/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Me and my husband had to move cross country for a job.
It seems like the cosplay community here in our new area is about 7 years behind what I experienced in the Mid West. I know some here in the US consider the mid west con and cosplay scene to be shit, but there are some gems there. At least I had friends there and knew photographers that were capable of giving me what I wanted.
But the com here just seems so bad. There are about two photographers around and I haven't been super impressed with any of their work.
I only had to drive about 2.5-3 hours at the most to be at some of my favorite conventions and have access to decent areas and photographers. It seems like I'm going to have to drive 7-12 hours now to get to any decent convention/location.
God this place even makes me miss even some of the shittier conventions the Midwest had.
Cgl has been the only place I can go now to have real discussions and ask/answer questions about cosplay and craftsmanship without feeling I have to sensor everything I say. Thankful for the fellow seagulls here.