. When I walked inside the gates of TRF, he was one of the first people that I saw. This next pic is from that first encounter at the TexRenFest.
Phil has been working at TRF for 12 years. In the mornings, he poses as his Barbarian character, then after the noon parade, he comes out as Tan Man.
He is 6’6″ and 325 pounds… a mountain of a man.
Phil is called a Badged Entertainer and there are only 5 at TRF.
His Barbarian character is the 3rd highest photographed person at the TexRenFest and his Tan Man character is in the Top Ten in photos taken of him.
I tried to get a pic with Phil each time that I saw him.
Out of the many people that I met at TRF, Phil is one of the nicest. He was always so complimentary of me and the way I dressed.
At one point, he said I was the Best Dressed Photographer at the TexRenFest.
Phil started out his career working in the Medical Field. Then, in his late 30’s, he switched to Mortuary Science and has been working in that calling for over 25 years.
As you can tell, Phil is a real life character.
He also plays Donald Trump. Phil is a Social Media Influencer that works in New Orleans, Houston and Galveston.
He plays Capt. Jazz, the Ghost of Christmas Present, the Barbarian, the Mountain Man and also Houston’s Tan Man.
Phil went to a White Linen party in the Heights of Houston years ago and a friend started calling him Tan Man and the name stuck.
Phil is known far and wide by many thousands of people and also has thousands of Followers on his social media accounts.
Here’s a pic of Phil with some friends at the White Linen Party.
They made the paper with the caption, ‘Life of the Party’. No truer words have ever been printed.
Phil has been in the media spotlight for several years now and been a part of many Promos for a lot of events.
Here he is for the Super Bowl that was hosted in Houston.
Every major social media influencer has been a part of a meme.
Here he is as the Ghost of Christmas Present during Dickens on the Strand in Galveston, TX.
He also has hundreds of thousands of views for his videos.
The Marlboro Man at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
The Undertaker with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Here he is at the Lone Star Motorcycle Rally in Galveston.
At Saint Arnold’s Brewery with the owners.
Mountain Man at the Houston Rodeo BBQ Cook Off.
Mister Astro with some babes.
Here is a pic of Phil while working in his calling.
As I stated earlier, I’ve met many people in my line of work and Phil is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He’s fun-loving, carefree and always so kind.
I asked Phil what it is that he could say about working at the Texas Renaissance Festival and he said this… “I love working at TRF because it is a Judgement-Free Zone. You could be a 500 pound man wearing a Tutu and you will be the most popular guy there.”
My hat goes off to people like Phil who live life to the fullest and get the most out of our time here on this planet. I look forward to seeing and photographing Phil many more times in the future.
Cheers to Phil Brayton for just being himself.
Spider 113
Phil Brayton Fan
Thanx for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. To see all of the 3,105 pics and videos from the TexRenFest 2021, click on the link below and go to Photos.
And remember…
“Always be yourself… unless you can be a Pirate, then always be a Pirate.”
This is a post about the last weekend of the Texas Renaissance Festival. I attended 6 out of 8 weekends and enjoyed myself, thoroughly. I met some great people, ate a lot of good food, saw some great shows and got a lot of pics and videos.
For the last weekend of the festival, Celtic Christmas, I ended up with 734 pics. For the entire 6 weekends that I attended, I added a total of 3,105 photos from the event.
I arrived first at the festival again on this Friday after Thanksgiving. These first pics are from that Friday.
I enjoy seeing the Front Gate Plaza early in the morning. There is something peaceful about knowing that as quiet as it is it will get so much more exciting as the day goes on.
I have a special project that I’ll be working on soon that is about the TexRenFest. This may be the cover photo.
I’ll let you know when the project is ready to view. Should be late Spring or Early Summer of 2022. I think many people will enjoy reading my book about my adventures at TRF for 2021. The book will have hundreds of pics from the event with lots of great costumes, outfits and garb, as well as some fun-loving, great characters and patrons.
Hamish McGregor always has the early morning guests entertained with his pipe playing and entertaining stories and jokes.
Rudy does a great job as Hamish and is a well-loved character at the festival.
Hard to believe that about 500,000 people will pass through these gates in 8 weekends.
Always buy a program. These girls and guys are usually the first people you meet in the Plaza and once inside the Front Gate. And they’re always happy to see you.
Queen Isabella looked very good in front of the Christmas tree at the front. Nuria is one of my favorite people to see at TRF.
I love the creativity that goes into some of the costumes and outfits worn by the cast and crew. They help create the fantasy world of the TexRenFest.
Erin as Glinda the Good and the Spanish King.
Katrina as a Bride of Frankenstein.
Micah as Crayon. The kids love her and many come back by at the end of the day to say goodbye to her. We wish Micah luck with her career in the Navy and look forward to her return to the festival one day.
Micah always gave me some great pics.
She was one of the people that I gave the close-up treatment to because I enjoyed her pic so much.
Jade is another person that always gets the close-up treatment. Jade is one of my favorite characters at TRF. I love the effort she puts in to create her face and overall look.
Two very pretty ladies.
