Aela the Huntress, Skyrim - Cosplay photoshoot - 8/21/19

On the 21st of August I planned to meet my sister for a photoshoot after we both got off work. She knew of a place where she had been to the walking trails before. And she had recently finished up a new cosplay. Aela the Huntress from Skyrim.

So, hopped in the car after work with as much gear as I could reasonably bring with me. I didn’t know it would be a bit of a hike, so of course I brought more than I needed.

But once we found the place, with the right entrance. The second one was closed, one of us got changed into a costume and we set out to find a good spot in the woods.

Canon 7D w/Yongnuo 50mm - 1/100 Sec - F1.8 - ISO 500

I had been doing some research since the last photoshoot I had done. I knew a good focal length for portrait shots to be 85mm. But I didn’t have an 85mm, and the wide angle I did have was alright but it was loose and the lens would “creep” which is to say it would freely go from one end of the spectrum to the other depending on how I was holding the camera. So with the crop factor of the 7D, and a 50mm. I could get close to the 85mm sweet spot.

However that lens was cheap, and it’s not the greatest quality. I evidently missed focus with it, but hey. Got that 1.8 F stop. Which was the reason I bought the lens to begin with.

So as you can see, besides missing focus and just getting a kind of blurry mess of a photo. We were trying to capture the rays of sunlight shining through the trees. Really didn’t work out for this shot as it just unevenly lights her and makes shadows throughout the cosplay, which is kind of the point.

Canon 7D w/Yongnuo 50mm - 1/125 Sec - F1.8 - ISO 500

Still wasn’t done with that lens though. And I still wanted practice with some headshots. But again, not the point of the shoot. Show the whole cosplay, got it.

Canon 7D w/Yongnuo 50mm - 1/25 Sec - F1.8 - ISO 500

Okay better. But try to keep the shutter speed higher so there isn’t motion blur when you’re shooting handheld.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @38 - 1/40 Sec - F4.0 - ISO 1000

There we fucking go. Switch back to the full frame and the wide angle so you can show the entire cosplay and the surroundings. Makes for a way better picture that is more interesting.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @30 - 1/25 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 500

And for a different and creativity approach, black and white.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @53 - 1/25 Sec - F4.5 - ISO 800

We tried a good amount of angles and positions, until we felt like we got something good out of it. Then we packed up and moved further along the trail to the water.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @28 - 1/50 Sec - F4.5 - ISO 800

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @47 - 1/30 Sec - F4.5 - ISO 500

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @107 - 1/30 Sec - F5.6 - ISO 500

It wasn’t all serious poses though. We had our usually sibling wacky fun with dick jokes and stupid faces.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @105 - 1/30 Sec - F5.6 - ISO 500

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @35 - 1/200 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 2000

I have a pair of these, one jumping and facing one direction and then the other way. And if you pull them up in a browser together and flip back and forth between them you make a little dance. It’s great.

So with all that out of the way, we had gotten plenty of good shots. Angles, poses, etc. The sun was setting and we were losing the light, but I had a few more ideas to try. Of all the things I had stuffed into a few bags I was now having to carry around the woods, I had brought my flash and the extension cable that went along with it. (As I mentioned in a previous post, get a wireless system for the flash)

I also had colored gel. Which went over the light so we could try and recreate something from the video game. However before we got to that point I wanted to see what green light would do on the subject.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @30 - 1/30 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 500

Turns out, makes it pretty cool and spooky.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @30 - 1/25 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 500

It also plays really well with the insanely red wig and made it stand out more when she turned her head.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @38 - 0.4 Sec - F4.0 - ISO 100

There we go, we eventually stopped playing around with the light and put it where we wanted it. Trying to get a plant to glow like a Nirnroot in the game. It also took a second flash that I put on the only other available option, the hot shoe on top of the camera. However at that long of an exposure I bet I aimed it straight up and bounced it off some foam core boards I brought for that purpose.

Maybe not, just speculating at this point. Maybe it was aimed dead on and just set to the lowest power so the green would really glow from the other flash.

Either way, that was an evening of cosplay photography. It was lots of fun and I look forward to the next time. I’ll leave you with an image for your nightmares.

Canon 5D Mark II w/28-135mm @30 - 1/30 Sec - F3.5 - ISO 500

Time for cosplay - 1/5/19

After a fair amount of theoretical planning. “We should totally do this” but without any details to actually do it. Finally I took the time to drive up to one of my sisters and we did a cosplay photoshoot day. She’s been making costumes for years and had a few locked and loaded that needed some nice quality pictures. That's my cue.

So I loaded up everything I had and hit the road. I brought a flash, I brought some foam core boards to reflect light. I had received a wireless trigger for the 5D for christmas, and picked myself up a nicer tripod. Metal, not plastic. Still using that to this day, but I do have my eye on some much nicer models. Really want a sturdy one with flip locks instead of twist for faster and easier deploying out in the field. (that sounds way more impressive than it is lol)

So really this was the first time I’d taken pictures of a person in a serious way, not that any money was exchanging hands mind you. Just for practice and because my sister does some bad ass cosplay. Check her out here @ceciliameowcosplay.

We started with a cosplay from Dragon Age, the Grey Warden. First mistake was that we were starting at 4 in the afternoon in January. It was a bit cold and only got colder as time went on. But you work with what you’ve got, in this case some very harsh lighting.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @50 - 1/125 Sec - F8 - ISO 100

First step is put the kitty back inside. The kitty likes to rub legs and is not actually a part of this photoshoot.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @28 - 1/60 Sec - F5 - ISO 100

Gotta take some goofy shots as well. Looks at all these bushes. But also, look at that harsh lighting. We tried both in the sunlight and in the shade.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @28 - 1/160 Sec - F8 - ISO 100

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @117mm - 1/200 Sec - F8 - ISO 100

This was a nice big patch of tall wheat like grass on the side of her backyard. We absolutely played with that in the shots and even with the harsh lighting I think this one came out pretty good. Although this isn’t exactly the best to show the whole cosplay, another thing I learned doing this. Even if I like the shot, keep in mind the point of what you’re doing. And what a client would want.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @38 - 1/125 Sec - F8 - ISO 100

Black and white? Why not.

Then it was time for a quick costume change and back out with another one.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @60 - 1/100 Sec - F5.6 - ISO 100

First pet cat with bloody death weapon.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @ 60 - 1/160 Sec - F7.1 - ISO 100

No, umbrella out of face, sorry but harsh sunlight it is.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @33 - 1/100 Sec - F6.3 - ISO 100

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @28mm (cropped) - 1/640 - F8 - ISO 400

Wanted to really show some of the details on that Man-of-War that she created.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @56mm - 1/160 Sec - F8 - ISO 100

Maybe forgot that she owned a pip boy as part of this cosplay and ran back in to get it for these wheat field shots.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @65 - 1/125 Sec - F6.3 - ISO 100

I think my personal favorite from this day.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @56 - 1/50 Sec - F4.5 - ISO 200

We moved onto the last cosplay, Toan from the PS2 game Dark Cloud. Fantastic game back in the day, played it again recently and it holds up alright.

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @50 - 1/50 Sec - F4.5 - ISO 200

Canon 5D Mark II w28-135mm @65 - 1/40 Sec - F7.1 - ISO 400

Windy wig troubles?

And that was it.

Yup. That was all we took pictures of. And there was absolutely no reason to say, play around in the crawl space above the garage for a weird black body suit demon thing picture.

Nope.