I don't know how I feel about sci-fi's (thats how it should be spelled you copyrighting assholes) new show. I don't really understand the cosplayers problems because I am a photographer.
Its not like a game show like that other costume show. "Heros of Cosplay" consists of 9 cosplayers that are always in a rush to finish costumes in time for the specific convention that episode. Much of the show is over dramatized; The cosplayers are always saying how if there project isn't done well and on time their fans on the internet will leave or hate them.
I think that someone whom hasn't heard of cosplay before or hasn't been to a convention will think that most costumes are actually good. How I wish that was true.
Sometimes during the show you feel ashamed to be a geek. The people take cosplay way too seriously and have terrible priorities.
Somethings are true however, like everyone kind of knows each other in the community. I know lots of cosplayers I see at almost every con I go to. Its like "oh theres that girl" and "that's the guy who always does halo armor," stuff like that.
That Yaya character has a nice rack.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
ACEN 2013
So it was my second year at Anime Central; I had such a fun time last year I decided to come back. I drove up on thursday, started at 6 am, then arrived at my friends house at around 4:30 pm.
For this trip I had rented a Gopro camcorder and strapped it to my DSLR. I thought I could maybe make a movie out of the footage. I don't know what went wrong most of the footage is just unusable, and the video does not look as polished as the videos on Gopro's youtube channel. First I had the camera mounted on the back to shoot James Nachtwey style, but since I shoot mostly verticals, this did not work out. Then I mounted the camera on the front to be out of the way but lost the sense of it mounted on another camera. There were other problems too, I was using a very cheap bracket and it kept moving around on me. It was strange though, everyone I talked to never heard of a gopro before, and no one I was shooting said anything about it. There was one photographer who mentioned it, but he had to quickly talk to someone else, so I didn't talk with him for long.
About the actual convention,
The convention was great, great weather it was overcast most of the time which made it great for photos. The world is one big soft-light, and there are lots of places outside since the convention is held in two different buildings; There are lots of people walking in between the two.
When walking around I did try to be more sociable. I took photos of more cosplayers than I usually do. I even just went up to a non-cosplaying guy and talked to him for a few minutes. Using the gopro did help me study how I interacted with people. I found out I normally asked for a photo then immediately walk away right after quickly saying "Thanks" or something. Now my goal will be to kinda stay and talk for a few more seconds.
I love using polaroid, for this convention I did use it twice. Once on a JSRF cosplayer and again on 3 really great Digimon cosplayers. Using the Polaroid is a lot different than using a digital camera. You have to be careful that you followed all the steps for setting up and shooting the camera, and only use it on good cosplayers. The advantage is it really makes the sitter connect with you since they think the camera is really cool and unique.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
No Professionals at Colossalcon this year
A recent spat on Colossalcon's facebook page has hit the photography community hard. It seems there is a moral issue of whether Cosplay photographers should be able to charge for private photo-shoots or not.
After the post on tumblr, colossalcon quickly updated their policies and rules page to include a section on professional photographers. It states that while photographers who are planing to take paid photo-shoots are still allowed, people looking to receive a free press pass and plan to photograph paid shoots are now banned. Part of their policy now reads, "[T]his whole situation has brought up some questions that we'll have to consider for 2014." Then, in strangely bias wording, the entry mentions certain scenarios and asks "what if" and "is it fair?" Colossalcon's policy states that some photographers make over $1000 but do they really? I asked a staff member and he said that he did know of a case, when asked how or who could possibly make that much he wouldn't comment.
When researching for this article, there seems to be a heated debate on this issue I never knew existed. I think it's because I knew paid photo shoots existed but never paid any attention to them. I never charge for shoots. The one time I did cosplay, I was part of a paid shoot with a friend, but he paid for the entire shoot himself. I just assumed they existed for the people who where willing to pay money. I personally never would because I know there are plenty of photographers who would shoot for free.
