October Magazine

www.facebook.com/robjenkinsphotography
2. Bad shadows equals
bad photos
One of the most common mistakes
people make when taking a photo
of someone is either putting them
in harsh sunlight or in dappled light.
Harsh sunlight means your subject
will squint and have harsh shadows
on their face that might not suit the
style of the cosplay. Better to shoot
in even shadowed area or later in the
afternoon (or early morning) when
the light is softer and even. Look for
locations that give you lovely even
light. If shooting in dark shadows,
consider adding some light to your
photo - but light you control like flash
or continuous light such as an LED
photo light.
If you’re outside and can’t find an
even shadowed area, simply turn
your subject to face away from the
sun and you’re lighting will improve -
but be aware of snuffler.
3.Don’t let things grow
out of your subjects
head!
It’s exciting to photograph cosplay.
But sometimes we are so caught up
in the moment we forget to take a
deep breath and analyse the scene.
Look behind your subject and make
sure there is no branches or poles
behind him or her resulting in the illusion
that they’ve got something
growing out of their head. Move either
them or yourself so you eliminate
that problem.
4. Distorted faces!
A wide angle lens can distort the
body. We often see people with camera
phones get up close to a face,
snap a photo and distort the subject’s
nose. Stand back a bit and get
a more natural shot. If using a DSLR
or Mirrorless camera use a longer
lens at least 50mm and frame your
subject. The longer the lens the better
your subject will look as a long
lens tends to slim down features.
5. Too slow a shutter
speed means blur
Sometimes we take a photo with
our iPhone or Android and find that
it looks amazing on the back of the
phone but put on your computer
screen or larger tablet screen and it
looks soft or blurred. The reason for
this is either you’ve moved whilst taking
the photo or you’ve taken a photo
with a slow shutter speed. What your
phone will try to do is compensate by
raising the ISO - the amount of light
it lets on to the sensor but this can
result in lot’s of digital noise. On a
better camera such as a DSLR etc,
higher ISO isn’t always a big problem.
But if using a camera phone or
more basic camera you might need
to either move your subject into a
better light area or add flash.
Want to improve your cosplay photography?
Our Cosplay Live team
often works with photo groups to
run events and teach cosplayers
and photographers how to get better
photos. Why not contact us and
we can let you know when our next
event is on.
Email us at:
feedback@gametraders.com.au