I stopped by to see these ladies at a food stand and snapped their pic. I love that all of the workers at the festival like having their photo taken.
I bought the crab cakes from them for breakfast. They were hot and good.
I enjoyed photographing the Pickle Vendors. And I ate a few pickles as well. Always delicious.
I learned of a pizza place in the village and found it this last weekend. The pizza is great and one of my new favorite places to eat.
Lilly always looked so pretty. I loved watching her dance to the music of Tartanic.
I ran into Tony again. And this time, he was Elfis. What a funny outfit and great name. Very creative.
The ears look great and a green mustache with those glasses tops this look off.
Elvis would be proud.
It looks like Tony would be saying, “Hey, Baby. What’s shakin’?””
I took Alan’s pic a few times. He works the door at the Wyrmwood Public House. The best bar in the village.
Mickey made my daily kamikaze.
I look forward to TRF 2022 and seeing all of my new friends again.
I love purple and this singing duo rock it. The Minstrel Rav’n always looked great.
This family was having a fun time.
And she deserved a close-up treatment.
Monsieur Bunny, or Daddy as he prefers. I have lived a long life and never had to call anyone Daddy… until now, lol.
Next TRF, I plan to try the coconuts.
Cute workers always with a smile to greet you.
Who doesn’t like a nice kilt?
Kevin was always fun to photograph.
This is a good pose and a nice pic of him.
What’s better than a pic of a Pirate? A pic of two Pirates.
Hercules brought out his fur for the last weekend because it was a little chilly.
Always get the wings in the frame.
Krampus made an appearance.
If a dad dressed like this for Christmas morning to surprise his kids… he’d scar them for life, haha.
Skidmark was looking festive.
A working man in his office.
A great group shot.
Erika always looked so beautiful.
Greg and Sara were so nice to me during the TexRenFest and I look forward to spending time with them again the next festival.
Haley looked great in her Christmas outfit. The word on the top of her head is ‘Naughty’.
I bet Santa would still give her some gifts though.
I like this guy’s blue, leather vest. Very nice. And he was always nice enough to pose for me.
A Pirate Santa. Good Look.
I met Pam while I was working the festival. She was a lot of fun to hang out with.
The crew of the Sea Devil bar.
Blaze looked happy to be at work on this Friday.
While working at TRF, you make some great friends and lasting relationships.
Big Pirate hats always look god.
Hamish McGregor and a friend singing a tune while in the village.
More good friends.
My favorite Krampus and St. Nicholas. Nice guys and fun to shoot.
And deserving of a close-up.
Great Promo Gal and she loves her job.
One stylish gentleman. I’d definitely wear these clothes. Very sharp.
Another St. Nicholas and his lady.
Jesus and Santa. I photographed Jesus and Satan a few weeks earlier than this.
One of my favorite pics out of all of the TRF photos. He’ll enjoy this pic for years of him and his little boy.
Greg and I in the Catskill Mountain Moccasins booth, number 212.
And with the ever beautiful, Sara.
Now, we’re on to the pics from Saturday of the Celtic Christmas weekend. I was there first again.
The entrance to a great fantasy world where you’re free to be whatever and whomever.
As you can tell, I love this view.
The gates to fun and frivolity.
A lot of people will come down this walkway on this day.
Another cold day in the village.
Ready for action.
Playing his pipes.
Micah as Crayon. So cute.
Micah is full of energy and so fun-loving.
Erin, looking splendid, as usual.
One of Hercules’ best poses for me. He has a good double bicep pose.
Pennywise was a favorite of mine to photograph.
This was the first weekend that she didn’t wear a mask and she looked awesome.
Her face make-up is so great. And close-up material.
Jade, looking her best.
She never disappoints.
In the early morning, right after I enter the Kingdom, I usually get a lot of photos of the characters. This beautiful girl was fun to shoot also.
Phil Brayton was always a pleasure to run into. Through some stats, I learned that Phil’s Barbarian character is the 3rd most photographed person at TRF. And his Tan Man character is in the Top Ten.
I had kolaches and milk from the Queen’s Pantry on this Saturday morning. Always a good start to my day.
MJ and a co-worker. I bought a nice hip pouch from them that I use quite often now. Great quality.
Some very fun ladies.
Kazoo Orchestra.
Skidmark is one character I really enjoy watching work. He’s extremely entertaining.
One time, a guy told me to focus my pics on the beautiful girls. I told him I had that covered. Case in point, this photo.
These 2 characters always enjoyed posing for me and I thank them for that.
Daddy in his element.
Leos is more of man than I am. I even wore Long Johns on this day and he went shirtless.
Lilly, looking fabulous.
Haley with a different Christmas outfit and always looking cute.
This girl’s mother told me where she worked so I could go get her photo. It came out great.
I had several bowls of etouffee from Blaze’s booth.
The crew of the Sea Devil bar. Another good pic fo their gang.
Family pics are fun.
A really good Grinch.
She gave me some advice and it was really bad.
Pirates are always fun to photograph.
Sara and Abby.
Booth 212 – Catskill Mountain Moccasins.
