The Munchkin's Notebook

On January 20 th I worked with Vida Muerta on a 1920’s heiress inspired session.   The session was originally supposed to occur the day before at the Dayton Art Institute ’s great hall, but weather forced us to reschedule for the next at Something Old DaytonVintage Rentals .   Even though we were forced to reschedule in a new location, the shoot went well and still maintained the 1920’s look I was going for.   For this session I used my Canon 70D, a 18-200mm lens, strobes with power supply, large octagon soft box, 30-degree Grid, C-stand with boom arm, light stand, RF-transmitter, tether line, laptop, white loveseat, mirror, pop up changing room, and a handsome assistant.   The dress is from Retro Stage, and the jewelry is from the Alley Vintage& Costumes .   For this session I shot 147 frames and kept 80 and delivered 58 final images.   All images were shot at ISO 100 using a F5.6 aperture.   The focal lengths varied with th...

On January 27 th 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 ...

On January 20 th , I got to work with two lovely ladies for a romance themed shoot. The whole shoot was centered around a red dress from the Polish designer Ewa Jobko and a white studio room at Something Old Dayton Vintage Rentals .   At this point I would like to thank both models for coming out and the studio for allowing me flexibility due the previous nights snowstorm. The first session with But Dragons Tho Cosplay was inspired by the cover of the book “ Kushial’s Chosen ”.   The second session with Deanna was inspired by Valentine’s Day romance.   Both sessions turned out lovely and were published in the February 2019 issue of Realm Magazine . For the session I used the following items: Canon 70D 18-200mm lens Strobes with power supply Large octagon soft box 30-degree Grid C-stand with boom arm Light stand RF-transmitter Tether line Laptop Balloons Fake fur blanket White loveseat Pop up changing room Handsome assistant ...

I have now spent a whole year in Dayton, Ohio and accomplished a lot in 2018.   But it is now time to look to the future and photography goals for 2019. General Photography Goals 1. Expand the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati Cosplay Photo Shoots Group In 2018 I started the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati (DCC) Cosplay Photo Shoot Group which currently has over 100 members on Facebook.  I hosted five meet-ups for the group. The goal for 2018 is to double the number meet ups and find interesting shoot locations.  I also want to bring in some additional volunteers to help do location scouting and help with some of the other aspects of the group like check in and supporting the groups social media sites.  If you are interested in joining the group you can look us up on Facebook at Dayton-Columbus-CincinnatiCosplay Photo Shoots Group or on Instagram @DCC_Cosplay_Photoshoots . 2. Book paid shoots outside of conventions Currently all my paid work comes from sessions...

The year of 2018 was very busy and eventful year for me.  This was the first full year I spent in Dayton, Ohio after moving up from Virginia.  You would think that just moving to a new area would have me slow down, but it was very busy as I tried to incorporate myself into the photography and cosplay communities in the area.  I went to three conventions this year, one group shoot, did seven individual shoots, got published, went on vacation, and started a cosplay and photographer meet-up group. So, let’s talk about some of these events. Cosplay and Conventions I went to three conventions this year, two in Ohio (Ohayocon and Matsuricon) and one in DC area (Katsucon).  I will say I was not impressed by two of the three major conventions in Ohio. Ohayocon was nice, but I didn’t feel like there were a ton of cosplayers or a central location for cosplayers to just show off their cosplay.  As for Matsuricon , while I had several paid shoots during that convent...

Now that I have a little bit of down time, I took some time to work on other types of photography outside of portrait photography.   I recently shot a still life, because I wanted some photos to test my updated computer processing speeds in Lightroom and Photoshop.    I’m quite happy with the improved processing speeds of my updated computer, I’m also happy with how the still life photos came out.     The inspiration for the still life photo came from two places, one while I was eating some mandarins at work and the old Dutch Masters .   Several of the Dutch Master still life paintings are simple with only a few elements and very low-key.   I will admit some of the painting may look very low-key due the paintings age and it needing to be cleaned to remove the soot build up from over the years and the darkening varnish.   However, I’m going to stick with the darker images I have seen in art museums. Basic Shoot Set Up For this shoo...

Recently the Dayton-Columbus-Cincinnati Cosplay Photoshoot Group had two meets relatively close together.  The first was a Halloween theme shoot at PiattsCastle in New Liberty, OH on October 21 st and the second was an open themed shoot at the Oaks Quarry Park in Fairborn, OH on November 11 th .  I’m going to talk about both shoots. For both shoots, I was using a Cannon 70D with two 430EX III-RT speedlight and one lightstand. For all the meet-ups I keep my equipment simple and portable. It makes moving around the location a lot easier. The castle shoot was an early morning shoot, using the outside of Mac-o-Chee Castle. The day started out overcast and cold, but by the end of the shoot the sun came out and we had brilliant blue skies.  I had two images from the shoot, that I liked how the final edits turned out.   The first is of Bocchan as Bowsette. Bowsette is the female version of Bowser from Mario Brothers.  The second is the image is of Arman...