MegaCon Orlando 2019: Black-Out Portraits From The Con Floor!

John and I are about to upgrade Cake Wrecks to a newer, more secure platform - a tedious process nearly 6 months in the making - so with that constant stressor it's been like a vacation getting to edit my MegaCon portraits each night.

That means I'm taking my time, though, so I'm not even halfway through our flash photos yet. Here comes a sampling of some of my favorites so far, though - hope you'll find them worth the wait!

 

 

This Mary is practically perfect in every way. Look at that pose! I wish I could take credit, but all I did was ask her to raise the umbrella, and she gave me this radiance.  ::swoon::

If you're new here, you should know all of these photos were taken right on the convention floor, with people and vendors all around us. I call our technique black-out flash, though the proper term is "strobist photography." You can read all about how we do it - and how John and I customized our equipment to be fully mobile - right here.

 

(S.P. Alyss_Cosplay)

Hopefully you'll also see some improvements since my first attempts two years ago. I'm constantly fine-tuning, trying to make every new batch the best I've ever done.

 

(Harley: GuiltyWithGlee)

One of the best parts is showing the cosplayers the results on the camera. It blows everyone's mind that there's no background! And then when I tell them they can download their pics for free later, it's like I gave them a little gift. Makes me happy.

The exception to the no-background thing is if I shoot outside the hall with bright windows in the background, but even that can look cool:

Rey, a drop of golden sun.

 The real challenge - beyond the technical - is explaining to the cosplayer in less than 5 seconds how and why I need them to pose a certain way. This isn't a studio, it's a busy convention floor with masses flowing around us, and I only get one, maybe two tries, so it's a roll of the dice every time.

And you guys, it's so much fun. 

 

 Yasha from Critical Role!! This is who I'm going to picture as the real Yasha from now on; she's so perfect.

 

I was delighted that Valkyrie's pose here turned out; I usually aim to have their shoulders turned into the light, but this was an especially rushed shot. She had just finished high-fiving a little toddler in a stroller, which was THE cutest thing. 

She's holding a bottle, btw. If I'd had more time I'd have shifted her around so that was clearer.

 It's funny that black-out flash works best for both beauty and horror cosplays:

(yuffienori_cosplay)

So eeeeevil.

If you enlarge this photo, you'll see tiny purple lights right above his eyes; they were wired into the mask, and shone blue.

Since she's wearing all black, you can barely see the puppeteer in Snowball's mech:

(Allison Chase)

I know I'm talking more about the photography side here than the cosplay itself - sorry 'bout that! - but I don't have anyone else to geek out with over this stuff. :D

 The Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus got an Elizabethan style make-over, and OH. MIGOSH:

 (AmeliaaaLove) 

Look at them.

(JennieLovely)

LOOK AT THEM!

(XOXOChristie)

They called themselves the Royal Witches of Sanderson. SO GOOD.


If you're ever interested, convention photography is a hobby that will help so, so much with your confidence and social skills. (And frankly, it's a hobby that desperately needs more women.)

When I first started I was so shy that just asking for a photo was a challenge. Now - a short 10 years later, lol - I'm comfortable giving a little direction, telling folks where to look or what to do with their hands.

(disableddee)

This Rose Quartz has the most stunning dress, and for her first shot she held her shield high in front of her chest, blocking all of it! Things like that will get me to speak up and ask for another shot.

 I'm still working on the harder things, like interrupting large groups of cosplayers to ask for photos,  (CRINGE), asking for more time, or to change locations - even though I see male photogs ask all the time.

(Would you believe I am STILL the only "professional" female photographer at nearly every convention I go to?! It's definitely taught me the meaning of Imposter Syndrome.)

I should paint out this background, but I thought I'd show you what's happening behind the scenes in all these shots. There's a sunlit window right behind me, so the black-out effect didn't quite work.

Same with this fantastic Darth Maleficent:

Such a good mashup!

Blacks are tough to photograph this way, but you get all this extra drama:

 

(Malia Pitrone)

It's also tough to do group shots well; evening out the light in post takes a while:

Love this LotR family!

Sometimes a "failed" black-out will look like a green screen effect, like this:

Dig that Captain Marvel's pose, though!

Peggy and Nat looking fierce:

When possible, we put the person in the darkest outfit closest to the flash. Otherwise Black Widow would be just a floating face on the left.

I love convention photography because I never know what I'm going to get: it's a photo safari where you get one shot at each of hundreds of amazing cosplayers, and sometimes it's meh, and others it's MAGIC.

I'll end with the very first flash photo John and I took at MegaCon this year, which is possibly my favorite I've EVER taken:

 

The Rocketeer! 

For the first time ever I saw the photo in my head first, asked the cosplayer to pose in a way he didn't expect, and it actually WORKED! Woohoo!

I'm positively giddy over this, you guys. This is the closest I think I'll ever get to creating art, and it's soul-satisfying in a way no other craft can touch. Everyone should try this. 



Now the final cherry on top of this post: John's Saturday video is done!

 
Ta-daaa!

Told you we got some great shots. Doctor Strange and his dancing cape! Uncle Fester! The dwarves "floating" in barrels! Ahhh, these were so much fun.



As always, cosplayers, feel free to download & share my photos of you. I'll eventually be posting ALL of my flash photos over on Flickr, so watch that space if you don't see your photo here yet. (I'll probably have one more post here, too, once I finish editing everything.) You should also subscribe to our Youtube channel, and see if we've ever filmed you at cons before!

I'm doing my best to tag every cosplayer that wants it, so please let me know if I missed someone up there.

And finally, if you'd like to help me keep writing posts like this and giving away pretty photos, please consider sharing my posts or videos with friends who'd like them! 

Thanks for being here, peeps, and for giving me an excuse to do what I do. I love you all.

Happy weekend!