/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

What are some cheap but effective tools/gadgets to use for smartphone cosplay photography?

>>10876917
As far as photography goes there are only two things that matter for gear
Glass and lighting
The absolute cheapest way to do things is a ring light on a tripod, preferably that hold your phone
If that's you I'll say avoid overhead strong lighting with that wig
It's shiny and the reflection makes it look unnatural, go for soft enough overhead lighting that there is no reflection or as little as possible

>>10876917
> smartphone photography
Bring a mirror to bounce light at the subject because indoor top-down lighting is awful

>>10868059
24-70

>>10868059
sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 is my go to for cons
I keep the rest of my glass in the safe
If you're doing snapshits you NEED an auto zoom and auto focus
Unless you're going full tripod and lights set up at a con prime lenses are a bust
>but I'm poor
Gkod photography costs money

>>10868100
>the ones who bring the equipment don't get paid, they do it for hobby and to fuck around.
As a pro who goes to a LOT of cons I'll tell you that if you knew anything you'd know that ourside of huge shit like Anime Expo the guys who vring lights and stuff use cheap Amazon shit. I'm pretty much the only actual photographer who regularly goes to smaller cons but I get paid and get hotel and shit lol

>>10876939
I do professional photography but not for cosplay. It's not a way to make a living. My wife and I will use it to fuck hot sluts for booze and cash, but otherwise I just do it for friends at this point. Not worth the money they pay. 1 wedding is like 5 cosplay sessions at a con. Conversely, a hooker for a long weekend threesome and filming it costs like 5k. I can get the same fucking and sucking with some weed, booze, and sharing my hotel room.

>>10876964
Larp

>>10876977
>Reee, sex haver get out!!!
Sorry that sometimes nerds fuck, incel. Deal with it.

>>10876964
How ugly are you? Holy shit man I get 10s at cons just by walking up to them get a grip uggo

>>10876978
NAYRT & Its not that part
>1 wedding is like 5 cosplay sessions
What cheap garbage weddings are you shooting?

>>10877005
Maybe you do, maybe you dont. What you dont get is a business contract and filmed consent to get paid for plowing some needy teen poon while your wife tongues your balls. Instead you get drama and feels instead of emptying your balls and doing more important things in life.

>>10877012
I live in rural North Florida so weding pics only is 2500 bux. I charge 500 for my semi pro cosplay stuff

>>10876964

Yep if cosplay photography paid for real then you wouldn't have cosplay photogs like Darshelle Stevens or Lauren Pihl doing porn on their OnlyFans instead of just doing shoots or scamming folks

I go for fun, to make images that I enjoy and proud to share, and to make people happy that I shoot with, and lastly to get a little better each time

Just getting into photography and wanted to take pics of cosplayer for fun, which mm lens do you champs go with?

I'm using a crop sensor so my 35 becomes a ~50 and I think that's what I personally like. My use case would just be inside the con hall so at most like 3 meters of dist.

>>10877122
Wait just scrolled down and realized it got answered lmao

>>10877122
35 and 85 or equivalents. Never got along with 50, always found it makes pics look "flat" and snapshotty compared to wides and teles and it always seems to be the wrong lens for any situation I find myself in. Back when I was doing photography for work I shot FF Nikon and had a 24-70 and 70-200, found some program that'd chart out what focal lengths I was actually using with them and 90% was around 35 or 85 so I just bought the equivalent primes when I downsized to APS-C Fuji.

>Be a photographer.
>End up shooting deranged grown ups playing dress up on their orgie meetings.

Must be like being a fry cook. Whatever you do you cant get the smell of your workplace out of your clothes. Wherever you go people will pick up that unique scent of stale sweat with a bouqet of talcum, crusty make up, body fluid drenched polyester, dehydration breath, lukewarm hot dogs and a just a promising hint of substance induced intercourse with a dash of lube.

>>10877405
Why are you even here then

>>10877405
that's the point

>>10844821
>will book multiple photographers for the same outfit on the same day for reasons???
this is absolutely normal, and in fact highly efficient.
Not every photographer has the same style, so if you want to see your costume in a variety of styles, it's the best way to do it.
It's very weird you'd expect a costume that wasn't specifically made for you to shoot to be exclusive to you, particularly just for one day.

Most of the rest of your points are valid though

>>10876930
this is big
but also, make sure your phone camera can save in an actual raw format, or it really good at processing on the fly.
That photo has a ton of noise, and that amount is fairly hard to get rid of, and it's very common for phones.

There ARE lenses for phones, some are a little fun but most are pointless.
But if you're interested, I'd suggest looking for a phone telephoto lens. The big issue about phone pics is digital zoom can really ruin things, and getting in close warps the face. So a telephoto lens (not really comparable with a normal telephoto lens though) can mean you can stay a good distance back while getting a closer shot

Every time I book a photog I'm not friends or mutuals with, they ghost and I never get pics back despite them going to more cons and opening more bookings and posting edited pics of their friends.

