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.
