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Professional Photography
18 September 2017 07:57 amI encountered a budding professional photographer online and she wanted to do a steampunk photoshoot to expand her portfolio. I am myself in no way a professional photographer but can occasionally take a decent photo and have interacted with quite a few photographers, both amateur and professional, and think that qualifies me to give some commentary on photography.
And besides, it's the Internet. Having a keyboard is considered qualification for any opinion.
But, really. There are some things I noticed in this shoot and over the years and I will now bloviate, hopefully to the benefit of anyone who wants to be a professional photographer or, at least, increase their professionalism.
Cheap tools cost more
It's not that the photographer had a bad or cheap camera. She had just the next level up from the DSLR camera I have. However, I have a bunch of other stuff she didn't seem to have like lenses, filters, flashes, diffusers and such. And, really, this is not so much about the camera itself but about knowing the capabilities of the camera and lenses and knowing not only what would be best for a given situation but how to set it. I got the impression the photographer didn't know the camera's capabilities fully. I don't know mine very well, either, and want to get out more to practice. She is just starting out but I think she needs to step up her game if she's going to try making a living at this.
Leave the kids at home
I know it can sometimes be hard to find babysitters but your kids are not typically going to be much help on your photoshoot and aren't going to make you look professional. In this case, one of the kids just seemed to wander off. Not sure where he went. The other, while nominally using a reflector for lighting at times, was easily distracted and pestered me quite thoroughly wanting to handle my prop guns.
Electrons are free
We've all seen the amazing photographs that come out of National Geographic. What we don't see are the thousands of crappy photographs the pro took while working on that one perfect photo. With digital photography, it's even easier to take a lot of photographs and I have learned this lesson myself. I take a lot of pictures. I'll take a picture, change the angle slightly, and then take another. Trying to figure out whether the picture was in focus can be difficult on the little screen so I'll turn off auto-focus, take a picture, adjust the focus slightly and take another. I may have thought that first one was good but the second my be just a little better once I get it home and look at it full size. In the end, I typically have at least half a dozen pictures to choose from to find the one that looks good. And that's just for a single pose.
There are four lights
I've come to believe that lighting is one of the most important things in cosplay/portrait photography. The conventional wisdom is to have the light up and to the left of the subject (from the photographer's perspective). Light straight on is awful as it washes out all the features. OK, so maybe you want to wash out some features, making the subject appear smoother and younger, but that needs a more diffuse light to make that work. Some of the best photos of myself that I have had taken also add a second light. In this case, the light was behind me to the right, a mirror of the primary light. I really liked the way it brought out features. I want to learn how to do this.
The sun is evil
Direct sunlight is really difficult to work with, not just that it can wash out the frame but it is almost impossible to see the preview screen on your camera when it's that bright. Plus the subject is going to be squinting. You might not think that's such a big deal when my cosplay always has dark glasses on but in the pictures that were in the brightest light, I can tell that I was squinting even behind the goggles. Get into the shade and bring a flash.
Posing
Cosplay is different from portraiture. If you look at the best cosplay photography, the subjects are heroically posed. Having been photographed in my steampunk cosplay for years, I have a standard pose and, in all honesty, it's crap. It's like I'm standing for a Victorian cabinet card and have to hold still while the glass plate gathers enough light. Maybe that's OK for the quick snap at a convention but a photoshoot is more. I want to work on this myself, finding better ways to pose myself so I look more the dime novel hero. I also want to become more professional when I am taking photographs so that I can suggest poses that give the subject more than just a static presentation.
Make sure to get my good side
My nose is a bit crooked. You might not notice it talking to me but if the angle is wrong the photo can look like I'm looking off to the far horizon while my nose is pointing right at you. I also have a weak chin (thanks, mom). It's part of the reason I grew the style of beard that I did. I know these things and show the right side of my face rather than the left. And no profiles.
As a subject, I know these things and pose accordingly. There may be things I don't see during a photoshoot and a professional may see these things and, hopefully, correct for them. I remember one photograph I took of a First Doctor cosplayer. It turns out that the ribbon for his monocle was not in a good place. It didn't ruin the photo but it could have clearly been much better. This was one of those “one photo in the con hallway” pictures that pros don't take. Or, if they do, they've taken 20 other pictures, one of which is probably better than this one.
In this photoshoot, there were no suggestions from the photographer. I tried a few different things. Some worked. Others were absolute crap.
Imitation is more than flattery
When you take pictures in the style of someone else, you learn a bit about how and why they did what they did. Lighting. Posing. Framing. Look at how the good artists in the magazines composed their pictures and really study them so you can do it yourself. I had one photographer at a photoshoot who, looking at some Victorian photographs, seemed to think that all men held their lapels for every photograph. Certainly, trying to replicate photographs will have some of that but they were not all like that. I've bought a few issues of Cosplay Culture magazine and have been watching con cosplay compilation videos.
Location. Location. Location.
The vast majority of cosplay photography is in convention hallways where you just happened to run into the person. As such, the location chooses you. But if you can come up with a location other than that, photos can be much better. That is, if you take full advantage. For this photoshoot we went to the Pump House at the Waterfront in Homestead. A number of steel industry artifacts and the historicity of the Homestead Strike so there was certainly some opportunity. I can't say it was taken full advantage of. At one point we went across the property to the brick smoke stacks for a few more photos. Good. The stacks had large, modern lighting. Poor. For a steampunk shoot, I should think the modern should be avoided. I can crop those things out to improve things but, under the best circumstances, the whole frame is what the artist was going for.
