The Photo Loot from #RDC5 [part 4]

/ February 8, 2019

Ok, please don’t get excited. I am fully aware that my pictures aren’t really that great. I’ve seen much better ones, taken from much closer up. But I have decided to follow up the first and very wordy Q&A post with some visual goodness. All in service of a happy weekend 😉.

Before you get to the pictures, let me quickly describe the set-up of the con. Photo opportunities were restricted to four separate events where photography was allowed – the opening and closing ceremonies, and the Q&As. (There were two other events that featured Richard, but photography was not allowed during the photo and the autograph sessions.) As a general rule, photography happened from wherever the photographer was sitting – there was no scrum or mosh pit in front of the stage for photographers to get a quick close-up at the beginning of the event. The main hall, where all the Q&As took place, had space for 500 people or so. The first five to eight rows of the hall were reserved for Gold ticket holders. I had a regular ticket and would’ve been placed in the last five rows or so. But since I had volunteered to work as a steward during the con, I was actually allowed to sit in the rows reserved for Stewards, right behind the Gold ticket holders. However, that was still bang in the middle of the hall, with restricted view. I spent half a Q&A standing at the back of the hall to get an unobstructed view of the stage Richard on Saturday; and then another half a Q&A the following day shooting from the side, back against the wall. In both cases I was too far away to shoot close-ups. The indoor lighting also meant that I couldn’t shoot at a low ISO (which would have resulted in extra clear images). Neither would a flash have illuminated my subject from as far back as I was.

Sigh, it sounds as if I always have excuses why my photos are shit. The truth may actually be that I am not that great a photographer 😂. I am certainly a bad photographer in the sense that I do not like to muscle my way into the front, obstructing other people’s view by being a pap. Well, and my equipment needs upgrading, I guess. So, disclaimer: Richard was beautiful; my photography wasn’t up to scratch. Here’s the loot, sorted according to the four occasions I took them at, with a quick explanation of the set-up and where I was.

Friday Evening – Opening Ceremony

Before Richard appeared from stage left on the stage in the main hall, we already got a little glimpse of him on the screen to the right of the stage: The Great Red Dragon was making his presence known – with some shadow play 😂. What a great introduction to and by Richard – I so like it when he is funny and playful. Myself, I was sitting on the right hand side of the hall (my POV), about half way up. (Clicking on an individual photo will open the picture bigger on your screen.)

Saturday Q&A

Having realised that the pictures from the middle of the hall had not turned out great the day before, I opted to stand at the back for the Saturday Q&A, checking whether I could get better pictures from there. I clicked away for about half of the Q&A and snuck back to my seat when the floor was opened up for fan questions. I took a few photos with my iPhone from my seat in the middle of the auditorium (left-hand half, my POV), too, but they are far too soft to be usable.

Sunday Q&A

For a change of perspective, I shot from the left of the main hall, leaning against the wall and avoiding to obstruct any other fans’ view. I had an unrestricted view of the stage, but it was a bit too far away, really. (Clicking on an individual photo will open the picture bigger on your screen.)

You get an idea of the size and distance from the foreground that I left in the picture in some instances.

Sunday Closing Ceremony

Lastly, Richard attended the closing ceremony on Sunday evening. He was the last one to come out – the top star of the evening. I was sitting at a round table, again about half way back, and right against the wall on the right hand side of the hall. This time, the actors/guests did not appear on stage but were on the main floor, hence it was a bit more difficult to catch a glimpse of them between the heads of all the people sitting in front of us. Even though none of my pics are truly great, these are even less than “not great” because they didn’t come from Marky Mark but from my little red Canon PowerShot 420. Even with digital zoom disabled, the pictures are grainy. It almost looks as if I put one of those hated filters on…

Sorry, not that great. Mind you, at least I got a good view if the temples, and I can confirm that a bit of salt and pepper is still there. As well as the gorgeous profile.

 ⇢ 📸 ⇠ 

So, that’s it. As previously, these images are my gift to you, fellow fans. So feel free to use – for fan art, personal print outs, screen savers. Repost if you like – but please credit me if you do so. And remember: for non-commercial use only 😉 – not that these would be good enough for selling, anyway. 

