On September 20th, I had the pleasure of being a featured photographer at “The Cosplay Studio Experience.” Brynt Cox Photography brought together six top studio cosplay photographers for a day at Reign the Venue, giving cosplayers a chance to experience a studio shoot without the big studio price tag. It also lets photographers bring out their studio lights, modifiers, and other cool toys to work with a variety of cosplayers. Usually, cosplay photographers are limited by venue restrictions, convention policies, and equipment weight, but this event eliminated all of that except equipment weight; you still had to carry everything into the venue. Each photographer got a 10x10 space to work and create.
For this event, I used:
- Canon R6
- 24 - 105mm lens
- Surface Pro
- Tether Cables
- Westcott FJ400
- Westcott FJ200
- Westcott Trigger
- Rectangular soft boxes
- Bell reflector with grid
- Platypod
- Gels
- Backdrop stand
- Hand-painted grey canvas backdrop
- 3 Light stands
- Clamps
- Fabric
- Flowers
- Fake candles
- Fake Skull
- Bottles
- LED light
- Chair
- Decorative pillars
Camera Settings:
For this event, I used
ISO 200 with an aperture of either f/8 or f/5.6. My shutter speed ranged from
1/100s to 1/250s, with 1/160s being the most common. My focal lengths ranged from 24mm to 91mm,
with 24mm being the most common.
Set Up:
I didn’t know what types
of cosplays would be at this event, but I wasn’t going to show up with a standard
background and call it a day. This was
about the studio experience, and my studio experience involves a full set with
props. I figured it was close enough to
the start of spooky season, so I would lean into that with dark flowers,
candles (fake, of course), some skulls, and potion bottles. I went a bit
gothic. I chose my standard grey canvas backdrop because it works with several
cosplays, and I can change the color with a strobe and a gel. I also got black
drapes I could drape in the set to add more background depth. I also found foldable paper stands/pillars
that I used as small tables to hold the flowers, candles, and other props.
For lighting, I was using a 3-light setup. I had one light, the FJ200, on a platypod on the floor with a gel to light the background. I then had one light on my left at about 45 degrees and a second on my right at about 30 degrees. Both lights started with rectangular softboxes, but I also brought a bell reflector with a grid that I used for a few images. I moved the lights around during the event to meet the needs of each photo.
The Photos:
The lighting setup was similar
for most images, so I applied the same basic edits across most of them. I started with basic adjustments: exposure
correction, color balance, and contrast.
I would then go in and apply circular gradients to all the candles to
make them glow. Then I'd apply a
gradient to the cosplayer's face, if needed, to brighten it up a bit; this was
important if they had a hat. I then removed
any distractions and extended the backdrop if needed. (Big cosplay props, what
are you going to do?) I would then finish off with a strong vignette. I also tried to keep my crops to 4x5 where possible,
so the images are Instagram-ready.
Here are a few of my
favorite photos from the day.
Let’s start with Homura
Akemi Lolita. This was fun because the dress matched the color of the set and everything
worked together.
Next favorite is Enjin from Gachiakuta. I like this photos because the cosplayer really like the set but didn’t feel their cosplay worked with it, because the cosplay is from a dystopian world. My response is: you are allowed to feel pretty and take a pretty photo. So, they did the shoot with me.
Then we have Wednesday
Addams, who perfectly matched the gothic theme of the set.
Then Skully from Twisted Wonderland worked well with this set, and who was one of the first people I worked with that day. They also brought their own pumpkin, which was a nice addition.
Then, to keep the
Twisted Wonderland theme going, I also had Vil Schoenheit.
Wrap Up:
I shot 21 different
cosplay looks over 6 hours, which is a lot.
Normally, at 3-hour cosplay meetups, I shoot 6-7 different cosplays, and
during a 3-day convention I do 15-18 forty-five-minute sessions. Also, keep in mind my normal cosplay studio
session is a one-hour, one-on-one session.
So, this was a lot of shooting in a day. The other difference between this event and
other events, or even my one-on-one sessions, is that I didn’t know what
cosplays to expect. With other events, I have a general idea of what to expect
ahead of time, so I’m mentally prepared with basic concepts in mind. In this case, I didn’t know whether I'd get a
bunch of pretty princesses, superheroes, or something else entirely, which
affected my set design because I wanted to be ready for a variety of things.
I should also note that
I could charge $5 per photo during this event, which is different from how I
charge at a convention or in a one-on-one studio session. Normally, I charge a flat fee for a set
amount of time instead of per photo, guaranteeing at least 30+ images from the
session. If I did this event again, I'd
charge a flat fee for 15 minutes and guarantee a set number of images, because I
found I worked with everyone for about 15 minutes, and that would be more economical
for me.
Overall, though, this
was a great experience, and I would do it again. I think it was well organized
for the first event like this. Yes,
there are areas for improvement, but every event has room to improve. I also
have a few things I would do differently during the event to make my part run
more smoothly, including taking a break to breathe and think so I can give
everyone my full attention. Looking back at my images, I can tell that the ones
where I took a couple of minutes to reset are better than the ones where I
rushed to the next person in line. And
that pause can be talking with the next cosplayer to understand their cosplayer
better or even just grabbing a drink of water to mentally reset. But again, this was a great experience, and
hopefully I can be part of the next one.
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