Muki.Dorifuto.com Photography talk with random tangents into the unknown

Five tips for photographers and cosplayers

I'm taking a break from processing photos I took over the weekend at Smash!, but while I've got some thoughts for cosplayers and photographers fresh in my head, I thought I'd splurge them out. Bear in mind, these are for cosplayers and photographers taking photos during the cosplay event on stage, not wandering around the venue.

Cosplayers

1. Pose for a good length of time

   I'm sad that this has to be said, but there are quite a number of you who will not strike a pose long enough for people to take. Strike a pose, count off a few seconds in your head, then move on. What you'll find is that if you keep rapidly changing poses, people will miss them, have a blurry shot of you moving, and ultimately end up turfing it. Everyone loses. Conversely, if you notice that people are putting their cameras down, it's time to move on.

2. Avoid obstructions

   There's a lot more on the stage these days, including monitor speakers, tv screens, microphone stands and the like. The photographers that are going to have the most detail in their shots are those who can get in close, that is, those at the front of the stage. The worst thing you can do is hide behind an obstruction. It's certainly hard for large groups, but try to position yourselves within a gap, photographers will love you for it. That might mean walking from one spot to another to strike poses, if there is time.

3. Know where to stand

   When I was a lighting guy, I took serious effort into making sure people on stage were evenly lit, but you can't always do that for the whole stage, and photographers don't always want a distracting background to be lit up. If the venue's stage guys have worked with the lighting guys, they'll probably know where the "hot spots" are on the stage that provide the best lighting. In fact, they're probably marked out on the stage. Photographs are all about the light. The last thing you want is your body lit up, but your face chopped off in the shadows.

   If the venue's lighting guy is particularly savvy, its likely he/she has designed the stage lighting to allow for you to come right up to the edge of the stage, clearing obstructions and allowing photographers to get full portrait shots without chopping your feet off (photographers are usually lower than the stage). There are a couple of concerns with this, which I'll address in the next point.

4. Don't expose yourself!

   Cosplay, girls and short skirts all seem to appear at the same time and when combined with a tall stage and photographers that are effectively shooting upwards, presents a huge problem. I don't want to have anything to do with upskirt shots and most decent photographers I know will say that it tarnishes our reputations. I simply won't shoot, or if I happen to catch something in a fleeting moment, it's gone from my card or hard drive as soon as I find out. Again, everyone loses out.

   That doesn't mean you can't come up to the front of the stage though. Come up, approach sideways, holding your skirt to your leg (somehow, I think this'll benefit cross-dressing guys more than anything) and crouch side-on. You may look slightly weird at first, but no one with a decent mind is going to blame you for protecting your image.

   The second benefit from crouching is that when you come up close to the front of the stage, you effectively fill more of the photographer's viewfinder. This can present problems if they were set up to take pictures of you when you were further back, but by crouching you essentially compensate for this. Plus, depending on your character, it can be cute.

5. Smile!

   It must be scary, but don't let that chase away your smile! Have fun with it, be yourself, and remember it's not such a huge deal in the end. People that are having fun and are comfortable with themselves project more confidence. Some of the best cosplay skits I've seen weren't because of their plot, their costumes or their execution. It was because you could tell they really loved what they do.

Photographers

1. Get close

   The guys whose photos I admire the most are usually those belonging to the guys who get up front and sit in the pit with the other photographers. Get in early and get a spot, but more importantly, get to know your fellow photographer. Are you in someone's way? Are they in yours? Most of the time we don't know if someone is shooting wide or tele (or both!), but a few minutes of friendly talk helps to clear up these mistakes (that everyone makes).

   The second reason for getting close is that with venues growing bigger and bigger, you can't get the same shots from half-way across the room on a large tele anymore. Not unless you've got some serious sports or bird watching gear (and even then I wonder). Let's face it, if it's a zoom you're going to almost always be treating it like a prime, stuck at the maximum zoom (where lenses tend not to perform at their best). If it's not, you're probably going to have to crop those images anyway. Grab yourself a cheaper, wider, higher quality prime and come up front. There's more detail the closer you are and if someone's inadvertently in the way, you're within friendly talking distance. Try doing that from the back of the venue!