Another good crew photo.
Paolo entertaining the crowd.
The Spanish Court.
Another pic of this beautiful redhead. Her hat is awesome.
A fun group to shoot.
I had to get a pic of these two.
Apollo promoting their show.
Blaze and a friend.
I ran into Tony again on Saturday and this time I got some better pics.
His shoes were very cool.
I only had a few people refuse to pose for me during my time working the festival. I’m glad this girl decided to pose for me.
How much does it cost a Pirate to pierce his ears?
A buck an ear.
A festive group that was enjoying their day at TRF.
She has a great hat and looks good in it.
Eye contacts can always improve a look.
Another great Grinch.
Abby in a good-looking outfit.
The only Christmas tree that I photographed.
I love these guys.
Gruesome.
The stuff of nightmares.
Two more cute food stand workers.
A smiling group shot.
You gotta love seeing people having a good time.
Another festive group.
Cute Pirates are always a pleasure to run into and photograph.
And deserving of a close-up.
One of my favorite poses. Love the hat.
Talent in the village abounds.
I love the hat on the far right.
Now for my pics from Saturday. Big Phil and I.
I’ve got a tough job, lol.
Sara and I.
Abby was fun to pose with.
Greg always had on great garb.
I would leave everyday about 2 or 3pm and I always saw more people coming in.
My view when I leave.
These next pics are from Sunday, the last day of TRF for 2021. I like that the plaza always looks so clean.
I’m already looking forward to going back this next year.
My last pic with Willy for the year.
Another chilly day in the village.
I was asked to shoot the group shot for the Front Gate staff and it came out great.
Leo was nice enough to let me into the Kingdom early a few days and I appreciated that.
Nuria always took a good photo.
You’ll notice a lot of smiling faces in my pics.
I intend to interview Jade next season to learn more about her character and other things like how long it takes her to get ready.
I’d be curious to know how long it takes to do her face make-up.
Micah was a natural with the kids and an asset for the Texas Renaissance Festival.
I’ll miss getting her pics while she’s in the Navy, but I respect her service to our country.
She’ll do the USA proud.
A regal gentleman. It’s good to be the King.
I ran into Phil in another area and snapped his pic one last time for 2021.
This girl always had a great pose.
Case in point.
The staff at my favorite pizza place.
These girls looks festive in their Santa’s Helpers outfits.
Alex was fun to shoot and I look forward to seeing her next season.
Next season at TRF, I’ll focus more on the food.
Lots of characters working the food booths also.
It’s hard not to be hungry as you walk around because the food all looks and smells so good.
I tried some of the chicken.
Delicious.
Another great outfit.
Love the headdress.
How do pickles enjoy the day out?
They relish it.
One fabulous costume.
The ears, the hair, the horns, the make-up… all fantastic.
Why would you expect the coconuts vendors to pose funny?
You tell me, lol.
This look takes some time. Great job.
I look forward to going back to the Glory Hole for my morning beer.
Great horns and a great pic.
The Sea Devil is a great place to get some good pics.
Case in point.
Blaze was a redhead this last day of the festival and looked great.
Her co-worker looked great as well.
This crew asked me to take their staff photo and I was happy to do it.
Alex always looked cute.
Easy to see why I always passed by their booth for photos.
A really good face make-up job.
Another time-consuming job, but well worth it when you see the final look.
How do Pirates prefer to communicate?
Aye to aye.
Another lady that works with Tartanic along with Lilly.
A great Santa.
With a funny close-up.
Paolo playing some tunes.
Alan looking quite sharp.
Erika looked great the first day I photographed her and to this last day.
Melissa and Vebecka while at work in the Asgardian Armory, booth number 211.
The staff that works for Shiva. Great clothes.
I look forward to seeing Violet next season also. She’s a great Fire Dancer.
And gets a close-up.
Next season, I’m going to try and shoot over 4,000 pics. I’ll be attending all 8 weekends with no bad luck and I think I can do it, plus, I’ll have assistants.
I bet they were warm on this cold day.
I plan on shooting lots more videos also.
I’m looking forward to spending more time with Pam. She’s a lot of fun to hang out with.
How did the Pirate call his mate?
On an Aye Phone.
This King has some great looking rings.
I saw more furries on this last weekend.
Hercules saved his best pose for the last day of the festival.
These two girls worked at a food stand but were enjoying the last day as patrons.
This is the last person that I photographed at TRF for 2021 and I snapped it as I was walking to my Tahoe. 3,105th pic.
Now for my pics from the last day. Rudy was one of the nicer people that I met at TRF.
I imagine Jade gets photographed quite a lot. Gotta be in the top 5 of all the characters.
I’ll have a special post about Phil coming up soon. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Blaze is wearing one of my STORM Factory beanies, just backwards while she was working.
My last pic with Erika.
Many thanks to Greg for his hospitality towards me during the 2021 TRF season.
A pic with Shelbelle Shamrock on the Wyrmwood patio.
My last pic with a character at TRF for 2021.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Texas Renaissance Festival and I’m looking forward to going back this next season. Many thanks to everyone that posed for and with me. It was a lot of work, a lot of driving and long hours of walking and also working on the computer, but I loved every minute of it.
