Cincinnati Cosplay Meet Up

Coffeelocks Cosplay, Angelicomics, Gleume Cosplay, Bocchan (left to right)

On October 7^th, I held the third meet up of the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati (DCC) Cosplay Photo Shoot Group at Rapid Run Park in Cincinnati. I think the event numbers were effected, since this was the rain date of the original meet up that was to occur in September. We had nine people, 4 cosplayers, 3 photographers, and 2 assistants. What was interesting was that all the people were from Dayton, no Cincinnati members came out for this event.

Rapid Run Park is nice, especially the pavilion which was rented for the event. The nice stone pavilion provides ample opportunities to get a rustic, castle, or dark look. The only downside is the picnic tables are bolted to the ground, thus cannot be moved. The park also has a little man-made pond/pool, which is only a couple of feet deep, but you probably don’t want to swim in it. There are also trees and playground equipment, which I should have used for a few photos but didn’t.

ISO 100, Focal Length, 18mm, Aperture F6.3, Shutter 1/60s

Since the group was small, I got to work with all the cosplayers and will briefly talk about two images. I’ll start with my favorite which is Gleume Cosplay, as Lady Thor (left). I like this picture because it is strong and the dark editing shows the serious side of the character while portraying her ready for battle. The picture was taken inside the pavilion, with one speed light mounted on a light stand to my left. I stood on top of a picnic table and shot down while having her look at the light. When editing I used a dark filter to give the image a dark castle feel and while keeping the seriousness of the image.

The second image is of Bocchan, as Sokka from the Last Air Bender (bottom). I like this image because it is reflective and soft, even though she is portraying a warrior. I did have trouble editing the image because it is close to fall and the leaves were taking on a more yellow hue with the light. To compensate I reduce the amount of yellow in the image and made sure the color temperature was closer to cool side. What I really like about the image is the framing imposed by the triad of trees. It is also one of few faraway images I have taken of a cosplayer, usually images are close-up to show costume details.

ISO 100, Focal Length, 24mm, Aperture F6.3, Shutter 1/80s

Overall it was a good event, however I do wish some of the Cincinnati people would have come out. You can see all the images from the meet-up here. The group is still small and does need more photographers. I’m looking forward to the next event which will be up in West Liberty, Ohio at Piatt’s Castle.

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