   For those interested in specifics of lenses, I shoot with a combination of a 35mm prime for more general shots and 70-200mm to zoom in on detail, such as stitching and props. A 24-70mm would be a more forgiving replacement for the 35mm given there's no room to zoom with your feet in the pit.

2. Watch your flash

   Consider how far away you are from the stage. If you're one of those bird watchers up the back and you don't have a remotely triggered flash, please turn it off. There is simply no way your flash is going to have enough power to light up the whole stage. Even if it could, it would likely look horrible. Think about it, there are dedicated lights at the venue that get super-hot while they continuously operate, and they're lighting up the stage. No one's flash has that much power. Save your batteries.

   If you're up close, and this is another good reason to get up close, you might be able to pull it off. However, bear in mind that given the number of photographers, you're possibly ruining someone else's shot, especially if they're shooting at slower shutter speeds. I normally shoot two or three frames per single shot I would have in mind, but even on some occasions, all of these have caught the flash of others.

   Lastly, if you're shooting with flash up close, there should be no circumstances under which you should be flashing backwards into the pit. The light that isn't being directed towards the stage isn't going to bounce off the back wall of the venue, it's just going to blind or irritate your fellow shooters. Don't be the guy that everyone thinks at best is clueless and at worst is a jerk.

3. Do not badger models

   I'm not going to be the one that screams, "Leave her alone!" but don't go chasing cosplayers down or yell their name to get their attention for a photo. This is the sort of attitude that the paparazzi take and one of the only weak justifications for it is that those sort of shots are what pay their bills. Given most photographers in the pit aren't being paid enough to warrant that sort of controversial behaviour, it should never be on. Ever.

   Remember, it takes a lot of guts to get up there and pose. We saw one girl have last minute stage-fright, but she came back. That's huge courage, right there and something we'll never quite get. We're just shooters, people who document what's happening. They're the ones that make it actually happen. (Of course, there are shooters that cosplay at the same time. You guys get extra props.)

4. Do not shoot upskirt

   Photographers get to see a lot of things, often times things they weren't meant to see. Sometimes, things they can't unsee. Even with bleach. My point is, there are some things we shoot without realising how bad it looks, or in face-paced action, during that tiny delay when the mirror flips up and we don't see anything, but our camera does, we find we've ended up with an image that shouldn't have been taken.

   How do you handle it? Like stolen goods that are about to explode. Get rid of it! You don't want to be associated with that. Do you love to shoot? Would you love to be able to continue to shoot? Don't put your passion on the line over a few pixels. Don't save that crap for your own personal archive — some of those pics can end with you getting sued or serving jail time! Forget about your reputation if that happens. No one will let you near any sort of camera. Is it really worth it?

5. Smile!

   Don't be the creepy guy! If you have your subject's attention, shoot, lower your camera and smile first before checking out your image. Your subject is still a human being — acknowledge and thank them by at least looking at them before being concerned over a bunch of pixels.

   The other area this comes into play is with your fellow photographers. I've previously mentioned making friends with photographers. They're not going to help you market or build your portfolio, but they are the only people that have gone through or are going through what you are now. Don't write them off as just the competition. Don't be a gear snob. Ask, learn, make friends. I would gladly loan spare batteries or CF cards to those I've befriended, and whenever I meet someone that is into photography — attendee, media or staff — I love having a chat with them about what's happening in their neck of the woods.

That about rounds it out. Remember, if you'd like to grab me for a shoot, make sure you get in contact. Photographers on the other hand, I'm taking expressions of interest for classes to be held possibly in the next few months. The proposed half-day classes would be covered by a small fee (likely less than $25) to help cover room booking charges. If you're interested, send me a tweet or email or leave a comment with what sort of content you would be interested in hearing about.