Cosplay Portrait Series 2 — How To
As I noted in part one of this series — One of the cool things about attending toy conventions (sometimes called “cons”) is that people dress up as characters — and in that context — this is called cosplay. The pop culture characters of the day are usually represented at each convention.
The origins of this go back to 1992 when Comic-Con was founded. It is the biggest of the “cons” and the major motion picture studios, toy companies, television networks, comic book publishers, and video game companies all converge on San Diego. They are joined by retailers, distributors, other industry folk and of course — the fans.
It’s usually the fans who dress up for cosplay and that provides a photographer with lots of opportunities to make photographs of people dressed up in “interesting” ways.
As a photographer, you have lots of choices when it comes to going about making a cosplay portrait. In this article I’ll simply discuss engagement.
In my opinion, one of the greatest things about portrait photography — cosplay or not — is that you get a chance to look behind a person’s eyes (as my first photography teacher put it.)
When you make someone’s portrait, one of the key elements for me is engagement. I want the viewer of the finished photograph to understand that I was engaged with that person — if only for 1/125th of a second.
To do this, I often make an eye-level shot. An eye level shot just means the level of your camera is placed at the same height as the eyes of the characters in your frame.
The real advantage of making a portrait at eye level is that it gives the photo’s viewer a chance to connect with your subject.
Its aim is to create a brief emotional connection between the subject and the viewer.
CONCLUSION
One of the many bonuses of being a toy collector/photographer is meeting others in the hobby and the cosplay folks show up at most events, which always makes me happy.
It makes me even happier when I make a portrait of them that they like. When I show them on the camera, I instantly know whether or not the photo resonates with them. I always offer to send them a free print if they like it. Thankfully, they usually do.
Observe portraits and note the differences in camera height. As I said in a previous article, camera height plays many roles in a portrait session. Shoot up to establish power. Shoot down to take it away. Shoot at eye level to establish an emotional connection.
BONUS-these tips also work when you are photographing your action figures. Have fun.
Remember — Toys are joy.
