LA DomCon 2007

Two major fetish events took place last week: Fetish Evolution in Germany and the 4th annual DomCon in Los Angeles, California. I was invited to cover both events, so I was torn between flying to Germany and going to LA. Normally it would have been a no-brainer as I had been hearing so many wonderful things about Evolution, and I was drooling for the opportunity to photograph such international fetish models as Kumi Monster, Rubberella, Dante Posh, and Nikki Vega, just to mention a few. FetishMovies.com was sponsoring both events, but I had already committed to photographing DomCon and giving a little presentation about fetish videos during the expo. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when I had to turn down the invitation for Evolution. I assumed that DomCon would be much like FetishCon in Tampa, Florida , which I have attended for the past 3 years, but I was quite wrong. DomCon turned out to be a really wonderful 4-day event filled with some of the world's top dominatrices, switches, submissives, bondage and fetish models, fetish photographers, performers, educators, and lifestyle practitioners.

After this trip to LA, my decision is going to be that much harder next year should the two events coincide once again.

I arrived in LA a bit late for the meet and greet Thursday night, and managed to make it just in time to throw down a Jack & Coke before heading to bed. The event was held in the Hilton LAX, where a group of rooms on the 10 th floor held us fetish deviants and allowed everyone to roam freely in latex or leather without frightening the rest of the guests. The trade show took place in the lower level of the hotel where presentations, workshops, and stage performances took place throughout the day. Walking through the convention hall, each booth held some of the finest handmade toys, whips, paddles, floggers, dungeon furniture, and latex or leather fetish clothing. My general impression of DomCon was that it is more lifestyle-oriented than fetish fashion, and the selection of vendors seemed to confirm this.

Fetish models, performers, and dominatrices in attendance included Jewell Marceau, Summer Cummings, Mistress Isabella Sinclair, Mistress Porsche Lynn, Mistress Xena, Insatiable Amazon, Domina Irene Boss, Mistress Brianna, Mistress Precious, and Mistress Vendela Zane. In the far corner of the room, Lady Hillary and the feisty Ladies of the Dominion were spanking lots of asses for charity to raise money for breast cancer research. Nearby the spanking ladies was a small stage where various bondage and other kinky performances took place throughout all three days. Not everything was performances and spanking, though. I gave a presentation explaining how to make money with amateur video content. Focusing on setting up an affiliate program with FetishMovies.com and make a lot of passive income (check out my ErosArtsVOD.com theater to see an example), I hope that my talk will help make some amateur pornographers lots of extra cash!

Friday and Saturday nights were when the real fun began. Each of the two parties was held at Passive Arts Studios, a 7000-square-foot dungeon space with play stations set up throughout. A shuttle ran back and forth from the hotel every half hour, so there were no worries about partying hard and finding the way home! Friday night was the play party, and to my dismay it was essentially closed to photography…even with a pass. There was one room set aside in which to photograph, but I counted at least 4 other photographers. I wasn't really in the mood for a photo-gangbang, so I opted to make the trip back and leave my camera in the room. Unfortunately I have no photos from Friday night's party, but it did give me the rare opportunity to enjoy the night without worrying about my gear (camera gear that is).

Saturday night was the Fetish Ball, the largest party of the weekend. My night started with the opportunity for an impromptu photo shoot in the dungeon cell with Master Liam and his slaves Beauty and Arachnia. Stepping into the shoot was the amazing photographer Ken Marcus and the Marquis de Valmont. On the main stage, the industrial band Spanking Machine performed throughout the night. As a special treat, in celebration of Mistress Cyan's birthday, four nude slaves carried a candle lit cake upon their shoulders. Mistress Cyan puts forth a great deal of energy to organize DomCon each year, and the crowd's enthusiasm made it obvious that her work is greatly appreciated.

On Friday, I was fortunate to meet Mistress Minax while she was giving a presentation about the history of professional dominatrices. She invited me to join her and a lovely young submissive girl for a scene in the jail cell. Here, she proceeded to administer a proper OTK spanking, sprinkled with just the right amount of verbal humiliation and nipple torture to the buxom brunette. Perhaps most folks would not care for this type of play, but it was patently clear that the brunette in question was pleased with her playtime.

In another room, the exquisite Mistress Gemini shared the ass of a male submissive with another Domme…each taking turns paddling his ass in a rhythmic dance that ended only with a broken wooden paddle in the hands of this petite, yet dangerous Goddess. Glancing around the room, it seemed as though each play station was being used. I saw CBT to the right of me, trampling, smothering, and spanking to the left…and here I was, happily stuck in the middle with my camera again.

This was my second experience with the LA Kink scene in the past couple of months, and it was great to make some new friends. I'm hopeful that I'll be returning soon and often, as there is an energy in LA that is quite unlike anything else. We'll be heading to Munich in a few weeks for BoundCon, followed by one of my favorite events – Fetish Factory's 12 th anniversary party, so check back soon for more updates!

Click here to see the entire LA DomCon photo gallery. >

Photos and review by Michael Diamond

Here are more pics from Mike of Surgeon Studios - go to the DomCon 2007 folders in his MySpace Pics!