The Munchkin's Notebook

I think this year we started to head back to normal, we are still far from normal pre-pandemic days but we are slowly getting there.  This year overall was a fairly normal boring year for me without any major life changes, as compared to the past two years. This year I shot 10202 frames, which is 43-percent increase from last year.   Though I only edited 5810 frames which is a 36-percent increase from last year. My most used ISO was ISO 100 with 50-percent of my photos being shot at this ISO.   My most used aperture was F8 with approximately 57-percent of my photos. My most used shutter speed was 1/250s with approximately 36-percent of my being shot at this shutter speed. This makes sense since it is the max sync speed for my strobes and flashes. Finally, my most used focal length was 18mm with approximately 29-percent of my photos being shot at this focal length.   This is a reduction from last year, which hopefully means I’m getting better at using different foca...

On December 17th,  I attended the D.C. Cosplay Photo Shoots ’ meetup at the Capitol Turnaround in South East D.C..   The Capitol Turnaround, was formally a streetcar  barn  for repairing and rerouting streetcars across the nation’s capital. This  historic car barn has since been renovated into a modern event center while maintaining the historic character of the building.   For this event I used: Canon 80D 1 Speed light Trigger Light stand 18-200mm lens 1x2 Strip box Assistant The Venue: This venue has a lot of potential, but I feel it is better suited to lifestyle or fashion photography than traditional cosplay photos. I feel the best photos I got from this meetup were ones where the cosplay leaned more towards fashion or modern clothes.  Now don’t get me wrong, you can photograph any cosplay almost anywhere as long as you are creative or eliminate the background. However,  for venues like this I like to include the venue, as I feel t...

On November 19 th , well over a month ago now, I did an on-location photo session with Lady Cels at Seneca Mill & Quarry Ruins. I picked this location, because I thought it would be perfect for her Chun Li cosplay. Due to the location, this was a minimal equipment session; it is also why I chose to bring an assistant.   For this session I used: Photography Equipment Cannon 80D Transmitter/Trigger 1 speed lights Painters Pole Assistant   The set up There was no big set up for this session, since the location itself was the set. My set up included attaching a speed light to a painter’s pole and walking out to the site. Camera Settings For this session I used ISO 100, due to the brightness of the location.   I split my apertures equally between F5.6 and F8 depending on if I was trying to blur the background or not.   The background could be very busy, due to all the trees, shrubs, and vines.   My shutter speed...

On November 5 th , I attended the D.C. Cosplay Photo Shoots ’ meet up at Cabell’s Mill , in Chantilly, VA. The historic mill is now a small event venue, popular for small weddings.  The area was very pretty with the fall colors, even though it was unseasonably warm.  While yes, I live in Virginia, with typical fall days being in the 50’s but 80-degrees is a bit much. For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 1 Speed light Trigger Light stand 18-200mm lens Camera Settings: For this shoot we had access to the inside of the mill, which looked like a typical event venue, but had some nice windows and two large fireplaces. We also had access to the grounds around the mill, which had some nice wooded areas and tall grass field. For this event I shot at ISO 200. While I could have shot at ISO 100, the bump in ISO let me compensate for going in and out of the building as well the shade. My predominate aperture for F8 with a few shots at F9 and six at F16 because I was sh...

On October 22 nd I did a photo shoot with Coralinx Cosplay up at Big Barn 1810 . Look, an on-location session and not a studio session. This was a fall themed session, revolving around the pumpkin corset I bought from Mel Plum Fine Art , in Germany. For this session I used: Photography Equipment Props/Miscellaneous Cannon 80D Transmitter/Trigger 2 speed lights ¼ cut CTO gels Light stand Painters Pole Triangle Reflector Assistant Fake pumpkins Fake fall leaves Orange pails Hay bales The set up This was an on-location photo shoot, which meant I relied heavily on the surroundings of the location to set the theme and guide the session.   The barn has huge windows that let the morning light in, and basically fill the barn with a soft golden light. While the outside of the barn is red and has a few rustics looking double doors.   The weather was perfect so I was able to get both inside and outside p...

On October 15 th , I attended the D.C. Cosplay Photo Shoots ’ meet up at the Workhouse Arts Center , in Lorton VA with access to the Workhouse Haunt Areas .  This is an annual event location for the group. You can read my previous blog about last year’s even at the Workhouse here: Cosplay at the Workhouse Arts Center & Haunt .   For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 2 Speed lights Trigger Light stand 18-200mm lens Gels Small smoke machine Camera Settings: This shoot was an all outside doors event, unless you were lucky enough to get one of the 10 spots to shoot in the one building open to us for photography. I was not one of those people, so all my shoot locations were outside.  Because we had a bright sunny day, instead of cloudy and overcast like the weather predicted I was using ISO 100 with an aperture of F8. My shutter speed ranged from 1/60s when I was in heavy shade of a building to 1/250s in bright sun and maxing out my flash sync s...

On October 2 nd I did a TFP (trade for print) spooky Lolita session with my friend Eowinth . The session revolved around lots of skulls, dark flowers, and the color red. For this session I used: Photography Equipment Props/Miscellaneous Cannon 80D Transmitter/Trigger 3 strobes 2 c-stands 1 Backdrop stands Dark Grey Backdrop Sandbags 3 bell reflectors Red gels Barn Doors Grids Foam triangle Black tulle Fake spider Fake ghosts Skulls Flowers Dowl rods Table Black cloth Smoke machine chalice   The set up For this session I wanted a dark gothic Halloween look, which looks pretty but has those creepy elements like skulls, ghosts, and giant spiders.   The first thing I did was create a chair out of a large foam block and dowl rods, which I then covered in black fabric and tulle. I then added some black vines, some dark flowers and a giant spider hanging on the edge. I the...