Image: @Komickrazi
For Photographers:
- Recording video or photos around a convention: call out “video!” or “stills!” so your subject can perform or pose accordingly. It’s not always clear now with phones and DSLR cameras.
- Respect cosplayers’ downtime. Sure it’s “public space,” but nobody wants to be photographed when they’re a hot mess. Thank you! If you simply must have that slice-of-life con lunch photo, consider staging it.
- If tasked with pictures of a specific costumer around an event, spend at least half your time ahead of them. There’s no frustration quite like peeling off a complicated suit and then finding out it’s all pictures of your back side. That said…do try to work in some other angles! Reaction shots are nice to see.
- Allow cosplayers a couple of their own poses before requesting your own. When directing poses, respect the performer and character’s bounds, no spicy “off-limits” situations.
For Cosplayers:
- Look off-camera in some photos, gesture a bit, tell a story without any words! Some eye contact is good, but in every photo it starts to resemble a school yearbook.
Image: @Komickrazi
- Do not stop in doorways, at ends of escalators or in high-traffic areas. If someone wants a photo, lead them to a better location.
Photos/selfies while in costume with gloved hands:
- The volume buttons on most cell phones (and some wired earbuds) work as a shutter control.
- The Back Tap feature on newer iPhones can be configured to open the Camera app, even when locked.
- “Selfie sticks” often bundle a separate Bluetooth trigger, useful even without the stick (which are often banned in crowded event spaces).
Adafruit projects on this page: MONSTER M4SK Toon Hat.