Hope to see some familiar faces at the next TexRenFest and if you see us, come say hi and get a pic.
Thanx for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. To see all of the 3,105 pics and videos from the TexRenFest 2021, click on the link below and go to Photos.
And remember…
“Always be yourself… unless you can be a Pirate, then always be a Pirate.”
The third weekend that I attended the Texas Renaissance Festival was the Cosplay weekend called ‘Heroes and Villains’.
I ended up with 458 pics and 5 videos. I kept with my tradition of arriving earlier than everyone else. I enjoyed getting early morning shots.
This weekend, I also started getting some pics in the big King chair located at the entrance. It’s a great Photo-Op.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, some days I was allowed into the Kingdom before it was open to patrons. These next pics are Before and During the festival so you can see the transformation.
This area is right inside of the main gates. There are always people, cast and crew here. Some are exiting, some are just entering and some are working as characters for TRF.
This is a great area to sit and chill while you people-watch. Seeing all of the costumes, outfits and garb is always a lot of fun.
This next pic doesn’t show just how crowded this area gets.
I have breakfast at these little tables in the early morning. Hard to get a seat later in the day.
And you can see that for yourself in this next photo. The TexRenFest entertains over 500,000 people every season. People gotta sit somewhere.
On Saturday morning of Cosplay weekend, I had a ham, egg and cheese quiche with milk. It was delicious and filled me up for a lot of walking and talking during the day ahead. I got it at the Queen’s Pantry, one of my favorite places for breakfast.
I always tried to get pics with the staff of Catskill Mountain Moccasins. Here I am with Sara. She works at other RenFaires around the country. Cool job.
My friend Greg was always nice enough to let me store my backpack and coat at their booth when it got hotter in the day. That helped me out a lot.
Had more good comments about the STORM Factory business cards.
These ladies were always a lot of fun to run into. I loved getting their pics each weekend. I plan to shoot video of their act next TRF.
Jade is one of my most favorite people to photograph while working at the Texas Renaissance Festival. She’s so beautiful and her make-up is unreal.
I think you’ll enjoy the special post I do just about her.
I enjoy shooting group photos. It’s an opportunity to make a lot of people happy in one pic. This group might have been the biggest group that I photographed. Twelve people.
I always enjoy taking photos of people that put in the effort. This group looked great.
And when someone puts in that effort, I like to reward them with close-ups to show just how fabulous their work is.
A lot of time went into these looks. Planning, designing, buying, building, creating, and then putting it all on to go to an event.
After I took the pic below, I noticed that it was a woman. Before I could catch myself, in a surprised voice, I said, “You’re a girl!”
She busted out laughing. As I was walking away, I heard her repeating my line to her friends. “You’re a girl!” Then they laughed all over again as they were walking off.
The beautiful Lilly, dancer for the bagpipe band Tartanic. I’ve mentioned her serious headwear game and she never disappoints.
I love that her make-up always goes so well with what she’s wearing. Lots of style that Lilly has.
I love this next guy’s look.
“Hold on honey. We can’t go to TRF yet. I forgot to put blood on my face.”
I tried to eat different things while at the TexRenFest. The pic below is of fried alligator. It was very good. Tastes like chicken, haha.
I have run into Logan at several events this last year. He’s a very talented cosplayer and I’m always impressed with what he wears.
I agree.
Another fun group shot. I photographed many groups and made lots of people happy with my work.
I always try to get pics of Skidmark.
It’s always good to see Pirates at TRF no matter what themed weekend it is. This guy had a good look.
Ran into Leos again. I loved seeing “Renny’s” because it made my job easier, in that I could hit my quota for pics faster.
This is a good pic. I’m sure they were happy when they saw it.
This girl was my favorite Pennywise. She wore a mask most of the weekends except for the last weekend. That last weekend, I was super thrilled to get a pic of her face in full make-up.
I don’t usually post things out of order, but here is that pic from the last weekend of TRF and when she didn’t wear a mask. Her face looks fantastic.
Another Pirate. I think this Pirate married a Mermaid and turned her into a Pirate.
My cute friend Chelsea. I look forward so seeing and talking with her next season at TRF.
This next photo was picked as one of our top pics from TexRenFest 2021. Easy to tell why.
The shows at TRF can get packed and turn into SRO. (Standing Room Only). Every show and act is worth watching. There are some unbelievably talented performers at the Texas Renaissance Festival. You should consider visiting.
I love the color in this pic. Her make-up is superb. The wig, the hat, her face, all perfect for her look.
If I had a choice between a girlfriend that was pink with pink hair or a girlfriend that was yellow with bright yellow hair… I prefer the bright yellow hair.
Nuria was a lot of fun to run into. I think her character is the Spanish Queen Isabella.
This is a great pic. One of our favorites.
Another great group shot of family and friends enjoying their day at the biggest RenFest in the U.S.
This guy was happy to pose for me and I always appreciate that.
This next costume is a favorite. Do you remember Fat Albert and the Gang?