The staff member in this conversation goes by the handle 4ng13, a local cosplayer and owner of the now defunct cosplay website cosfu.org. We had met before, and in my experience he is kind of an asshole, a great cosplayer but has a reputation for having a rotten personality, being very conceited, and getting easily upset. I had known he was very opposed to paid shoots and now he is using his power as a staffer to have the practice banned.
The other person is a photographer who would like to go by his tumblr name Savagetakingphotos said he posted the conversation as more of a call to attention of the behavior of the convention staffer. As of press time the head chairman of colossalcon had not responded.
Some photographers charge to help cover some expenses and to help weed out the models who will not take the photo-shoot seriously. A photographer might pay for a dealers space to setup a booth where people can find them. Most photographers though, like to move around to get better backgrounds for their portraits. A lot of photo-shoots are set up online weeks or months before the convention. The convention just makes it easier for both costumer and photographer to meet. If paid shoots were completely banned then these paid shoots would just happen as independent photo-shoots elsewhere. I don't think anyone is getting ripped off by unscrupulous photographers. One would be a fool to pay a photographer who one had not seen his or her portfolio first.
Of course this is also an issue of unprofessionalism of convention staffers and photographers. The conversation went downhill quickly. If the head of press is mad about paid photographers exploiting press passes then he should do more background checking instead of verbally attacking a photographer online and hurting the reputation of the convention especially in the photographer community.
After the post on tumblr, colossalcon quickly updated their policies and rules page to include a section on professional photographers. It states that while photographers who are planing to take paid photo-shoots are still allowed, people looking to receive a free press pass and plan to photograph paid shoots are now banned. Part of their policy now reads, "[T]his whole situation has brought up some questions that we'll have to consider for 2014." Then, in strangely bias wording, the entry mentions certain scenarios and asks "what if" and "is it fair?" Colossalcon's policy states that some photographers make over $1000 but do they really? I asked a staff member and he said that he did know of a case, when asked how or who could possibly make that much he wouldn't comment.
The staff member in this conversation goes by the handle 4ng13, a local cosplayer and owner of the now defunct cosplay website cosfu.org. We had met before, and in my experience he is kind of an asshole, a great cosplayer but has a reputation for having a rotten personality, being very conceited, and getting easily upset. I had known he was very opposed to paid shoots and now he is using his power as a staffer to have the practice banned.
The other person is a photographer who would like to go by his tumblr name Savagetakingphotos said he posted the conversation as more of a call to attention of the behavior of the convention staffer. As of press time the head chairman of colossalcon had not responded.
Some photographers charge to help cover some expenses and to help weed out the models who will not take the photo-shoot seriously. A photographer might pay for a dealers space to setup a booth where people can find them. Most photographers though, like to move around to get better backgrounds for their portraits. A lot of photo-shoots are set up online weeks or months before the convention. The convention just makes it easier for both costumer and photographer to meet. If paid shoots were completely banned then these paid shoots would just happen as independent photo-shoots elsewhere. I don't think anyone is getting ripped off by unscrupulous photographers. One would be a fool to pay a photographer who one had not seen his or her portfolio first.
Of course this is also an issue of unprofessionalism of convention staffers and photographers. The conversation went downhill quickly. If the head of press is mad about paid photographers exploiting press passes then he should do more background checking instead of verbally attacking a photographer online and hurting the reputation of the convention especially in the photographer community.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Tekkoshocon X-2 (2013)
Disappointment is a word that comes to my mind.
Ok, maybe not disappointment, I didn't really feel like going to Tekko this year because of problems the convention had grown in the past, but I wanted to see some of my con buddies, who I have not seen in awhile, this was the only highlight of the trip.
I really wanted to go into the dealers room but some bitch-ass 12 year old said I could not enter because my camera bag is too big, he suggested using the bag check. But I wasn't going to use them because I carry thousands of dollars worth of equipment and if the convention wasn't going to trust me, I wasn't going to trust it. Besides, the bag check cost money, so I though it was just another scam for money, like the fact that this convention doesn't have single day badges except for sunday. The wording on the Tekkoshocon website tried to make it seem like it was more convenient. "The General Admission badge gets you access to one, two, or all days of the convention."