For the previous parts in the RDC5 write up click the following links:

Part 1: Spoof Write-up

Part 2: First Picture Post

Part 3: Summary of Saturday Q&A

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101 thoughts on “The Photo Loot from #RDC5 [part 4]”

  2. Oh, G, these are marvelous! Thank you so much for going to such great lengths to take these. It can’t have been comfortable standing up for as long as you did, but how we appreciate your efforts! I’m kind of speechless so will leave it at that for now. Thank you thank you thank you.

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    • Hehe, there was a lot of standing (and queuing) involved last weekend, LoLo. Queueing for registration, to buy photo session, to buy autographs, to get into main hall, to get photographed, to get autograph, to pick up photograph… Those 30 minutes of standing in order to take pictures felt like no time. Not least because RA is such a pleasure to listen to. The time flies when he speaks…

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    • Aw, Michele, no – the photos make it look closer than it was. I mean, he is definitely about 10-15 meters away from me… (The closest to get to him was during the photo sessions, of course… but we were not allowed to take pictures there, naturally.)

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        • My picture(s) with him are ATROCIOUS! Truly, truly horrible, Michele. I might show you bts, but I am definitely not going to show my ugly mug publicly. (And no, I am NOT fishing for compliments or inviting friendly disagreement here – there is a very good reason why I opted for working *behind* the camera, not in front 😂)
          As for shaking in your boots because of proximity – hehe, I know. I still feel like that even though I have seen him a good few times at SDs and premieres. It helps when you tell yourself that it is only going to last a few seconds, and that it is unlikely he will actually perceive *you* as an individual. There were hundreds of others who wanted the same thing – pictures, autographs, a glimpse – so we are all just a sea of faces and a cacophony of voices. I would love to know whether and who RA remembers from the event. Certainly not me, who can’t cobble any coherent sentences together, never mind even say something memorably original…

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          • Honestly my guess is he barely remembers anybody b/c of the constant flux of people and I mean someone like him who would remember! Maybe this socializing he is doing now after being in a mole hole for several months will do him a world of good! The pictures capture a very authentic guy though ❤️❤️😘😘👏

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            • It almost looks as if he is making a conscious effort to be more social… Not just a con but also that pre-BAFTA event where he was photographed… And he said he was going to meet PJ this week, too.
              And yes, I think he was authentic. Warts and all 😉

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                    • *giggles* eh, well, the mole on his neck is in plain sight. (But ok, I admit I may have a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to it. In fact, I think I have an entire photo folder on my computer, dedicated to the mole *muhahahaha*). The warts/moles/bumps on his back – haha, no, I haven’t seen *those* in the flesh. But there is ample evidence online, i.e. when Daniel Miller and Francis Dolarhyde took their kit off. Slightly put me off, too. 😉

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                    • Well it proves he’s human and I think it’s kinda cool but the mole I have to investigate that further where is it? I m I’m looking in much lower places than there I will fess up to 😉🤣❤️❤️😘

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                    • Hehehe. I see. You are at the glutton stage of Armitage appreciation, Michele. I have progressed to the gourmet stage where the portions are tiny but cuts are choicest 😁

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                    • Oh I forgot to tell you or this may be old news now but the Ford Fiesta reference he tweeted comes from The Stranger ch 26 first paragraph! He is such a clever bloke!! I apologize if everyone knew that but me I’m a bit slow on the uptake 😉🤣🤣

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                    • Oh, really? As in – there is literally the same comparison in there? “You hoped for a Ferrari but all you got was a Ford Fiesta” or something like that??? Hold on a minute – this is really interesting – so he was reading the Stranger back then when he made that little self-deprecating joke.

                      And as he told us at the con, that was the night when he just couldn’t stop reading the book.

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                    • Well the Ferrari wasn’t in there but the Ford Fiesta was and I thought it was odd odd why mention a Ford Fiesta until I read it and ta da I smiled that clever man referenced it b/c he had the meeting w Corbin right before Cmas and had not finished the book
                      I read it Armitage style yesterday!! Corben also referenced Nicola Schindler which I thought was brilliant like an insiders joke!!