The kids would watch a SuperHero on TV called the Brown Hornet.
I give you… The Brown Hornet. Thumbs up.
And any fan of the Simpsons knows about Duff beer. This is a great costume. Hats off to him.
I like this girl. She poses with a lot of people and gives them great pics to remember their day at TRF. I’m sure she does pretty well in Tips.
Philip was voted as one of the 10 Best Pirates of the TexRenFest for 2021 by our staff. His clothing is spectacular.
The hat, the hair, the hook… it all works so well together. Kudos to Philip for a job well done.
This cute girl’s pic was used as the feature image for the Saturday Cosplay gallery of photos and videos.
When I look through my galleries, I get a smile knowing that when my photo subjects see their pics, it makes them happy and sometimes excited.
These next photos are from the Sunday of Cosplay weekend at TRF. I’m an early bird again this day.
I was always able to find someone to snap a pic of me on the King’s chair. The people at the Texas Renaissance Festival are some nice folks.
The Front Entrance crew was always nice to me and I photographed them quite a few times. I even shot their Season-End photo on the King’s chair. You’ll see that pic in a later post. It turned out great.
Jana is a great person to photograph. This was the first morning that I met her and she impressed me a a lot with her look.
I ran into Jana another day at TRF and got her pics then also. You’ll see them in a later post as well. It’s easy to tell why I love shooting pics of Jana.
On Sunday morning, I had a BLT sandwich. (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomatoe). My blog is read in over 180 countries. Some don’t know what a BLT is. This could be the best breakfast in the Kingdom. It’s sold at a food stand next to the Queen’s Pantry. The name of it is Tea and Strumpets.
In the morning. some of the cast and characters put on a show near the entrance to entertain the patrons. TRF goes all out to give people their money’s worth. And they succeed, in spades.
In my experience from working at TRF this past season, Sundays are a bit slower than Saturdays. I’ve always felt that Saturdays at any event I attend are better than the Sundays. People are more apt to drink more and be in a more festive mood on a Saturday because they don’t usually have to work the next day, Sunday.
I love being in the Kingdom in the early morning of the day. And it’s fun to watch the crowds grow as the day goes on.
Here are those two Wenches again, lol. I love these ladies.
Skidmark never disappointed. He was always disappointing. Just kidding. I loved getting his pics a lot.
Erika works in Booth 211 for Asgardian Armory. She yells out to get people’s attention. Since they sell swords, axes and other killing weapons… she yells out, “Welcome to bloodbath and beyond.” That’s a great play on words with the Bed, Bath and Beyond company name.
I was happy to have a booth to go hang out at during the long days. And Greg was always fun to talk with. He’s a great guy.
I really liked Sara’s headpiece. It looked like a crown or tiara, not sure which.
I have 3 tankards from TRF that I’ve purchased over the years and 2 wine chalices. I love the drinkware at the TexRenFest.
Here’s Lilly on Sunday. Her make-up looked great and her hat was impressive, as always.
I will find out this woman’s name next year at TRF. She always looked great and had a lot of variety in her looks.
This is Scott and Amanda. Every morning around 10am, I would come by and get my first beer from Amanda. I’d drink it while we chatted about the day and the festival. Amanda is a great new friend.
Here’s Chelsea on Sunday. Great smile.
Nuria also enjoys cosplaying when she’s not Queen Isabella at TRF. I recently saw her as Wonder Woman at a Xmas Toy Drive. Wow, did she look great.
This is the band Saxon Moon. I photographed them twice, interviewed them and also another interview with their Fire Dancer, Violet. Great band and great guys and gal.
I enjoyed my interview with Violet and learned a lot about Fire Dancing. She is very talented and a lot of fun to watch. I look forward to seeing her next season.
Pirates on Cosplay weekend. I love it. This is a good looking couple and they look great.
This next photo is of Cirque Olympus. I watched their act several times and shot video of it. They are each so talented and when the perform together it becomes a helluva show. I told you that the shows and acts at TRF are fantastic. You should visit and see for yourself.
This pic is of midday in the Kingdom. As you can tell, it’s a little slower on Sundays. A great time to visit.
I love these shots of looking down on the festival. So much to see and take in.
I’d like to thank the Food Stand Tea and Strumpets for letting me go up on this patio to shoot these shots. The pics help tell the story of a day at the festival.
This angle is always my favorite one from on the Tea and Strumpets patio. You can see people way off in the distance. I love these pics.
This cute girl was selling flower wreaths for a girl or woman’s hair. At TRF, there are 400 on-site shops and vendors like this girl all over the Kingdom. It’s a shopper’s paradise.
Here is another beautiful and talented lady that works at TRF in one of the shows. Her act is another one that I’ll shoot next season.
I bought a few pickles while at the TexRenFest. They were great. I started taking pics of all of the pickle vendors. You’ll see more of them in future posts. The pickles are delicious.
I photographed the Red Queen several times and she always made a great face. She’s a favorite to photograph.
Here’s another beautiful dancer from the Texas Renaissance Festival. Are you seeing a trend? Persuading you to visit TRF is becoming easier, lol.
