As a photographer and specifically a cosplay photographer you are not always afforded the luxury of shooting where you prefer. There may be other cosplayers and photographers in you’re favorite area or god forbid the entire section is blocked off. This is what occurred at Anime Weekend Atlanta but we have already put it behind us. I will say it did make me feel some type of way though. Anyways, instead of complaining, well after I finished complaining, I decided to turn this setback into an opportunity. Specifically, I decided that I would instead take the areas that were available and get creative with them.
Aside from the fact that the pictures came out great, I believe it helped me learn one of the most important lessons a photographer can learn. What is it you ask? Obviously, its be flexible. I had grown accustomed to shooting in my favorite spots at Anime Weekend Atlanta and did not anticipate shooting in different areas. Not only did we make the new areas work, but the pictures actually turned out better than my previous years. So, with that idea in mind, let’s check out what happens when cosplay photographers are forced to get creative.
To kick things off I want to discuss shooting indoors a bit. One of the largest advantages of shooting indoors is that the lighting conditions are a lot more consistent. You do not have to worry about the sun, clouds or finding shaded areas. As an added benefit, if you use flash such as my (Orlit Rovelights), you get to completely control how bright or dark you want your subjects. As you can see with these images I completely darkened the background. Although Photoshop and lightroom did help a bit with this task, it was mostly accomplished by cranking up my shutter speed while keeping the ISO low. This means that the camera’s sensitivity to light remained low and with a fast shutter speed, you allow very little light into the camera.
Once all of these items are set, you can crank up the power on your Monolights or External flash and watch the magic happen. As long as you are conscious about choosing an area with a relatively dark background you should be good to go. This is where a bit of creativity had to come in. All of the areas in the middle of the convention either had too many people in close proximity to the cosplayer to shoot, or the background was far too bright. Well after a bit of looking around, I brought cosplayers to one of three areas that regularly stayed empty and were not tainted by the sun coming through the top of the convention. Keep in mind that you also can not be to close to any walls or objects as they will bounce the light back into your camera causing added post work.
Now to discuss my favorite part of the convention, my outdoor shoots. If you can’t tell from my work and INSTAGRAM I prefer outdoor shoots. Although as mentioned they are generally a bit more difficult, they are just what im familiar with. Don’t get me wrong I do love a good studio shoot but there’s something about being outdoors that just appeals to me. For this image featuring (@The_Resident_Workhorse_), we shot at several locations but I loved this image in particular as it definitely captures not only my photography goals for this convention but the essence of the character. Anyone that has played Dark Souls knows how hard and dark this game can be. So, shooting in areas that were well lit would not exactly work for this shoot.
Keep in mind that all of the images from this shoot were shot during the day. So, to create a darker theme we of course had to get a bit creative and know how to use our equipment. Applying the same strategy we used indoors, we were able to produce the image seen above. To add to the image, we had a friend drop his cape right before the picture was taken in order to create the cape in the wind effect. I really wish we had a fan for this shoot. I’ll likely be adding this to my cosplay gear for shoots. Just have to find a way to power it!
Another creative area was the bridge joining the convention center and the mall. THERE WERE TONS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS up here as the park had been labeled off-limits. Although I shot tons of pictures up here for each of my shoots, I really enjoyed the way it complimented @trinityroses cosplay pictures. She decided to cosplay as mercy from over watch, but with the Halloween skin. She, of course, had the orange and black wings and with a bit of added help from my gels and monolights, we illuminated the back of the photo with an orange tint. It helped that the background of the bridge was already a bit orange so by enhancing it, we created the images you see above. If I had been able to shoot in my regular area, I would have never been able to produce such images as the park is an open area so the light would disperse and not be bounced back to the camera.
For one of my final shoots, we actually did end up breaking the rules a bit and headed to the parking garage to shoot. As we found out this area was off-limits as well. But better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? So, going with the creative theme and mindset, I did not want to take pictures of Robin, cosplayed by @legendaryme3 just standing and posing. I wanted to snap a few in action shots. Of course, this idea came about once I saw the concrete area separating the parking deck from the outdoors area. Naturally, we had to capture some pictures of him jumping off this ledge to create the beautiful cape in the wind effect and the iconic midair crouch accompanied by the hero landing. It’s amazing what you’re mind will come up with once you are forced to adapt.
I really need to start applying this mindset to future shoots. As a result of being forced to break my norm, I was able to create some of the best cosplay images I have ever had the pleasure of taking. I will definitely be trying new things in 2020 starting with ICHIBANCON. Sitting in one spot is nice as everyone knows where to find you but it causes all of your pictures to have the same background and builds a sense of comfort. You can leave your camera on the same setting all day and enter a sort of autopilot mode. As they say, calm waters make for terrible sailors.
I believe this was my best year of photography at Anime Weekend Atlanta and I definitely plan to level up next year. Improving upon and perfecting your craft is always the name of the game and I plan to do a lot of unique shoots next year. Thanks so much to everyone that did shoots with me as I greatly appreciate it. As always, to see more awesome cosplay news check out my BLOG. Stay on the lookout for a new awesome Interview With a cosplayer post coming Friday! That’s everything for today, until next time, Stay Boundless!!!