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                    • Ha – so there was RA, referencing and throwing us the tiniest of little bones, and we didn’t even know it. I bet he felt as smug as the cat that got away with the cream…
                      And a reference to Nicola Shindler? In the book???
                      As for Coben – my dear Mr Guylty served me full breakfast in bed this morning, and so I had to reach for a book to amuse myself while eating in bed. The only thing in arm’s reach was Coben’s “Six Years”, which I had bought when we thought that that might be RA’s next project. Anyway, I started reading at 8am and couldn’t put the book down. Finally got up at 10.10am, almost half way through. Coben is definitely hard to put down.

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                    • Well Guylty I will tell you this and Rachel can no doubt back me up the reading is easy I mean I am a slow reader and it is easy to scan and digest. Richard will be able to mold Adam as he wants to like a blank canvas so I would recommend reading it. I did it as research. I’ve seen The Five and Safe also on Netflix. If I were to cast Corinne I would recommend Emilia Fox

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                    • I started watching Safe – and I totally got sucked in. If that is any indication for The Stranger, then I am totally in!
                      Oh, and yes, a dream cast… so, tell me, since I am not reading the book – does RA fit the description of Adam Price in the book? And how is his wife described? An ethereal blonde like Emilia Fox?

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                    • See Adam is not really described Corinne is to an extent but Fox popped in my head she has a daughter and she’s closer to Richies age than say Emma Arterton or even Lucy Griffiths. The characters are not well developed but I think this could work for Richard quite well. Hall with a Brit accent was very good in Safe I thought it was a bit sluggish in the middle. The Five was very good. Hannah Arterton was in both series but she’s way too you g to be his wife (born in 1989) I thought of Fraser Kelly for Ryan the younger son. If you end up reading the book you’ll see what I mean. The writer of Safe will really be able to juice up the dialogue for The Stranger so yeah I m excited that Richie is so excited!! My guess he’ll make Adam not Gary like but somewhere in the middle

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                    • I do too! I think just from listening to his q and a from last Saturday that the move from Berlin to Budapest was not great for him and the whole shit show of BS3 was just awful for him the Daniel dying and no closure w Esther and the horrendous marketing. I hope that show gets cancelled although Irser has been so loyal to it and fans. A true professional! I think the quality of the writing and producing for Netflix is just what Richard creatively and mentally needs in my opinion 😉👍

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                    • Yep, just judging by the way he completely glossed over BS and didn’t really say much about the show at all, I had the impression that it is firmly in the past for him – and possibly not his favourite show ever. I mean, if we, the fans, were disappointed with Daniel’s relegation throughout season 1 and 2, and then his quick neutralisation in season 3, how was that for him? The guy is pretty sensitive, surely he must have felt underappreciated by the makers, too? Whatever, I agree with you – he needs a series hit on his hands now, and with a big name in the business. Netflix is just the ticket, and with two previous shows already having garnered lots of attention, he can now totally reap the rewards. Yes, totally excited for the next show – and I think we can tell that he is really on for it and thirsty for it, too. That excitement about being cast, the constant references to The Stranger – he’s acting like someone who is in love and cannot stop talking about the new love interest. It all bodes very well and I am really thrilled for him – and us.

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                    • Yep I think you hit the nail on the head with unappreciated nobody wants to feel that way especially an actor and mimosa like Richard! Totally agree with you esp when he said he was as only in 4 episodes well 3 and the ep7 he was unmasked at the very end. It breaks my heart b/c BS is where I discovered him ep1 when he walked into that Panama field office in that white shirt and slacks holy moly a tall glass of sexy salvating smoldering sin!! 😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️❤️😉

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                    • Oh, he was positively delish in that first episode – that little beach bar scene? I probably would’ve drooled in my drink had I been that close to him…
                      Yep, I can imagine that it hurts extra-bad to see that show get worse and worse. It was the vehicle that you discovered him in, and I am sure you *wanted* to love the show. So did I.

