Alien Stage Cosplays

On October 18^th, I did a cosplay studio session with Kei (za_warudio) and Kitsune Kauki (kitsune_kazuki) for their Mizi and Sua from Alien Stage cosplays.  Alien Stage mostly takes place on a stage, so I kept the set very simple to align with stills from the show and the fan art references.

For these sessions, I used:

Photography Equipment	Other Equipment
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Westcott FJ400 2 Phottix Strobes 2 bell reflectors 1 round soft boxes 1 bell reflector with barn doors 2 c-stands 3 light stands Backdrop stand Black seamless 2 gels Tether cable Laptop Laptop holder Sandbags A-clamps Spyder Color checker Silver backdrop	Smoke genie Stool Pillow (to kneel on)

The setup

The stills and reference photos provided were very simple in regard to background, so I went with a black seamless and a silver backdrop.  I chose a silver backdrop because it bounces light back, and it made me think of a stage.  I started by hanging a black seamless, then covering it with the silver backdrop.  I then put an FJ400 on a light stand with a bell reflector and purple/pink gel in each corner next to the backdrop stands.  I raised these up and pointed them down, similar to stage lights.  Then I place one of the Phottix Strobes with a bell reflector and barn doors about 15-30 degrees off center to my left.  This strobe acted as my main light.  I then placed the second Phottix Strobe about 45 degrees off center to my right to act as a fill light.  This was the starting point for the session, as I adjusted the lighting as we moved through the poses.

Camera Settings

For this session, I used ISO 100, with an aperture of F8 and a shutter speed of 1/200s.  I went with an aperture of F8 because it gives me a large focal plane, which is desirable for group cosplays.  My focal length ranged from 24mm to 91mm, with a fairly even distribution.

The Photos

Because this was a studio session general edits were easy, allowing me just to make minor tweaks where needed.  For the edits, I adjusted the white balance and then ran the Spyder Color Checker program on the image to ensure proper colors.  I applied these settings in the color mixer.  I then adjusted the exposure slightly, paying attention to the blacks and shadows.  From there, I reduced the vibrancy and saturation slightly and slightly increased the clarity.   I then applied these settings across all the images, then tweaked each image slightly if needed.  Finally, I ran each image through Photoshop to remove distracting elements and minor blemishes.  I then used the Retouch4Me dodge and burn program to even out skin tones and refine features.  This step is equivalent to using make-up to contour one's face, I happen to do it with light and shadow.  From there I did a few minor color grades to finish the images.

In this first image you can see how the background lights act as edge lights on the model adding purple/pink highlights to the edges of the cosplayers.  Also, you can see how the sliver background slightly picks up that color to add a bit of interest to the background.  This image is nice and soft to meet the mood of the pose.

This image was taken near the end of the session, where I pulled down the silver background and just worked with the black seamless.  The edge lighting on the cosplayers is still provided by the gelled FJ400s in the back.  I also added smoke/haze to the image to get those streaks of color and give the illusion of beams of light.

Wrap Up

This was a very simple session, which turned out well.  I do find some of the simpler backgrounds harder, as I feel I’m not providing enough to the cosplayer.  But on the other hand, it means I focus on the lighting and posing more to ensure that it is on point.

 

Credits:

Cosplayers: Kei (IG: @za_warudio) and Kitsune Kazuki (IG: @kitsune_kazuki)