[Leica] More Anime Convention Photos

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

On 10/10/04 3:21 AM, "Richard F. Man" <richard-lists@imagecraft.com> typed:

> http://www.dragonsgate.net/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=3020
> This is the Masquerade and the Friday set. I have ~100 photos from Saturday
> to be processed and uploaded later.
> 
> Let me stress again that for most "cosplayers," they love to see their
> photos. So they don't mind even really glaring photo errors (e.g. trees
> growing out of their ears, or lens distortion make them appear to have a
> giant nose, or they suddenly acquiring green tints w/o green makeup etc.),
> as long as they are in the shots. In other words, there are redundant
> photos or some that are definitely decidedly not too good. Having said
> that, I really like how some of them came out, especially on the Friday
> set. I was playing with different composition technique of cutting off
> portion of the body to add drama, but my wife just told me that whenever I
> do that, it's almost always the right side that I chopped off. Oh well.
> live and learn.
> 
> In the Masquerade set with the Studio flash, I didn't have time to fully
> explore different lighting techniques or try the single lighting technique
> that Mark Rabiner suggested. For the group shots, it definitely will not
> work well anyway. Anycase, I did move the lights from my usual boring two
> lights at 45 degrees setup and moved the lights further back with the right
> light being stronger and the left one more like 30 degree and closer but
> less powerful to try to eliminate some back shadows. In some shots, I think
> it works reasonably well, but in some others, it fails spectacularly with a
> big ugly shadow right in the middle. Again, since the cosplayers want to
> see themselves, I left even those up. I would have not put them up
> otherwise. Generally, I am happier with these studio light shots than the
> ones I took a year ago (it was the first time I used the lights in this
> sort of situation). Last year I got some burnt out with the white costumes,
> and this year looks like at least I got that mostly under control.
> 
> Camera: M7, 35/1.4 ASPH, 50/2, and a small number with 90/2AA. I bought the
> Tri-Elmar to travel around Japan but I found that it is just as easy to
> swap lens or move around. I do martial arts and I notice that after a shoot
> of 2-3 hours my legs would be killing me because I would quickly switch to
> difference stances to get different angles and distances from the subject 
> :-)
> 
> As usual, comments and suggestions are always welcome.
> 


I loved looking through these shots and I love Halloween!
I think the strong shadow you've got on the left is a plus. Not a minus.
What bums me out a bit on the setup is the painted backdrop.
I'd vote for a simple white sheet or canvas.
I think those painted backdrops look "canned".
I try to get my backdrops from the fresh produce department.

I'm not seeing two lights in the eyes despite the setup you describe and to
me that's a plus.

Take that strong shadow away and you've got a weaker picture in very example
if you ask me. It gives them a bottom.
Body.
Rinse and repeat.

Instead of a second light in the front I'll always go for a piece of
foamcore Or a big round collapsible reflector thing clamped to a light
stand.

But as I almost always go for a white backdrop I make sure this backdrop is
also the floor. The white floor simplifies lighting as it reflects up nixing
the need for fragmented fills. It's one big fill.

Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland Oregon
http://rabinergroup.com/