I shot pics of the Food stands and the bars. These girls work at the Sea Devil bar. I enjoyed going by every day to get their pics. And they were always excited to see me because they knew it was photo time. The girl in the middle is Kay and she’s a sweetheart of a girl.
I saw Alex Draco on this day at the festival. Alex was always a lot of fun to talk with. He taught me some things about RenFaires. There’s patrons and Renny’s (Rennies). There’s a costume and then there’s garb.
A costume is what you put on to go to a party. Garb is more about a lifestyle choice. Pirates would wear garb and not call their clothes a costume. Alex knows a lot about RenFaires. I plan on learning lots more from him.
The kids could even pet a Velociraptor while at the festival. How they train those things is amazing.
Here’s Mickey again. I mentioned in my last post that Mickey was a bartender at the Wyrmwood Public House out at the TexRenFest. Today, I’ll show you more.
The Wyrmwood also has a burlesque show with some very attractive ladies. I believe this is the only bar in the Kingdom that serves hard liquor. I love that.
This is Mickey and Monsieur Bunny. He prefers being called Daddy. I shot a video of Daddy yelling down heckles to the patrons from this upstairs patio. The video is hilarious. I’ll tell you how you can view it at the end of this post.
Daddy, Mickey and Shelbelle Shamrock. Great people that work at the Wyrmwood Public House in the TexRenFest Kingdom.
I ordered several kamikazes from Mickey over the weekends at the Texas Renaissance Festival. Soon, I never had to order or even say, “The usual, Mickey.” When he saw me enter the Wyrmwood, he’d start mixing my kamikaze. Now that’s service. I felt like I was in the James Bond movie about Voodoo.
The bartenders at the Wyrmwood are fantastic and lots of fun also.
I met Blaze while she was working at a Cajun Food Stand. I ate there several times while at TRF. And I began to photogrpah her and her co-workers every day I worked out there. Blaze is very photogenic and I loved getting pics of her.
Here’s another group shot and one of my favorites. I’m sure they enjoyed seeing this pic and then downloading it from the site. I love seeing smiling, happy faces. I know I’m doing my job well when I see this.
That other large group photo was 12 people. This one came close to beating it with 11 people.
I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but I’m a big fan of using contact lenses to change the look of a person’s eyes. Many times it completes the look and often times sets it off.
Another of our top pics as voted on by our staff.
When I asked this family for their photo, the dad said, “Okay girls. Get into position.” Then they all posed like this. That was awesome. Another of our favorite pics from 2021.
The Texas Renaissance Festival is my new favorite event or festival to cover. This season, I shot 3,105 pics and 47 videos. Next season, I’ll have an assistant and should come close to doubling our pics and videos from the festival.
Next season, I want to focus more on the food. I can’t afford to buy food at every stand just to take a pic and taste it or I’d go broke fast. I’m thinking I can talk to some stand managers and ask them to prepare something that I can photograph so I can promote the great food at TRF.
It would be great if the Texas Renaissance Festival gave me a Per Diem each day so I could buy food so I could review and promote the Food Stands in the Kingdom.
I ran into Jana again later in the day on Sunday. I was glad that I did because I wanted a pic with her in that great outfit.
I was also able to get a photo with the Spanish King and his court.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this recap of Cosplay Weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival 2021.
I have 3 more weekends to post about, so stay tuned for more.
To see the photos and videos from the TexRenFest, go to the link below and click on Photos.
Thanx for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. And remember…
“Always be yourself… unless you can be a Pirate, then always be a Pirate.”
This last Halloween weekend, I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the Texas Renaissance Festival. I had a great time.
After the previous weekend, I sent in an email and made a request for a Media Pass. The Media Coordinator was nice enough to give me one. That saved me about $34 a day and ended up saving me about $375 over the duration of the festival. I was very appreciative.
On Halloween weekend, I started a habit of getting there early to shoot the beginning of the day. These first pics are from the Saturday.
I made regular stops by Booth 212, Catskill Mountain Moccasins, to visit with my friend Greg and his manager Sara. Sara had offered me a free ticket to come back to TRF. When I received my Media Pass, I returned her ticket to her so she could use it with another friend.
Sara is very nice and I’m glad I met her. I made a lot of new friends while at TRF and Sara is one of the best new friendships that I made.
I ran into Phil Brayton near the entrance of the festival. I love Phil. He’s a great guy and I love getting his photos. You’ll definitely see more of Phil in future posts about TRF.
I got a lot of pics of Nuria also. Her character’s name is Isabella and she is a Queen. Nuria is another new friend that I’m happy to have.
These 2 ladies were very funny. That’s a map of the Kingdom drawn on her ass. I got some great video of them telling me where everything was. A funny part was when she would talk about the ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’.
I photographed Lilly several times and you’ll see those photos in future posts as well. Lilly was always dressed so well for a festival.
I loved her headwear game. She’s very stylish and with her make-up, she always looks so beautiful. And to see her dancing while the bagpipe band, Tartanic, plays is magical.