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                    • Yeah I don’t have a problem w the first two seasons even how Daniel and Esther she loves me she loves me not it and omfg I jumped off my couch and thought whonis this guy? The heart and other unmentionables further south of me were in overdrive!! I mean for me that is what started it all 13 months ago..,

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                    • I know – and all the more tragic when that particular, beloved character is then treated so badly. That’s what a lot of us felt in season 9 of Spooks. I called it “character assassination”. It’s not quite the same here with Daniel – his personality/character was never put into question, but he was just consecutively used less and less, and then suffers this silly, stupid demise. Really annoying!

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                    • Watching that episode last night they had just dropped kicked Daniel and Esther in mud! They could have included a love letter or some note from Daniel like I’ll be with you or ich liebe dich instead of just the Diver picture. It’s just rotten and at least on Spooks the bizarre John Bateman story was properly set up and as hokey as it was it matched Lucas torment about himself and how he felt being left in a Russian prison for so long.

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                    • They build up this spy vs spy relationship for two seasons, Mina and Richard have fantastic chemistry together, they give them one scene in bed not even any cryptic words although the spy book was a symbol which I didn’t know what it meant at the time and then they just literally dump Daniel in a touristy street in Berlin. Even when Daniel called Esther in Ep 2 he could have left a schmaltzy love message that she plays back in ep 9 but no. To me it seemed like a punch in the gut.

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                    • It didn’t really mesh with a lot of things that went before, although I can understand why they didn’t have Daniel send Esther a shmaltzy love message. He simply thought he’d come back to her, and did not need to send a message. (Although I even wondered in episode 2, why the hell did he feel the need to ring Esther just before he went underground? That was just so forced and unreal…)
                      In any case, I thought it was a pity the way DM was disposed of. And I wonder what is going to happen to Esther now. Is she going to be dropped in season 4?

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                    • Yup. Just from reading Serv’s summaries, I am glad I am not sitting through this anymore. That is all it would be – sitting through it. I find the storyline in Estonia excruciatingly boring, and I have no interest whatsoever in Torres or April. BS is essentially over for me. Thank cod. THat means I can now throw myself in “Safe”.

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                    • Nope. Just started Safe and loved it from the very first. All of it works – the suspense, the cast, the story, the production. Haven’t gotten to the end, but I am already fully convinced that this is the best thing that could have happened to him!

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                    • Oh yep for sure. They will probably film same place as Safe did is my guess. The writer looks to be the same and Nicola Schindler who Coben gave a shout out to in The Stranger knows a winning formula now. I was also thinking Jodie Whitaker would make a good Corinne but she was born in 1982 11 years younger than Richard so don’t know about that.

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                    • That’s a very plausible and realistic theory Rachel and I think you are bring way too kind with your words he got an atrocious ending and in my opinion sliced and diced by the showrunner

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                    • Emma Fox would be great opposite Richard, she’s been both nasty and nice in previous roles that I’ve seen, so a wife with a hidden past is a good fit for her imho.

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                    • Mezz I totally agree with you and she’s the right height for him age appropriate she does audio she’s well spoken
                      I saw her on Dawn French Delicious show and liked her! I kept reading trying to picture Corinne in my head not a Olivia Colman type nor the half dozen other British actresses that I’m drawing a complete blank on now sorry 🤦‍♀️😬

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  6. I like them. Thanks for all your hard work. You know you are your worst critic. I, for one, am pitifully grateful for any images you provide. They are always a treat.

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  7. I think you captured some great shots. For those of us who were not able to attend they are a real treat. Thanks for this gift. ❤️

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    • You are more than welcome, D, and I wish I could’ve provided better pictures. I love going to events and trying to capture some of it for you all. Even though the pictures of RA are not particularly clear, there is nevertheless a picture of the event that emerges. Maybe that is worth-while, too 🙂

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  8. You are seeing these through your photographer’s eyes, but as Widoedm53 says above, for those of us who weren’t present, your photos are wonderful – I get a sense of seeing Richard as if I really were there. Love seeing the silver at his temples 😍

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    • Oh yes, the little sliver of silver :-). I actually had to check my photos to make sure it was still there. He looked so good in the flesh, I don’t remember seeing any silver *at all* when talking to/looking at him.