Any way to avoid this? What's an appropriate time frame to ask people for photos back without looking like an ass?

>>10878527
Ask the following weekend for the photos, some photogs would just rather edit on their days off from work and it doesn't take that long to edit con photos.

>>10878527
>they ghost and I never get pics back
Did you pay them?
Even for a free shoot that's a dick move, but doing paid shoots should guarantee you'd get pics back.

>>10878562
The situation I’m talking about I paid for the shoot (sadly). It was a con I don’t usually attend so I thought I’d try booking with someone new that I saw on an fb group.

>>10878527

Stop booking with photogs if they have no refund policy and ask you to pay with friends/famly that allows them to scam suckers

>>10878616
That's common? I've never seen any photog that has a refund policy in my area, friend or not.

>>10878594
Ouch. I always ask for a time frame of when I can expect the photos back immediately after I finish the shoot. If we're talking 5-10 photos with minimal editing (no special effects), I wouldn't expect to wait longer than a month if I paid.

>>10879766
>Eurogeat Kasumi
Kek people been talking shit about him for 20 years
I'm sure he posts here too

>>10879767
can all the creeper photogs get yeeted already? just saw someone else getting out in the group i'm in

>>10844821
>>insane demands from cosplayers, more so than an actual paid shoot

Just don't work with them.

>>lack of effort from the same cosplayers to shoot on a day that isn't a con.

Actually relatable. I hate shooting at cons.

>>cosplayer can't be bothered to watch a few youtube tutorials on how to pose.

Also relatable. Just copy poses from the series.

>>thinks posing like a scene from an anime is the same as posing for a real life photo

I mean, it's cosplay. At least try to recreate scenes.

>>will book multiple photographers for the same outfit on the same day for reasons???

Who cares?

>>will post private conversations from (you) in their cosplay group chats

Eh. As long as you're not a creep no one cares.
>>will facetune any image you take

Don't send them the raws.

>>will suddenly want to shoot with you if you have any form of clout from bigger cosplayers

That's how clout works

>>10878629
Many photographers offer refunds if they're running late or can't make it to a shoot or con

Aside from not disturbing a cosplayer while they are eating or clearly watching the presentation, what else do you people observe so that you can nicely ask a picture from them and not get rejected?

>>10844821
How can I start as a cosplay photographer if I don't know Photoshop and only have a half decent camera with one lens that can shoot 4k photos?

I am also have no connections.

>>10882458
Lightroom is more important than PS. Shoot in RAW/NEF format and you can do minor adjustments later. Work to the strengths of the lens you have and practice your portrait framing (use your mom or friend for practice). Business cards go a long way, post your pics online (Instagram, Facebook, personal website etc.) and link to them on the card. Eventually, if your photos are good, you'll get shoot requests from cosplayers.

my r6 mark 1 is being delivered today :3c

>>10882649
he means he doesn't know how to edit photos, not photoshop as a program. have you never seen people use the term photoshop generically?

>>10882668
There's a distinction between "don't know Photoshop" (implying the program) and "don't know how to Photoshop" (implying the editing term)

>>10882691
just because OP can't write doesn't mean you're not a retard.

>>10882654

Congrats anon, the r6 mk i is a great camera. It's my main body and I pair it with an EF 50mm 1.2 and an EF 70-200 2.8 for all of my cosplay/general portraiture and wouldn't trade either combo for the world, nailing focus when shooting wide open with the R systems' eye AF is a game changer.

>>10882776
I will check out some ef lens when I have extra funds lying around for now all I got is a nifty fifty to practice with. what sd cards do you use?

>>10882928

can't go wrong with nifty fifty 1.8, honestly even with my EF 50mm 1.2L i don't shoot wide open half of the time, am usually at f/2 for a lot of shots.

i use uhs-ii PNY 128gb elite x-pro v60 cards, nothing fancy since i only do stills but reliable and cheap at like $30 each.

I'll answer photography questions if anyone wants to ask. Cosplay has such a symbiotic relationship with photography that would be crazy to pass up if you are looking to explore photo concepts.
I find it really fun when someone allows me enough time to photograph them with some direction.

>>10883062
Man, what the fuck is this?

You want to "answer questions" and teach, but you post something that looks like a slab of washed out grey pixels?

I know you probably posted some other guy's terrible work ironically to get hate replies, so 7/10 just for making me type this.

>>10883961
thats lord of the rings man

>>10883062
Those guys make a good team. They really nailed the style and you did a fantastic job capturing it.

>>10883961
The lighting and saturation actually match the movie very well; keep seething.