Taking My Cosplay Photos To The Dark Side

I've been photographing conventions for about seven years now, and while I still love everything about it, I've been itching to bump up my game. Every con I get home, download my pics, and grouse about how terrible they are. Blurry faces, bad lighting, photobombing Deadpools - there's always SOMETHING, and it takes a lot of work in Lightroom to salvage most of my shots.

I've known for some time that using flash was the answer, but figuring out HOW was another story. John and I've chatted with lots of pros over the years, but most have heavy equipment or tripods and umbrellas to lug around. We were especially awed by one guy who set up two big flash strips in the shape of an L, because his photos had a completely blacked-out background, without the use of a backdrop. He wasn't mobile, though; he had to set up the lights and then get cosplayers to come to him, which is definitely not my style. (I like the hunt, chasing 'em down.)

I follow a few convention photographers online (you can't beat David Ngo for sheer quantity, btw, if you're looking), and one of the greats, Tristan Dudine, also has blacked-out backgrounds, like this:

A post shared by Tristan (@tristan.dudine.photography) on Aug 7, 2017 at 11:06am PDT

Gorgeous, right?

I first thought he did these in a studio, so when a mutual friend told me nope, Tristan shoots AT the convention, it kind of blew my mind. Newly inspired, John and I began searching online for answers. We discovered there's a whole subset of photographers who do this, called "strobists." Again, though, most seem to use fairly cumbersome equipment, while we were determined to be completely mobile: no tripods, no umbrellas, no bulky or heavy gear.

Two days and dozens of photography boards, reviews, and tutorials later, John ordered these flashes from Amazon along with these diffusers. Next he moved to the garage to build some custom handles, and within three days we were taking practice shots of our Jawa. (Not the most cooperative model, but hey, she works for free.)

As luck would have it, MetroCon was happening that weekend in Tampa, so we packed up the crew, got a grip, came quick, grabbed the proton packs on our backs, and we split. (Bobby Brown is my jam. WHAT.)

John and I spent a deliriously wonderful day at MetroCon. We were running on about 3 hours sleep, but DANG was Metro a great con! I had no idea! There were Disney and Hamilton sing-alongs in the lobby, every other vendor had adorable plushies and chibi cuteness, and man oh man, sooo many great costumes! I could go on for pages about how MetroCon has single-handedly turned me on to anime conventions, but you're here for photography stuff, I know, so let's get back to that.

First, let me show you some of the successful shots we took that day, all on the vendor floor in the middle of the crowd:

[Rage Cosplay]

(I'm trying to play it cool, but this is like magic to me, you guys. I'M A LITTLE EXCITED.)

I like that we were able to light most - if not all - of the body sometimes. Most strobist photos are from the waist up, and with good reason, which I'll get to in a sec.


Here's the gist of the "secret," which I'm sure you photographers have already figured it out: You set your camera to manual with a fast shutter speed, high F-stop, and low ISO, so it won't record ANY ambient light. (Without flash your photo would be completely black.) Then you use off-set, diffused flash(es) to illuminate your subject. Since the camera ONLY records the light from the flash hitting what's closest to you - ie, the cosplayer - none of the other light in the room registers, leaving a pitch black background.

Confused? So was I. But go check out this incredible tutorial by Glyn Dewis; he explains it much better and in great detail.

This still took a lot of trial and error to adjust to, so my shots from the end of the day were definitely better than the beginning. Even so, and even with botched settings and a few literal misfires, I only had a handful of total losses. Most still look cool even when I did it "wrong," like when you can see the background because I forgot to angle away from the windows:

Of course you can always paint the background to solid black in post-processing, but for this one I kind of like the look.

When my settings were right and I wasn't facing into a bright window, the background was consistently blacked-out, with very little - if any - of the background needing processing:

Now here's the part where John and I put our own spin on this technique.

Instead of using tripods for the offset flashes, John holds them, allowing him to re-position on the fly. To do this, he made custom handles for the flashes: one longer for the overhead flash, the other shorter for the side flash.

 

John used a light-weight wooden dowel for the handles, painted and lacquered so they look professional. The metal loops at the bottom are for elastic straps that go around his wrist, so he can let the flashes hang down while he's walking. (They're so light John insists this is completely secure, plus it's added comfort and security.)

So here's the total amount of gear we used to get these shots:

  Not bad, right?

The flash attachment on my Canon 7D is also light, so I almost forget it's there:

And I'm shooting with the same 17-50 Sigma lens I always have.

Because he's holding them, John can get the flashes much closer, and angle them to compensate for large hats, props, etc.

Here you can see how John held the top flash lower and angled upward, into Sora's face.

This setup also means we can go TO the cosplayers, right there on the convention floor. No need to set up somewhere, or hope that the crowd flow brings people to us. I can get in the crowd and chase people, one of my favorite parts! That's especially essential for Dragon Con, where half the time the crowds are so thick you can't move without bumping elbows, and even a tiny tripod could be a major safety hazard.

