DCC Meet Up Review
On January 27th I hosted a meet up of the Dayton-Columbus-CincinnatiCosplay Photoshoot group at Something Old Dayton Vintage Rental studios. This was the first meet up of the new year,
and I’m glad we had a nice indoor space for the meet up. This meet up was held in the loft studio
space, and easily fit the group and provided interesting space and props to use
during the 3-hour shoot.
I worked with all 8 cosplayers in attendance, which resulted
in me shooting 242 frames. Of the 240 frames I edited 153 images and delivered
118 final images. I shot the whole meet using a mix of natural light and light
from a single off camera speed light on a light stand with an umbrella. I shot
using ISO 100. My aperture varied between F4.5 to F7.1 with the most common being
F5.6. My shutter speed varied greatly from
1/50s to 1/250s with the most common speed being 1/125s. Finally, my focal length varied from 18mm to
50mm, with the most common focal length being 18mm. It does not surprise me that 18mm was the
most common focal length since I was close to the models while still getting full
length shots.
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| ISO 100, Focal Length 40mm, Aperture F4.5, Shutter 1/125s |
My favorite image from the session is of Izabel Cortez as
Captain Marvel. To get this image, Izabel
sat on the stairs while I sat/lay on the floor directly in front of her. The
light was positioned directly in front of her, with a slight downward angle. I relied mostly on the light from the flash for
the image. When I brought the image in
for processing, I used a tight crop to get rid of the distracting elements to
her right, and bring the focus more towards her face and eyes. I then brightened the light on her face
slightly to more closely align to the light on her gloves. I then put heavy vignetting
on the image to further darken the background. Finally, I add a slight hint of color grading,
using an orange/teal grade. Izabel was
great to work with and I can’t wait to work with her at future events.
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| ISO 100, Focal Length 40mm, Aperture F6.3, Shutter 1/80s |
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| ISO 100, Focal Length 18mm, Aperture F7.1, Shutter 1/160s |
Finally, never trust the innocent sheep. Gleume Cosplay did Bellweather from the movie
Zootopia. (Spoiler) If watched the movie
you know it is Bellweather, who is a sheep, is the evil mastermind and villain
in the movie, but you don’t find that out till the very end. I played off the last pivotal scenes in the
movie where it is dark and Bellweather reveals, like all good villains, her plan
while lording over the heroes of the movie.
I think this photo really captures the evil genius of the character in
those final scenes. The capture this
image I had the model stand on the raised stairs heading out to the exit. I
shot from the model’s right side with an upward angle. I had the light raised and set to her
left. I then took down the ambient light
with my settings and relied mostly on the flash to light the image. In post processing I added a bit more light
to the model’s face due to shadows from the wig. I also darkened the background
some while leaving the main light highlighting the model bright. Finally, I added a dark vignette to finish
the image. I’m pleased with how dark and
sinister I made the image to capture the villainous traits of the character.
You can see all the images from the meet up here:
If you are interested, you can join the group on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DCCcosplayphotoshotos/
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