I met Leos and his brother Argos at a comicon a few years back. I ran into Leos at TRF and was happy to see him again. The thing about Leos’ look is that it helps to be in shape. I know I couldn’t wear that and look as good as he does.
I’m always really impressed with his face. It takes time to have details like that.
The guy in this next photo said he was a photographer. Then he stepped to where the lighting was the best. The pic came out good. Sometimes the sun can cause shadows on a face and ruin the photo.
This guy had the best sign.
I ran into Tony on the Saturday of Halloween weekend. I would see him a few more times.
And you’ll see his face when he comes as Elfis. His shoes for that outfit are great… and hilarious!
This is Chelsea. She sold little bird whistles. I stopped and talked with her every weekend day that I was at the festival. She’s a very nice girl and another new friend.
I thought this next girl’s face was great. And her garb went with it.
I used this pic for the feature image for the Saturday gallery of Halloween pics. It got a lot of views.
I ran into Hercules again and snapped his pic. He was good about giving me a different pose every time that I saw him.
I didn’t spend too much time at the Joust this year. I plan to cover it extensively next season at TRF.
I did learn that the Knights hang out at a place call the Joust House. I’ll go by next year and get some pics of them and their horses.
I met Paolo Garbanzo again. He’s a really nice guy and very talented. I enjoy watching his act. I’m planning on shooting video of it next season.
I love Halloween. And I love people that get into it.
When people wear the contacts, it can make their look.
This lady looked great. She was carrying a broom in her right hand. If all good witches looked this good, there would be a lot of fans of witches.
I ran into Jade again. I love photographing her. I’ll be writing a post just about Jade soon.
This was the first of many weekends that I got Haley’s pics.
She’s very photogenic and I loved that she got dressed up each weekend.
This woman has a beautiful smile and beautiful hair. She looks great.
I liked the look of this couple. The contacts look really good.
Now, you tell me… how did this woman transport her costume to TRF? It looks fantastic, but how do you go to the restroom?
I love zombie pirates. What a great look.
These two guys were part of my favorites from all of TRF in 2021. I just love their authentic clothing and look.
These are outfits that I would wear… just to go to the store, lol.
I met this couple at TRF and also at Dickens on the Strand in Galveston.
They’re a fun-loving couple and I always enjoy seeing them and getting their pics.
The funny part is that he is a well-respected dentist and he goes out as a pirate with bad teeth. That’s hilarious.
These next pics are from Sunday of Halloween weekend. As you can tell, I’m there early to see the day unfold.
I had Scotch eggs for the first time this day. A Scotch egg is a boiled egg that is wrapped in sausage meat then deep fried. It was a good breakfast.
Some days, I was able to get into the Kingdom before the festival opened. I enjoyed seeing everything before the guests arrived.
During the day, this area is packed with people. It’s nice to see it so tranquil in the mornings.
This is Alex Draco. I ran into Alex many times while working at the TexRenFest this year. He was always nice enough to pose for me and I appreciate that.
This little girl was trying on a new hat and I thought she looked cute, so I snapped a pic. The festival is a great place for kids to have a ball.
Next TRF, I’ll get more info about the ‘Best Dwarf Ever’.
I took some shots of Violet while she was Fire Dancing. I shot video of their act and even interviewed the band, Saxon Moon, and her. Violet is great and another new friend.
I purchased a souvenir while at the festival. I use it for my beer while at home.
This lady had a different outfit every time I saw her and she always looked fantastic.
I met Mickey for the first time this weekend. He invited me inside the Wyrmwood Public House, which is a burlesque bar. I’ll have more photos of that later. Mickey is a cool guy to have as a friend.
Here is a pic of my friend, Greg, and I. I met Greg on the comicon circuit and ran into him again at TRF. It was always good to see him.
Here I am with Sara again. I loved all of her outfits she wore to the festival. She’s another lady with a great sense of style.
I’m glad Sara posed for me because the pics are some of my most favorite.
I took a pic of Skidmark. He might be the funniest character at all of TRF.
I photographed several girls that went as either a jellyfish or a mushroom. They always looked great.
I love her look.
This girl came as Pennywise. I used her pic for the feature image of the Sunday Halloween gallery.
I tend to like photographing people that put in the effort, especially with their faces. This next mother and daughter definitely put in the effort to look good.
You’ll notice how the contacts complete the look.
I loved this lady’s outfit and make-up.
I especially loved her hat. She had a fun, festival look.
Here’s Violet and her friend.
This girl had a great face and her make-up looked awesome.
This warrior always stands very still. I’ve never seen him talk.
And I obviously zoomed in once I got home and didn’t actually stick my camera in his face to get this pic, lol.
I love the dancers. All of the acts at TRF have very beautiful women in them. It’s fun to walk around drinking and taking in all of the entertainment.
This next girl was one of my all time favorites to photograph.
She’s beautiful and I loved her make-up. I was happy to get her pics.
I photographed a lot of pirates while at the TexRenFest. This guy was one of my all-time favorites.
He has the face to pull off this look.