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  9. Thanks for sharing your photos it gives me a better idea of how it would have felt to be there. Presumably all the gold tickets were taken by Hannibal fans.lol
    If RA did another I would hope we would hear about it earlier.
    Having read other accounts it seems he got a warm response from the Fannibals but I think it was lucky that Hugh Dancy wasn’t there lol.

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    • Yes, the Gold tickets were all snapped up by the Fannibals. I bought my ticket for the con on the day that Richard was announced as a guest. And by that time there were NO Gold tickets left!!! (They were only 40 Pounds more expensive, which is why I considered investing that.)
      Likewise, two thirds of the available Gold tickets for next years Red Dragon con are already sold – the Fannibals are a very loyal fandom, and since the con is almost like a family reunion (I think Kate coined that phrase), they bought the ticket for RDC6 even before RDC5 had even begun…
      Yes, I think he did get a warm response from the Fannibals – despite the whole hullaballoo about the photo rules. But otherwise, how could they resist? He is an eloquent and polite and witty conversationalist; he gave lots of detailed insight into working on Hannibal; and he tried his best in a situation that was new to him.
      If Hugh had been there, that might actually have let RA off the hook a little bit more, so I actually think it might have been good for him. Being second-billed probably added a little bit of stress for RA – not ideal for his first con experience ever.

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  10. cool pics again, i also really like seeing all the flower crowns in the foreground! his entrance was very cute too, bit of a signal to Nosferatu again!

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    • He was very very cute with all his entrances. You can see that it always takes him 30 seconds to overcome his surprise that people are there to see him *lol*. But consummate pro that he is, he puts on his acting hat and off he goes 😉

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      • Regarding the question about who he would remember, I bet it’s hard to forget the guy in the Red Dragon suit lol
        The tweet about the cake was nice I reckon he recalled how hard it is to get a work permit.

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          • The lady who made the stag cake. There were some tweets about how rude Sean Harry was regarding his poor introduction for her and it ended up talking about how RA had tweeted (previous occasion) about her amazing skills and has agreed that she can put it on her work visa application

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            • Yep, I saw it last night. (tbh, I didn’t realise that SH was being rude – but then again, I don’t have any prior history with him, and the Fannibals apparently do. But it is true that from his speech it didn’t quite sound as if she was as world-famous as she apparently is.) Anyway, I was trying to find RA’s tweet regarding her cake, and I cannot find it anywhere. Also, I do not even remember him making any comment on the cake… He certainly wasn’t even there when a) the cake was officially given to the con by the Canadian lady whose son won the costume competition (which was on Saturday evening – RA opted out of attending and judging the competition) and b) Sunday afternoon at the Q&A with Scott, Aaron and Mads when they cut the cake for the first time.

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    • “Shadow of the Vampire” with as Nosferatu: Max Schreck is the iconic horror classic movie of Friedrich Murnau. Horror COULD ONLY REFERS TO IT and Richard Armitage too….

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      • I am ploughing through The Bloody Chamber on audio. Angela Carter was a brilliant writer, thanks to Richard for bringing her to my attention. Emilia Fox is the other narrator. I have just finished The lady of the house of love and the mention of Nosferatu reminded me , this was would make a fabulous short film sad that he is too old to play the young solider who through his virginal goodness escapes!

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        • I don’t understand each sentence on audiobooks, so I am sad not to be able to listen to all of them. I have just only bought an old sample of “The Lords of the North” ‘s 15 CD. I am sorry, not to be able to give you an answer about “The Bloody Chamber”.

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  11. As Mezz said up there ⬆️, you see your pics with your photographer’s eyes, but they sure look good to us — a real service to those of us who couldn’t be there. I love the authenticity* of those in-the-moment shots. Thanks for sharing with us.
    *a bit of a pretentious word, I know, but I couldn’t think of a better one. 🙂

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