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Showing posts from 2019

2019 End of Year Wrap Up

The year of 2019 was a busy year between running the Dayton-Columbus-CincinnatiCosplay Photo Shoot Group (DCC) which celebrated its 1-year anniversary,   making headpieces, doing several one-one studio shoots, attending conventions, working on a Masters degree, and getting a new position at work.   The first half of the year did not feel busy even though I was set up group shoots for the DCC, did several one-on-one creative sessions, attended a convention, and went on vacation to the Galapagos.   It wasn’t until I started my Masters program that I felt like I got busy and had no time.   The master’s program basically ate my weekends, due to having to write papers. However,   I did finish 9 of the 12 classes in the program in 6 months so I should finish that before June 2020.   Due to working on my masters, I did not shoot as much in the second half of the year as I did in the first half of the year.   I’m hoping once I’m done with the master’s pro...

White Out Group Shoot

On December 8 th ,   I participated in one of the Cincinnati Female Image Makers group shoots .   The theme for this shoot was White Out and it was held at Locust & Vince Studios in Cincinnati.   This was a small group shoot that lasted only an hour,   with four models and four photographers, we shot round robin style so that everyone worked with everyone.    It was a nice little group shoot,   the models were nice and it let me step away from hosting a shoot, and my school work.    (I’m in the middle of taking master’s classes, that is why the blog hasn’t been being updated as frequently.) For this session I shot 242 frames, edited 147 frames, and delivered 70 final images.   For this set up I used a Canon 80D, with an 18-200mm lens,   a light stand, a two 430EXII-RT speedlights (one was acting as a trigger/transmitter only) and small 9x9 inch LumiQuest softbox.   I was glad I brought the flash and softbox, because ...

Fall Cosplay Meet Up

ISO 400, Aperture F9, Shutter 1/250s,  Focal Length 18mm On November 10   I hosted a meet up of the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati Cosplay Photoshoot group at the Maple-Beech Lodge in Blacklick Woods Park which is part of the Columbus Metro Park system.   This event was the last event of the year and included a small basic posing workshop.    We had 6 cosplayers, 6 photographers, and 2 assistants attend, so the cosplayer to photographer ratio was relatively good.   I gave the short posing brief.   After the brief I had each coplayer come up pose for two photos, the first with no guidance on posing then the second with guidance after seeing how the first shot looked.   I used a tethered shooting method so   each cosplayer could immediately   see how they looked in the photos so they could adjust based on what they learned and group suggestions.   After the meet up, I provided each cosplayer with “contact sheet”   of each of ...

Cosplay on the Farm

ISO 3200, Focal Length 15mm, Aperture F8, Exposure 1/30 (shot by my husband) On October 5 th  I hosted a meet up of the  Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati Cosplay Photoshoot  group at  Lucas Brothers Farm in Centerville.  This was on of the rare evening shoots for the group.    We had 16 cosplayers, 7 photographers, and 3 assistants attend, so the cosplayer to photographer ratio was relatively good. The best ratio is 1.5 cosplayers to every 1 photographer. I worked with 11 cosplayers of which 4 were in groups of two.  I shot a total of  284 frames in three hours. Of the 284 frames I edited 173 images and delivered 86 final images.   It should be noted that my husband also shot a few frames using a fisheye lens and provided 5 final images. I shot the whole meet using a light from a single bare off camera speed light on a light stand. I shot using ISO 100, which I shouldn’t have done since part of the shoot was at night....

Fall Still Life

I like doing still life photos now and then, because it can be relaxing yet challenging to get an interesting photo.  My inspiration for this still life was autumn season, even though the weather begs to differ right now.  Really it is the end of September and we been having strings of 90-degree days.   For this shoot the set up was simple. I used a black backdrop laid across my kitchen table. The back drop was propped up in the back by a cardboard box.   I placed a speed light with a small soft box on a light stand to the camera’s right pointed down at the gourds, basket, and straw. The flash was set to a 25mm zoom and 1/16 to 1/8 power. I also had a gold reflector on the camera’s left to reflect some light back into the image to ensure some definition and separation from the background and to give the image some warmth. (See image to left.) I used a 18-55 mm lens.   I was shooting at ISO 100 at a focal length of 18mm with an aperture of   F8. ...

Whetstone Pond Shoot

On September 8 th   I hosted a meet up of the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati Cosplay Photoshoot group at Whetstone Pond in Columbus.   Whetstone Pond is located next to the Park of Roses in Columbus.     We had 14 cosplayers and 3 photographers attend, so it was a very busy shoot. I worked with 11 cosplayers of which 6 were in groups of two.   I shot a total of   227 frames in three hours. Of the 292 frames I edited 146 images and delivered 83 final images. I shot the whole meet using a light from a single bare off camera speed light on a light stand. I shot with a bare speed light to compensate for the sun. I shot using ISO 200.   My aperture and shutter speed varied throughout the shoot, due to the changing lighting conditions due to the drifting clouds.   My aperture ranged between F5 and F14 with the most common being F8.   My shutter speed varied from 1/40s to 1/250s with the most common speed being 1/250s.   Finally, my fo...