In all my years at cons I've never seen another photographer shoot exactly like this, because it requires two people. It's perfect for us, though, because John and I are always together anyway, and now it allows John to be part of the process. Photo-taking has always been my thing, with John trailing behind and honestly being a bit bored. Now it's a collaboration, and that alone makes it a million times better. (Every project is better when you get to work with John.)


Here's a fun comparison to show you one of the best parts of the strobist technique. MetroCon and Tampa Comic Con are both held in the same convention center. Here's a shot I took of a Belle at Tampa (using my old method) vs a Belle at Metro (using the new one). Both cosplayers are in the exact same spot: same floor, same lighting, same seating area behind them.

See why the strobist method is such a godsend? NO MORE DISTRACTING BACKGROUNDS. Yay!

The strobist method does have drawbacks: it can easily be *too* dark - losing costume details - and lots of dramatic/harsh shadows. I find it takes about the same amount of time for post-processing as I've always taken, just with infinitely better results.

Besides, that dramatic look is perfect for cosplay, and I've found the flash makes everyone look twice as gorgeous. It's just universally flattering.

Oh! And no more yucky green casts from the convention hall lighting! YESSS. I didn't have to color-correct a single one of these photos. That alone is minor miracle.

Here's a comparison of straight-off-the-camera to final edit:

You can see I've lightened her up, cropped, brought out the shadows, boosted the color, and spot-edited out the overhead floor lights. That's a pretty quick edit, but other times I had someone walking close behind or other minor things that needed more extensive brushing-out. Not a big deal, but taking even 3 minutes per photo can add up when you take hundreds - and I generally spend more than that, because I'm a perfectionist. (For my finished 100 shots from MetroCon I spent over 8 hours editing, or roughly 5 minutes per photo. That's about average for me, but again, the result is SO MUCH BETTER.)

If you want to give the strobist technique a shot (heyooo), then here are a few tips I've learned the hard way:

- Angle AWAY from bright windows or lights when possible. This will save you editing them out later.

- Don't have your cosplayer stand in front of a vendor booth or wall, have her stand with her back to an open space. Remember, people in the background won't show up, provided they're at least a few feet back.

The exception to the "no walls" is if it's one you don't mind showing up in your photo:

White walls bounce back too much light, though, so steer clear of those.

- Be prepared to adjust your camera settings a lot on the fly. Darker costumes and skin tones need a lower F stop or a brighter flash, lest you get this situation:

She was also in front of a black wall. Boops.

(Again, that's a "mistake" - but it still looks kinda cool, right?)

- You *can* do group shots, if you arrange them right:

Have your subjects get snuggly, then make sure the farthest person is forward slightly into the light. Also be prepared to boost her exposure the most in post-processing.

Of course rules are made to be broken, so here's an example where I did none of that, but I still love the look:

These floors have a suitably BioShock-y feel, so I left them in. In fact, if you squint you might even see the people in the background, since I didn't bother painting them out, either. (Believe me, the temptation to spend another hour editing each photo to perfection IS STRONG, but I wanted to get this post up quickly.)

To be honest I feel pretty silly offering you guys advice, since I'm the newest of newbies myself and have only the barest idea of what I'm doing. Still, I figure if I can help even a little, why not share the dark side love?

[Duy Truong Cosplay]
 
John tells me this is his favorite shot. After years and years of crying over blurry photos, I love how razor-sharp all those costume details are.

Oh! Another thing I learned? Once you start using flash, everyone wants a business card. Most cons I'm only asked a handful of times for a card. This time I ran out of two case refills in just a few hours. Apparently flash = you know what you're doing, which was especially nerve-wracking considering we're still learning. I kept waiting for someone to yell, "FRAUD!" or quiz me on F-stops. Ha! Plus I was too scared to ever ask for more than 2 quick shots, even when I knew they'd turned out bad, because I hate inconveniencing people. :(  

                                [Little Songbird Cosplay]

For the most part we did pretty well, but it would be fun to have a solid few minutes with each cosplayer to really nail the angles. So hey, if I'm ever taking your picture, tell me if you've got extra time, yeah?

MetroCon could have been renamed Overwatch Con, btw, there was so much incredible game cosplay. It was AWESOME. I mean, just look at this Symmetra:

AHH-mazing.

Well gang, I think I've covered everything? You'll notice I left out any technical advice on camera settings, because I'm still too new to give any. Just go read that tutorial I linked, then get to practicing!

I've posted the rest of my MetroCon photos on Flickr, so click over to my album to see the rest. (It was especially hard to choose favorites this time, believe me.) You'll see that some aren't edited as perfectly, or were shot with the wrong settings, so there are some visible backgrounds and too-dark faces, but overall I'm over the moon with this as a first test run.

I hope you enjoyed all my rambling and the fun eye candy! Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I'll do my best - or I'll just have John answer all the hard ones. :)