Oscar - Cosplay Session

On April 11^th, I did a cosplay session with Kawa to test a new graphic backdrop, in the style of an ornate white wall. Kawa chose Oscar from the Rose of Versailles for this shoot which complemented the backdrop due to its palace wall feel. 

For this session, I used:

Photography Equipment	Props/Miscellaneous
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Westcott FJ400 Strobes 2 c-stands 2 Rectangular Soft boxes 1 Bell Reflector w/ barndoors & Grid 1 Backdrop stand 1 Graphic Backdrop Sandbags Clamps Spyder color checker Laptop Teather cable	2 Gold flower stands 5 Gold flower planters Spring flowers (daffodils & tulips) Styrofoam Tiny table Silver velvet fabric Chair Fake candles

The set up

My goal for this shoot was to see how the ornate white wall backdrop would photograph.  I have a dark ornate wall backdrop that works well because of how I can work with the shadows, but white is usually a bit trickier.  In this case I had to make sure I was matching my lights to the lighting and shadows pre-printed on backdrop, which gives it depth, or it would look fake.  So, for this shoot I went with relatively easy setup using only two lights.  But before we get to the lighting lets discuss the set design. 

Usually for sessions I start with a lot of things and then remove items during the shoot, in this case I worked a little bit in reverse and started with a more open set.  After hanging the backdrop and steaming it to get the wrinkles out, I placed four plant stands in the background, and placed planters of flowers on them.  Then at the base of the plant stands I placed groups of flowers stuck in Styrofoam blocks.  For foreground interest I placed a small table with silver velvet fabric over on my right side and placed a planter of flowers on it. Then placed more groups of flowers at the tables base.  The model then would stand in the center with flowers both in the back and in the front, to give the image depth.  Later in the shoot I would bring in a chair and place it in the center of the set point towards my right. I would then move the table to the left side and exchange the flowers for candles.

For lighting, as I said I had to match the lighting pre-printed on the backdrop thus kept it simple.  I started with my main light, which was a strobe with a rectangular softbox without a grid on my left.  I then placed my fill light which was also a rectangular softbox without a grid about 30 degrees off center to my right.  This helped me match the lighting on the backdrop and allowed me to alternate which light was my main light throughout the shoot.  Later in the shoot I would switch out the rectangular softbox for a bell reflector with a 30-degree grid and barn doors for more dramatic lighting.  

Camera Settings

For this session, I used ISO 100, with an aperture of F5 and a shutter speed of 1/200s. I went with F5 to keep the background soft, as I felt if it was in sharp focus, it may look fake. My focal length ranged from 24mm to 105mm, with my most common focal length being 35mm and 37mm.  

The Photos

These photos range from soft and airy to dramatic as I was playing on the background of the character and reference images from both the 2025 anime and the 1979 movie called, Lady Oscar.  

In post processing I adjusted the white balance then used my spyder color checker software to ensure the rest of the colors were correct. The color checker helps me ensure proper skin tones and saves me a lot of work in the long run.  I then upped the exposure just a little bit and reduced the clarity slightly to give the images a slightly soft look.  Also used the transform image box in Lightroom to ensue my images were as straight as I could make them and removing any perspective warp from the lens.  Due to the lines on the backdrop, I had to ensure the images didn’t look like they were leaning.  I also applied a light vignette to all the images to ensure the views eyes were drawn towards the model.  Then because this was a studio shoot, I copied these setting across all the images from the session and just did minor adjustments to each image.

In this first image I had the light to my left in line with the model and turned down the strength of the light to my right.  This set up creates the strong light on the model’s face but still allows for details in the shadows and background.  For this image I did a tight crop and removed the edges of the flowers sticking into the frame.  I also applied a strong vignette to further separate the model from the background.  Finally, I added a blue(shadow)/orange(highlight) color grade to this image to make it seem more like window light.

This next image is where I brought in the chair, so it looked like the model was sitting in nice room in the palace. In this case the light to my right was the main light and the light to my left acted as the fill. In this image I enhanced the glow of the candles using a radial filter to make them brighter and a little more orange.  I then added a teal(shadow)/orange(highlight) color grade to the image to give it some cinematic depth. Finally, I changed the vignette from a light vignette to a heavy vignette to bring added depth to the image.

In this final image I just had the model lay on the floor, with a small pillow to prop up their head.  Then surrounded them with flowers. I like this image because the one blue eye is very piercing, yet the image maintains a very soft romantic feel to it.  For this image I used one light with a soft box pointed down at the model. Then stood on a stool so I could get height to be able to shoot downward.  In post I did basic adjustments and added a radial gradient to the model’s face to brighten it just a tad more then the flowers. I finished the image with an 8x10 crop and heavy vignette.

The Wrap Up

The cosplay and the backdrop worked well together. However, I noticed this backdrop shows wrinkles and creases more than the dark backdrop even after steaming it.  I think to fix this I’ll have to pull it tighter on the backdrop stand and ensure it is weighted down across the bottom, so it is pulled taught. That should remove most of the wrinkles and creases. Other from that the backdrop photographs well and didn’t look fake and blended with foreground elements well.  I hate fake looking backdrops. That is why you never see me use more intricate backgrounds like garden and fantasy scenes, because they are hard to blend with the actual set.

I feel the photos capture the essence of the character and show a nice range from light and airy to dramatic. And Kawa was nice to work with and took direction well.

You can see all the images from this session here: Oscar.

 

Credits:

Model: Kawa (@kawa__ii)