Matsuricon 2019

I attended my second Matsuricon , and I’m still not sure how to rate the overall convention. The check in process was smooth except for the confusion over the photography badges again.   I’m starting to think they need to better train their volunteers who check people in so there is less confusion about photography badges. (A photography badge is needed if you are charging for one-on-one sessions.)    This year I had 11 sessions booked, but had to cancel one, because I ended up getting sick.   The convention center felt like it was the same temperature inside as it was outside; and I do not due well in heat.   I had to cancel my last session of the convention because I was just feeling ill and it is not fair to the cosplayer if I cannot provide my best during a session.     I also attended the cosplay fashion show and shot during that.   I have two comments on the fashion show, first it needed to be longer with more cosplayers, second the cospla...

DCC First Anniversary

Cosplayer Group Photo (Focal Length 24mm, Aperture F11, Shutter 1/60s)  I started the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati Cosplay Photo Shoot Group (DCC) on Facebook in April 2018 and held the first group shoot in June 2018. Over the past 12 months it has been a significant amount of work, but the group has grown from 10 people (5 cosplayers, 4 photographers and 1 assistant) attending the very first shoot in Dayton to   34 people attending the first anniversary shoot held on June 23, 2019.   The anniversary shoot was held at Eastwood Metro Park in Dayton and was an open themed event. The location had several places to shoot at to include stone bridges, iron bridges, nice grass areas, and several water features.   We had 22 cosplayers come out to the event so there was going to be no way I could work with all of them. I ended up working with about half of them, because 4 of them were a group cosplay.     I shot 274 frames, edited 168, and posted 100 final ...

Pink Flowers

On May 11 th ,   I got to work with Susan, who won a free photoshoot from me.  She won the session by commenting on a post on my Facebook page , thus winning a 60-minute session, 10 high-resolutions images, and one print. The post was held back until she selected her photos from the shoot. This shoot was inspired by a Pinterest picture that used a bed of flowers and dry ice fog.   For this session I used a bunch of pink and beach colored peonies, and pink tulle to create the background. For the session I used the following items: Canon 70D 18 -200 mm lens Strobes with power supply 7-foot reflective umbrella C-stand with boom arm 2 speed lights RF-transmitter Tether line Desktop Foam core board (to make a corral for the fog) White backdrop Pink tulle Fake peonies Dry ice and hot water Step stool Handsome assistant I did two set ups for this session using a large 7-foot umbrella placed on a boom arm.   In the first set up the umbrella was posi...

Galapagos Wrap Up

Day 7 and 8 – May 30 and 31 We are home from the Galapagos.   Our day started in San Cristobal around 6:00AM MST (8:00 AM EST). We did not need to be up that early but we just naturally woke up at that time.   We had breakfast, repacked our bags, and hung around the hotel till our pick up time of 11:30 AM MST to take us to the airport.   It was a short ride to the San Cristobal airport, were we waited for our 1:30 PM MST flight back to Quito, Ecuador.   We arrived in Quito around 5:00 PM CST (6:00 PM EST).   We then had about a four-hour layover till our flight back home.   Our flight to Atlanta left at 11:30 PM CST (12:30 AM EST May 31).   We arrived in Atlanta at 5:00 AM EST, were we had another layover before our flight to Cleveland. I tried to nap in the Delta lounge, because I didn’t sleep on the plane. We left Atlanta on a 10:00 AM EST flight and arrived in Cleveland at 11:45 AM EST.   After collecting our luggage and car, we ran ...

Galapagos Day 6

Day 6 - May 29 Today was our last full day in the Galapagos. It started with a 7:30 AM pick up to go snorkeling on Tintoreras. We were supposed to do that yesterday but the tour company changed the itinerary on us because they thought doing the volcano and snorkeling in one day would be too much. This change had a domino effect on the rest of the itinerary, because it also changed our flight out of Isabella to San Cristobal which affected the things we where to do on San Cr istobal. So I was picked up at 7:30 AM to go snorkeling. Jim did not go because he was having stomach issues, and just didn't feel like it. Snorkeling around Tintoreras was ok. The water was not as clear as in the other two locations I went snorkeling on this trip. However on this snorkel I got to see sea turtles up close and personal while in the water, swim with a penguin, and have two sea lions swim right under me. I was too slow to get a picture of the sea lions swimming under me. Also the water was ...