Tekkoshocon 8, the last year at the convention center, was great they had rented out both the 3rd and the 4th floor. Apparently it isn't really economically viable to host the convention at the DLLCC because of the cost of space and issues with the Union, Tekko staff aren't aloud to move chairs and stuff around without being fined. The lack of space meant all of the panel rooms doubled as video rooms and there were only about 8 of them; the card game area, dealers room, and artist's alley where all placed into Hall C.
Ok, maybe not disappointment, I didn't really feel like going to Tekko this year because of problems the convention had grown in the past, but I wanted to see some of my con buddies, who I have not seen in awhile, this was the only highlight of the trip.
I really wanted to go into the dealers room but some bitch-ass 12 year old said I could not enter because my camera bag is too big, he suggested using the bag check. But I wasn't going to use them because I carry thousands of dollars worth of equipment and if the convention wasn't going to trust me, I wasn't going to trust it. Besides, the bag check cost money, so I though it was just another scam for money, like the fact that this convention doesn't have single day badges except for sunday. The wording on the Tekkoshocon website tried to make it seem like it was more convenient. "The General Admission badge gets you access to one, two, or all days of the convention."
Tekkoshocon 8, the last year at the convention center, was great they had rented out both the 3rd and the 4th floor. Apparently it isn't really economically viable to host the convention at the DLLCC because of the cost of space and issues with the Union, Tekko staff aren't aloud to move chairs and stuff around without being fined. The lack of space meant all of the panel rooms doubled as video rooms and there were only about 8 of them; the card game area, dealers room, and artist's alley where all placed into Hall C.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Ohayocon 2013
Well here is Ohayocon, the third for me.
The con wasn't that good, I felt out of it. Personal stuff had left me tired before the con, and I was in a bad mood. Tried to hang out with one of my so-called friends, I don't know if he likes me or not. He shook my hand but only responded to one of my texts and kept ejecting me from the conversation when I tried to hang out with him. I guess I'm going to have to keep looking for new people, and put him on the back burner, if you will. I did add someone to my Facebook. It doesn't sound like much, but it is someone I would like to hang out with and have photo-shoots with in the future.
Speaking of future I ran into yoyo again(she's the one on the left), I didn't recongnize her and I guess she didn't reconize me. I gave another one of my busness cards.
This year was crowded. During the convention it was hard to spot friends. Ohayocon isn't as big space-wise as it has been in the past, only reserving one convention room for the rave.
The con wasn't that good, I felt out of it. Personal stuff had left me tired before the con, and I was in a bad mood. Tried to hang out with one of my so-called friends, I don't know if he likes me or not. He shook my hand but only responded to one of my texts and kept ejecting me from the conversation when I tried to hang out with him. I guess I'm going to have to keep looking for new people, and put him on the back burner, if you will. I did add someone to my Facebook. It doesn't sound like much, but it is someone I would like to hang out with and have photo-shoots with in the future.
Speaking of future I ran into yoyo again(she's the one on the left), I didn't recongnize her and I guess she didn't reconize me. I gave another one of my busness cards.
This year was crowded. During the convention it was hard to spot friends. Ohayocon isn't as big space-wise as it has been in the past, only reserving one convention room for the rave.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Convention schedule for 2013
With a new year approaching, I am taking time to come up with the list of conventions I will attend in 2013. This year I am thinking of sticking with bigger cons, because bigger cons give you a greater sample size of cosplayers to photograph. I have also come into some money recently so I want to try and go to more cons.
What is planed so far...
Ohayocon
January 18-20, 2013
Tekkoshocon
April 5-7, 2013
Anime Central
May 17-19, 2013
Colossalcon
June 6-9, 2013
*Otakon
August 9-11, 2013
*=unsure
What is planed so far...