I was even able to photograph a Zulu Warrior. And anybody who watched Tarzan as a kid knows how badass the Zulu were.
I received many compliments on my business cards this weekend and many times, when I would tell people about the website, they would be very happy that they were going to be on it. I got many fist bumps over the two days.
My next post will be about the Cosplay weekend at TRF.
If you want to see all of my 3,105 pics from TRF, visit the link below and click on Photos.
Thanx for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. And remember…
“Always be yourself… unless you can be a Pirate, then always be a Pirate.”
This past weekend, I attended Anime Matsuri for two days, Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I took 157 photos of cosplayers and on Sunday I took 159 photos for a total of 316 for the weekend.
What follows are some of my favorites based on cosplay and posing.
This first cosplayer is one of my favorites. I think her name is Paris and she looks great in her balloon outfit.
She posted a very cute video on her IG. You should check it out. @ParisCosplays.
I love cosplay that involves hats and this cosplayer looked great.
I have to apologize now for not knowing any Anime characters, but I know good cosplay when I see it.
And this guy looked great also. The outfit, the makeup, the facial expression and the pose all worked perfectly.
This cosplayer really did a great job on her makeup. I love the blood.
Here’s another cosplayer that I began following on IG. @JordansCosplay.
Another thing I like about cosplay is the colored hair.
And ears. Maybe I’m a Furry, lol.
These girls were my fifth pic of the weekend. They thanked me on IG and I appreciated that. It was nice to hear.
This is one big dude in a dress. Love it.
This might be the most effort in a pose all weekend.
I like how she squinted her eyes for the photo.
This cosplayers hair looked great. The different shades were awesome.
I also like good group shots.
I overheard this guy telling another cosplayer that his outfit was a realistic version of a historical look.
This girl put the effort into her hair and it showed.
This guy surprised me with a great pose. He was mild-mannered and when I asked for his photo, he jumped into character. Nice.
I think pink hair is my favorite.
I’m a sucker for fantastic dresses, or should I say Formal Gowns?
Another great combination of cosplay and posing.
The guy on the left of the photo needs to workout more, lol.
There were several motorcycles and cars that had great artwork on them. It was great to see them all.
“Always dirty” and that art says it all.
That looks like a really fast car. Great paint scheme.
This was one of the more colorful cars at the con.
And now for Sunday’s pics. This girl was really tall with her boots on. She said she’s 5’7″ without them. The guy with her was really nice about taking a pic of her and I. You’ll see that later in the post.
I took this cosplayers photo and then he mentioned taking it in front of the military vehicles. We did and it was a better photo.
I love seeing cosplayers happy while doing their poses. It’s a fun time and smiles are contagious.
These girls were fun to shoot.
This guy came strolling by with his head-piece kicked back on his head and his swords under one arm. Then he put on his head and struck a great pose. Love it.
What is a comicon without Michael Myers? This guy stayed in character the entire time.
I would have liked a photo of these two without her mask. They looked great.
I love it when cosplayers put in the effort on their face makeup. It shows in the end.
A very cute pose.
This is a great pose and cosplay. I love the blood. Did I mention that?
I got a pic with this cosplayer also. You’ll see that photo soon.
A very good Bane. He’s got the body for it.
I really enjoy taking cosplayers photos when they’re as nice as these two. And a great pic.
This cosplayer found my IG account and tagged me in a post, thanking me for taking a great pic of her and her boyfriend. That was nice of her. Made my day. IG @sakura.darling
Probably one of the more sexy cosplays that I saw during the weekend.
Blue hair is always nice too.
And when it comes in pairs, it’s even better.
Another great gown.
This girl’s pic was so good that I made it the Feature Image for my photo gallery for Sunday.
Over the years, I’ve taken quite a lot of photos from Comicon type events in Houston and the surrounding area. What follows is my selection of the sexiest, cutest and most unique pix that I’ve taken so far. I think you’ll enjoy taking a look at my collection.
I watched this girl being body painted. It was pretty cool and she looks amazing.
Her hands and arms look great as well.
Kristen Hughey is one of my favorite cosplayers.
She looks great in all of her characters.
I don’t know the name of this character, but I see girls dressed like her often. A cheerleader outfit and a chainsaw.
Cool makeup.
She looks Egyptian to me.
Looks like a Victorian costume.
A cute Harley Quinn.
Nice makeup.
Shocking face when she poses like this.
Beautiful Wonder Woman.
I think she’s playing someone from Alice in Wonderland, but I could be wrong.
Another Harley Quinn.
She had a big weapon.
Love the blue hair and the makeup job is exceptional.
Cool eye contacts.
Creepy.
Cute girls from Delta H Con.
A colorful pic.
Reminds me of Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebration.
Power Girl.
Christine looks great in this costume.
Beautiful face and hair.
Cool scene with the knife to her throat.
Another cute Harley Quinn.
Love the pink hair and the great makeup job.
Supergirl was having fun.
How can she see through those button holes.
A good looking red head.
Cool pose.
Poppa Smurf!
Homeboy is wearing his underwear, lol.
Another pic I really like. Her surprise face is cool with that makeup on.
