“Does anyone know about Katsucons policy regarding photographers and/or equipment? I’ve been hearing stuff about they aren’t allowing “free standing” or “pro” equipment which I assume would mean any light stands or flashes.” – Blake of Bentpic

The answer to this is simple, if you are to travel to the website of the Gaylord National Hotel, (information provided by Jayce of Photosnxs):

Professional photography/videography will only be allowed and approved for the following situations:

• Contracted Events, Meetings and Conventions taking place onsite at Gaylord National for event documentation and promotional purposes. The photographer/ videographer must be provided an official event badge/credential or other form of identification from the event organizer that easily identifies them as being affiliated with the group or organization. This badge/credential or other form of identification must always be worn or visible at all times while the photographer is conducting services on Gaylord property.
• Contracted Wedding/Commitment Ceremony & Wedding Receptions taking place onsite at Gaylord National Resort. The couple will work with the Weddings Department and their Gaylord Event Coordinator regarding the details of their planned photography/videographer session, including pre-arranging a specific date and time, so it can be authorized in advance.
• Only couples having their Wedding Ceremony/Wedding Reception event occur onsite at Gaylord National are allowed to have their Wedding or Engagement photos/videos taken onsite. Questions regarding this policy should be directed to the Gaylord Weddings Department.
• News Media Coverage - Members of the news media should contact our Public Relations department in advance by calling (301) 965-2111. New media visits for the purpose of onsite photography or videographymust be arranged in advance. Official press credentials are required.

So after reading that you may wonder why these certain groups are allowed, its because the Gaylord is protecting their intellectual property.  If  you created something, and others were coming their and profiting from it in some way you want a piece of the cut.  That’s it plain and simple.  Umbrellas and stands give the appearance of professional work, and professional usually means there is money involved and if they can’t prove you aren’t making money or not, they figure the easiest way to just crush confusion is to just not allow any of it at all unless you meet the criteria above.

So if you don’t meet those requirements, then there are other ways to get some shots.  It won’t work all the time, because a certain look just needs certain experience to do it, or the gear to do it.  A couple examples are below:

In all honesty the picture below feature the amazing Sistercacao Cosplay (who btw has some posters at the store here) I didnt use because the light wasn’t soft enough in my opinion, nor did I take the time to color balance the cool flash to the much warmer room temperature, thus I really didnt use this image for distribution.  But that was solely my fault.  But I managed to grab this photo after buying their $50 dollar salmon at the Steakhouse in the Gaylord.  It wasn’t necessary but I was just being nice before walking in there to just grab a shot.  I don’t recommend doing that btw, and here’s the reason.

1. They didn’t allow me to bring in my light stand
2. They didn’t allow me to use an umbrelle with Coolsteel27 holding it.
3. The food was not bad, but the portion was silly for the price.
4.  I had to use a sheet of diffusion which he had to hold the flash and hold the sheet.

The proper way to get this shot?  Use a sheet of foamcore and fire the flash into the foam core to bounce the light back on to the subject, and make sure you color balance your flash.

In this picture, below of @Elydria’s Collosus I just remote fire a flash at full power into the lamp shade in the hall of the Gaylord.  I killed all of the ambient light and I was good to go.

So this is just a little something to kind of getting your mind working as to how you might be able to make it without floor standing equipment.  In my honest opinion though, I would not like to be in that situation.  It’s not comfortable for me.  One thing I will add, is to just bring your stuff anyway.  The worst they can do is just tell you no.