Hamilton in the Park

I recently had the pleasure of working with J-Doll Cosplay and Nightengale Cosplay on a Hamilton inspired photo shoot.  They had period specific outfits so we needed a period specific location; however, there are very few if any revolutionary war forts still standing in northern Virginia.  My next best option was Fort Ward, which is a Civil War era fort, located in Alexandria, VA.  The fort still has the earthen work structures and replica cannons thus worked well for this shoot.

For this shoot I used my standard set up of Canon 70D, 18-200mm lens, two 430EX-IIIRT speed lights (one acted as a trigger), and one light stand. I did not use an umbrella since I had to compete with the sun, even though it was a cloudy overcast day.  I also had my trusty assistant, i.e. my husband, who helped with getting the light into position and spraying the instant atmosphere for the smoke effect in some of the photos.  

To get this shot, I had the cosplayers stand in front of the cannon emplacements, with my assistant holding the light slightly to side and above them, while I was on walkway below shooting up at them.  The photo was shot at ISO 200, a focal length of 187mm, a shutter speed of 1/200s, and an aperture of F5.6.  I edited the photo by cropping to get rid of some excess sky ad grass, and then adjusted the basics elements such as contrast, exposure, sharpness, and luminosity.  After I had those elements adjusted, I converted the photo to black and white with a sepia duo tone, and then added a bit of grain to the photo to give it an aged look.

 This next photo I was up at the cannon emplacements, shooting down at the cosplayers as they charged the bridge.  To add more light to the scene my assistant took the light down to the bridge and placed it in front of them slightly off camera, to give them a bit of pop and separate them from the background. I really appreciate radio triggers.  The photo was shot at ISO 200, a focal length of 70mm, a shutter speed of 1/100s, and an aperture of F5.  I edited the photo by cropping utilizing the rule of thirds, and then adjusted the basics elements such as contrast, exposure, sharpness, and luminosity.  I also added a bit of vignetting to bring the focus towards the cosplayers.

 This final photo is one of my favorites and used the instant atmosphere to create the smoke so I did not have to add it in post-production. To get this shot, I had the cosplayers stand in front of the cannon emplacements, with the light slightly to side and in front of them, while I was on walkway below shooting up at them. My assistant was actually below the cannon hidden by the grass wall spraying the instant atmosphere up around the cannon opening. This is what give it the cannon the just fired look.  The photo was shot at ISO 200, a focal length of 200mm, a shutter speed of 1/160s, and an aperture of F5.6.  I edited the photo by cropping to get rid of some excess sky ad grass, and then adjusted the basics elements such as contrast, exposure, sharpness, and luminosity. I also added a bit of vignetting to bring the focus towards the cosplayers.

While these are only a few of my favorite shots from this shoot, several of the photos came out very well and captured the theme.  You can see the complete set here.