Post your Cosplay Portraits Here!!!

nathancarter wrote in post #17655387

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/wTcS​b8 Femmes_Follies_2015080​2_2931.jpg by Nathan Carter, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/wTcS​Jc Femmes_Follies_2015080​2_2937.jpg by Nathan Carter, on Flickr

i LOVE this! how did you get the sweeping effect? i ASSUME a low shutter speed with flash? but there a lot i dont know about artificial light

mdrtoys wrote in post #18123450
First one is a mashup of the 80's Movie Twins and Wolverine

Hosted photo: posted by mdrtoys in
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forum: People

one of the best ive seen yet!

okay...

the only thing i know about 'Cons is what ive learned on Big Bang Theory...

you need a ticket
the ticket can be pricey
the ticket can be hard to get

for those of you shooting at these conventions are you getting tickets (either single or multi-day)?

maybe you dont need a ticket for access to the "hallways" and such, but only the vendor/panel/special guest areas?

i think id like to go arrange some 1s and 0s and see if i can get them to look as good as everyone's here but not interested in dropping big coin to do so...

The EXIF should be intact there. The first one (short sweep) shows 1/4s, the second one (longer sweep) shows 1s shutter speed. For these two, I used just one hard main light in a Maxi Lite reflector dish ..sometimes I'll add a kicker/rim light but it looks like I didn't here. The room is just about pitch black, though I have a tiny flashlight to aid in focusing.

Have the model keep the blade moving slowly and smoothly, much slower than normal "combat" speed. Keep the blade moving and take a bunch of shots (don't stop the blade between every shot, keep it moving for ten shots or so), and some of them will turn out really really cool. Experiment with different sweep motions and different swing speeds.

Here's another set with a bunch more from a different shoot:
https://www.facebook.c​om …album_id=109943​6050120585


The usual advice for these is to use second-curtain sync, so that the flash fires at the end of the shutter duration. However, with my gear the sync isn't perfect, so the lightsaber blade doesn't exactly sit at the end of the sweep (the sweep extends past the blade a little bit). So these are first-curtain sync, and the rest of the sweep actually happens AFTER the flash. If you look at the very end of this album, you can see my first experiments with this technique, and the results I was getting with second-curtain sync:
https://www.flickr.com …s/7215763539728​0466/page4

Ltdave wrote in post #18621569
okay...

the only thing i know about 'Cons is what ive learned on Big Bang Theory...

you need a ticket
the ticket can be pricey
the ticket can be hard to get

for those of you shooting at these conventions are you getting tickets (either single or multi-day)?

maybe you dont need a ticket for access to the "hallways" and such, but only the vendor/panel/special guest areas?

i think id like to go arrange some 1s and 0s and see if i can get them to look as good as everyone's here but not interested in dropping big coin to do so...

Varies widely.

I almost always buy a weekend pass, because I want to check out some of the other content, hang out with friends, etc. I've also gotten into making and wearing costumes for myself (sometimes to the exclusion of carrying my camera).

The tickets are sometimes expensive, sometimes not. Depends on the con, and depends on if you get a day pass or a full weekend pass. For example: New York Comic Con tickets are very limited and hard to get - intentionally keeping crowd sizes manageable due to capacity/parking limits. DragonCon tickets are not limited, and easy to get - but it's super crowded, and if you buy tickets early, it's way cheaper than getting them at the door. (we bought tickets for the 2018 con on the last day of the 2017 con)

Some cons have cracked down quite a bit on "ghosting" or "lobby-conning" (where you don't buy a ticket and just hang out in the adjacent areas to people-watch and get photos) - you have to have a ticket just to get into the building. Some cons don't care, and only check your ticket to get into panels and vendor room.


I may have posted somewhere in this thread about con photo etiquette. Some basic etiquette bits:
- always ask for a photo (it's often considered rude to snap photos without asking, unless the person is already posing - sure it's legal but it's impolite)
- don't get upset if the cosplayer politely declines; they may be in a hurry to get somewhere or their costume might not be cooperating. Someone else with a great costume will be along in 10 seconds
- always thank the cosplayer after the photo
- don't interrupt someone for a photo if they are resting, eating, obviously in a rush, visibly upset, having costume malfunctions, etc.
- don't be that creepy guy that just wants pictures of young women in small costumes

If you get a couple quick hallway snapshots and they look good, it's absolutely fine to say "Hey, I love your costume and these are turning out really good, if you're not in a hurry would you like to do a few more?" and walk to a VERY nearby location that may be more suitable than just the hallway. You'll get about a 25% success rate with this if you're polite and you act like you know what you're doing. You can't expect a cosplayer to take a ten-minute walk to a different part of town! but even inside a convention center, there are good places to shoot that are just a sixty-second walk from the crowds. Scout out the locations beforehand, look for good window light and/or clean (no crowds) backgrounds.
On my FB page, all the albums that say "MegaCon 2017," "MegaCon 2016", and "MetroCon 2016" were taken at convention centers, thought I carried a Speedlight or two.
https://www.facebook.c​om …Voyeur/photos/?​tab=albums

If you have business cards, take a bunch with you so that people can find photos of themselves later.

not at any comic con and not so much cosplay but i guess steampunk kind of counts...

Witcher cosplay

Beautifully done!

Thank you!