The Munchkin's Notebook

  On October 9 th , I did a styled session with Lady Chapell Cosplay . The theme for this shoot was an autumn witch, based around an autumn decorated witch hat. When I designed the set, I went for the “ witchcore ” aesthetic which is more home and garden then scary witch.       For this session I used: Photography Equipment Props/Miscellaneous Cannon 80D Trigger 2 strobes 2 speedlights 2 c-stands 1 flag 2 gels (orange) Backdrop stand Grey backdrop A-clamps Sandbags Speedlight clamp 2 Square Soft boxes with Grid 1 Strip Box with Grid Peacock Chair Pumpkins and gourds Dry Ice Skull Crystal ball Chalice Fake spider Fake candles Flowers Table Bowls Hot Water My inspiration for the set came from images by kladovay_mechta out of Russia, which used wicker chairs and a lot of pumpkins. I also took inspiration from some Pinterest post about the “witchcor...

On October 16 th ,   I attended a D.C Cosplay Photo Shoot meet up held along Workhouse Arts Center , in Lorton, VA with access to the Workhouse Haunt areas.   The Workhouse started life as a prison in 1910 and gradually became a work camp.   However, by the 1980 the workhouse was overcrowded and disorganized, thus in 1997 Federal legislation ordered the facility be closed by December 2001.   The property was sold to Fairfax County in 2002, which transformed it into cultural arts center. The location was nominated the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.   (Source: History of Work House Arts Center ) Because of the locations history and historic buildings it made it a very interesting place to shoot. My only regret was not going out to the location sooner to walk around and see some more of the property and be better prepared for the day. For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 2 Speed light Trigger Light stand 18-200mm lens There was supp...

On September 26 th , I attended a D.C Cosplay Photo Shoot meet up held along the waterfront in Old Town, Alexandria, Va.   The waterfront has changed a little bit since I was last there, with some added outdoor restaurant seating and improved park features.  Overall, it is a nice area to for general photoshoot, but you must be there early in the morning or it tends to get crowded.  Thankfully this meet up had an 8:00AM start time, so the number of people out and about would be very tiny during the three hours meet up.    For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 1 Speed light Trigger Light stand 18-200mm lens For this shoot I ended up using a 100 ISO, since I was working with very bright sun, this is also why I used direct flash without a soft box or umbrella. My aperture varied from F8 to F13, with most shots being either F8.   I was keeping my aperture high so I could keep the shutter speed within the sync speed of my speed light. The sp...

On September 18, I did a studio session with   Kayari at LED Studio in Old Town Alexandria. The session was a cosplay session, focused around the “ Birds of Prey ” version of Harley Quinn.   LED Studio was a perfect location for this session, due to the lovely exposed brick walls within the studio, the seamless paper choices, and the overall size of the studio. The studio was a good value based on its overall size (a lot larger then expected) and location.   For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 4 Speed light 3 Light stand Strip soft box with grid Square Soft box with grid Blue and Pink gels Trigger 18-200mm lens To prepare for this session I went through several movie stills from “Birds of Prey” to understand the expressions, mood, color tones, and lighting used in the film. This allows me to determine how I’m going to approach the session and what my lighting set up will be.   I zeroed in on a still image lighting Harley Quinn from the from...

On September 11, I did a fantasy moon goddess session with Emma. The inspiration for this shoot was the moon and all the fake cloud tutorials that were flooding my feed.   For these sessions I used: Photography Equipment  Props/Miscellaneous Cannon 80D Trigger 2 strobes 2 speedlights 3 c-stands Bell reflector Beauty dish 2 flags 2 gels (blue & magenta) Grid (5-degree) Backdrop stand Fuzzy white backdrop Printed backdrop A-clamps Sandbags paper mâché moon 2 pillows 8 DVD cases 5 pounds of fiber fill (aka. fluff) silver dress Ewa Jobko silver circlet This session revolved around the love of the moon, and I wanted to make sure the model had a moon to love, thus I made one.   To make the moon, I bought one of those 24-inch round balloons, blew it up, and covered in three layers of white tissue paper using a standard paper mâché technique.  When covering th...

On August 1 st , I did a double session with the lovely cosplayer Sara go Bragh , in my in-home studio space.  For this double session we did a mermaid shoot two ways, one a little unconventional and the second in a more conventional way.  For the first session I placed the lovely mermaid in a tub full of clear ball pit balls. This was a play off one of my previous sessions with some overtones of the movie “Splash”.  For the second session we got wet, in the fake pond that I made using a blow-up pool.  For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 1 Speedlight Light stand 2 C-stands 2 Strobes 2 Square Soft boxes Trigger 18-200mm lens Ladder Black backdrop Backdrop stand Pool Tarp Exercise mats Plastic tub Clear ball pit balls Fake plants/flowers Water For the first session the set up was relatively straight forward. For the first session I place the tub in the center of the space and some white towels and rubber ducks. You cannot tak...

On August 22 nd , I attended a D.C Cosplay Photo Shoot meet up at Walsh Family Winery in Purcellville, VA.  The winery had both nice indoor and outdoor spaces and the wine was good too. I got a nice glass of one of their whites after the shoot was over.   For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 2 Speed light (1 acted as a trigger) Light stand Small Lumiquest square soft box 18-200mm lens For this meet ups we could use both the indoor and outdoor spaces of the winery, as well as be in the vineyard itself. I shoot mostly outside, in the vineyard and wooded area. I didn’t feel the inside worked well for several of the cosplays, since felt a bit more modern which doesn’t work with Disney princesses and elves.   Though it did work perfectly for Yomogi from Monster Hunter Rise , since that character is waiter. Thus 90-percent of my shots were taken outside. For this shoot I ended up using a 400 ISO, which is higher than my usual 100 ISO.   I ended up...