Practice and crtitique
There are a few new cosplay photography groups that have appeared in Pittsburgh and I plan on getting to more of their outings so I can improve on all of the items I've mentioned above. Most of the time, I have been in front of the camera, at these events I plan to stay behind the camera and see what I can do.
And besides, it's the Internet. Having a keyboard is considered qualification for any opinion.
But, really. There are some things I noticed in this shoot and over the years and I will now bloviate, hopefully to the benefit of anyone who wants to be a professional photographer or, at least, increase their professionalism.
Cheap tools cost more
It's not that the photographer had a bad or cheap camera. She had just the next level up from the DSLR camera I have. However, I have a bunch of other stuff she didn't seem to have like lenses, filters, flashes, diffusers and such. And, really, this is not so much about the camera itself but about knowing the capabilities of the camera and lenses and knowing not only what would be best for a given situation but how to set it. I got the impression the photographer didn't know the camera's capabilities fully. I don't know mine very well, either, and want to get out more to practice. She is just starting out but I think she needs to step up her game if she's going to try making a living at this.
Leave the kids at home
I know it can sometimes be hard to find babysitters but your kids are not typically going to be much help on your photoshoot and aren't going to make you look professional. In this case, one of the kids just seemed to wander off. Not sure where he went. The other, while nominally using a reflector for lighting at times, was easily distracted and pestered me quite thoroughly wanting to handle my prop guns.
Electrons are free
We've all seen the amazing photographs that come out of National Geographic. What we don't see are the thousands of crappy photographs the pro took while working on that one perfect photo. With digital photography, it's even easier to take a lot of photographs and I have learned this lesson myself. I take a lot of pictures. I'll take a picture, change the angle slightly, and then take another. Trying to figure out whether the picture was in focus can be difficult on the little screen so I'll turn off auto-focus, take a picture, adjust the focus slightly and take another. I may have thought that first one was good but the second my be just a little better once I get it home and look at it full size. In the end, I typically have at least half a dozen pictures to choose from to find the one that looks good. And that's just for a single pose.
There are four lights
I've come to believe that lighting is one of the most important things in cosplay/portrait photography. The conventional wisdom is to have the light up and to the left of the subject (from the photographer's perspective). Light straight on is awful as it washes out all the features. OK, so maybe you want to wash out some features, making the subject appear smoother and younger, but that needs a more diffuse light to make that work. Some of the best photos of myself that I have had taken also add a second light. In this case, the light was behind me to the right, a mirror of the primary light. I really liked the way it brought out features. I want to learn how to do this.
The sun is evil
Direct sunlight is really difficult to work with, not just that it can wash out the frame but it is almost impossible to see the preview screen on your camera when it's that bright. Plus the subject is going to be squinting. You might not think that's such a big deal when my cosplay always has dark glasses on but in the pictures that were in the brightest light, I can tell that I was squinting even behind the goggles. Get into the shade and bring a flash.
PosingCosplay is different from portraiture. If you look at the best cosplay photography, the subjects are heroically posed. Having been photographed in my steampunk cosplay for years, I have a standard pose and, in all honesty, it's crap. It's like I'm standing for a Victorian cabinet card and have to hold still while the glass plate gathers enough light. Maybe that's OK for the quick snap at a convention but a photoshoot is more. I want to work on this myself, finding better ways to pose myself so I look more the dime novel hero. I also want to become more professional when I am taking photographs so that I can suggest poses that give the subject more than just a static presentation.
Make sure to get my good side
My nose is a bit crooked. You might not notice it talking to me but if the angle is wrong the photo can look like I'm looking off to the far horizon while my nose is pointing right at you. I also have a weak chin (thanks, mom). It's part of the reason I grew the style of beard that I did. I know these things and show the right side of my face rather than the left. And no profiles.
As a subject, I know these things and pose accordingly. There may be things I don't see during a photoshoot and a professional may see these things and, hopefully, correct for them. I remember one photograph I took of a First Doctor cosplayer. It turns out that the ribbon for his monocle was not in a good place. It didn't ruin the photo but it could have clearly been much better. This was one of those “one photo in the con hallway” pictures that pros don't take. Or, if they do, they've taken 20 other pictures, one of which is probably better than this one.
In this photoshoot, there were no suggestions from the photographer. I tried a few different things. Some worked. Others were absolute crap.
Imitation is more than flattery
When you take pictures in the style of someone else, you learn a bit about how and why they did what they did. Lighting. Posing. Framing. Look at how the good artists in the magazines composed their pictures and really study them so you can do it yourself. I had one photographer at a photoshoot who, looking at some Victorian photographs, seemed to think that all men held their lapels for every photograph. Certainly, trying to replicate photographs will have some of that but they were not all like that. I've bought a few issues of Cosplay Culture magazine and have been watching con cosplay compilation videos.
Location. Location. Location.
The vast majority of cosplay photography is in convention hallways where you just happened to run into the person. As such, the location chooses you. But if you can come up with a location other than that, photos can be much better. That is, if you take full advantage. For this photoshoot we went to the Pump House at the Waterfront in Homestead. A number of steel industry artifacts and the historicity of the Homestead Strike so there was certainly some opportunity. I can't say it was taken full advantage of. At one point we went across the property to the brick smoke stacks for a few more photos. Good. The stacks had large, modern lighting. Poor. For a steampunk shoot, I should think the modern should be avoided. I can crop those things out to improve things but, under the best circumstances, the whole frame is what the artist was going for.
Practice and crtitique
There are a few new cosplay photography groups that have appeared in Pittsburgh and I plan on getting to more of their outings so I can improve on all of the items I've mentioned above. Most of the time, I have been in front of the camera, at these events I plan to stay behind the camera and see what I can do.