Ohayocon
January 18-20, 2013
Tekkoshocon
April 5-7, 2013
Anime Central
May 17-19, 2013
Colossalcon
June 6-9, 2013
*Otakon
August 9-11, 2013
*=unsure
Sunday, December 2, 2012
The Memoto Camera
I think this is a really great Idea. I have already pre-ordered one, it should ship in april. I can't wait to take this to cons.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
ACEN 2012 Photo Essay
I left thursday. This was my first ACEN and the longest I had driven to a convention. Almost all of the 9 hour journey was through endless cornfields.
The convention was unbelievably Spaced out over 3 hotels and the Convention center. All of it was connected by skywalks that seemed to stretch over a mile.
The Hyatt had exceptionally good lighting during the day.
Met a friend, the male version of Pikminlink.
We had a photo-shoot the next day.
Saw Demario.
This con is not exempt from the tradition of the pulling of the fire alarm.
I dropped the speed-light by over a stop and ended up ripping off Ejen.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Otakon 2011
This has been my second otakon; Overall It went well. Although some of the cosplayers I was going to photograph didn't respond to my text messages, I did manage to find new and willing participants.
Otakon is the 2nd largest anime convention in the United States. Large convention are always better for photographers because there is a nice sample size of cosplayers to choose from.
It was really hot so I was staying inside most of the time, but there were still plenty of people outside walking to and from restaurants and their hotel rooms. I took most of my photos outside; only a few places indoors had suitable lighting.
The well lit locations Of the convention center are outside, on the 3 floor roof terrace and in the one hallway you can't really take photos in because its too crowded. I also walked through the upper lobby of the nearby Hyatt. It had low but very even, beautiful light.
Parking is always a problem for that convention. The nearest gargle with a reasonable rate is 8 blocks down town in the really shitty part of the city. When are Baltimore's gentrification plans going to be complete?
I had a few opportunities to use my Polaroid. I tried to find cosplayers with colorful, contrasting outfits. The polaroids are shit, but they are supposed to be. I wish I moved in a little closer; the view finder isn't totally accurate. As for the old canon I used up the last remaining frames in roll. Then, I put in a roll of Lomo film. Now thinking about it, I don't think I used it in a very Lomo-esc way, but the photos are still in the camera until the remaining 12 exposures are exposed. Overall using film cameras was fun and everyone loved my polaroid. though, It is expensive, and I was let down by the performance of the Land camera.
Check out the rest of my photos on my flickr page. More will come when the last roll is developed.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Preparing for Otakon 18
It's a week to Otakon and I have already started packing my gear. This will be my second Otakon. I plan on bringing three cameras. my dad's old 35mm SLR Canon with a 3 pack of Lomography negative film, a 1968 Polaroid Land camera with 3 packs of fuji color film, two disposable cameras, and my main Nikon D-300s with all my lenses.
I feel I have grown photographically since last year. If you look at my Flickr set of last year I didn't get many usable frames, I expect to change that. I feel now I am less nervous to talk to people and I have already messaged several top notch cosplayers and they have agreed to let me photograph them and I look forward to meeting new cosplayers.
My attack plan is to hang out at the convention for as long as I can out side and in the well lit spaces of the convention center. I won't carry all cameras all the time, but I will at least have my Nikon on me at all times.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Worldwide Cosplayer Photo Journey
I stumbled upon this blog post on The Cosplay Chronicles while searching the Internet to see if anyone uses a disposable camera for lomography style cosplay shots. I was astounded by the idea basically a disposable camera is sent to a cosplayer to take one frame of there costume or other anime related things. then, sent to a different person in a different country. The project is about 6 participants in, so it should last for a few more months.
This Idea seems better than the anonymous film project in which a camera is left in a public place with a note and is hopefully returned. This project has more of a connected feeling to it, uniting people over the world with their love of cosplay. I can't wait until the first camera is finished.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Welcome, This is my blog.
Hello I am Steven, I've been photographing cosplayers for about 3 years now. I started this cosplay photography specific blog as a project to fill my time. This blog will cover conventions, feature cosplayer and photographer Interviews, news, tips, and anything to do with cosplay or photography. I'm looking to slowly build up this site.
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