/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Im ugly so I'm the one who does the photo shooting. I don't like pictures of me existing anywhere

>>10802934
ive never looked for "named" photographers. i just look for friends who know how to use a DSLR and who has basic photography knowledge than the average person.

Probably only tangential to the thread but is it usual for people to offer money after taking a photo of or with a cosplayer? Was at and even a few months ago and some were very insistent about paying for photos I was just giving away all weekend.

All male photographers are right wing sexist misogynistic bigots.

>>10803233
Hot

>>10803233
I'm a male photographer and I'm an anarchist

>>10803228
You mean cosplayers giving the photographer money? Yea, i've had a few cosplayers give me money after I took their photo and said I'd send them a link to the photos.

>>10803233
Can a right wing sexist bigot photographer even make money in this space? 95% of the cosplayers who would pay for photos are bi women. Right wing photographers aren't going to be planning shoots with cosplayers.

>>10803233
>>10803245
Most pervs are the "male feminist" type

>>10803251
That comic artist is literally, openly, a right wing sexist misogynistic bigot

>>10803245
They said the cosplayer being offered money.

>>10803262
And?

>>10803245
I'm a right-wing photographer. Most of the money I make from photography and shoots (after expenses and new photography equipment) usually goes to my other lifestyle of guns, ammo, and equipment.

ITT: newfags falling for obvious bait

>>10803228
I’ve heard of photographers paying certain cosplayers to shoot with them or compensate them with food. It’s not common but it does happen.

>>10803282
>I'm a right-wing
disgusting

>>10803316
>not being right-wing
pitiful

>>10803322

>>10803322
>>10803316
Now kiss

>>10802934
I've never worked with a photographer before but would really like to. I wanted to get one for this year's AX to commemorate the end of a two year long project, but I got kind of anxious about finding one and chickened out. It was hard to tell who was a travelling photog for AX and who was actually in the area.

>>10803369
>worked with a photographer
Photographers are hack frauds
You just get a camera and adjust the lens then shoot
Anyone can do it, I'm a monkey chimp retard and my photoset are better than most "professional" photographers

>>10803228

Paid photographers are usually scheduled before the convention.

If a photographer grabs a shot of you at a con, and they ask you for money, report them to security for soliciting.

>>10803375
There's a lot of point and click photogs that exist in the conventions, they use the exact same filters and presets in Lightroom, Photoshop, and etc., but remove those and they can't edit for shit.

Not knocking it, but at least learn how to do it without the shortcuts from presets and filters first.

>>10803443
I don't use presets or filters, I don't even use auto focus
Anyone who uses auto focus shouldn't call themselves a photographer lmao

>>10803442
Anon nobody said anything about paying photographers

>>10803369
honestly, it doesn't matter if they're local or not. what matters is that they know what they're doing. like you could have gone outside the parking lot and there's a bunch of photographers that hang out there. it's not the best background (but the lacc is kind of shit for backgrounds in general) but they would have worked with you for free

>>10803457
saying you use manual focus shows that you're really confident in your abilities and works against trying to say "anyone can do it," and using yourself as an example of "anyone," implying that you're low skill

>>10803494
>saying you use manual focus shows that you're really confident in your abilities and works against trying to say "anyone can do it," and using yourself as an example of "anyone," implying that you're low skill
Okay yeah I guess so. It's like how I became fluent in Japanese in 3 years I guess, I assumed everyone could do it if they tried but I've only ever met 2 wypipo who could actually speak coherently

>who to avoid
Not sure if he is still around, but Chris Fox/Fang Fox Photography is definitely one to avoid.
He used the tiny little bit of power he had with Colossalcon to offer press passes to anyone he deemed to be a cute cosplay girl in order to ingratiate himself with them.
Paoimages is another one to avoid, and he's going to be at Dragoncon so watch out.
I don't recall the exact circumstances of what he did, but I do recall he pulled the ol' "delete my social media accounts for a week or two until the heat is off and then come back like nothing ever happened".

I very rarely ever see a cosplay photo that makes me go "wow, this is amazing!" There are a lot of cosplay photographers somehow manage to charge way too much money, and still get fully booked for cons.
My go-to photog is just "ok", but I know I can trust him, which is the most important thing to me. No flirty bullshit. No bothering me with personal stuff on social media. No hugs or touching me in any way.
Those things don't seem like much to ask, but it's hard to find someone that can act proper.

>>10803594
I mean for me it's like, if you're doing it as a "pro" you're just going after the money so obviously there's no art in it. Portraiture photography is only art when you're taking photos of beautiful people, and face it 99.99% of people who get "pro" cosplay photos aren't beautiful, they're plain at best. It doesn't matter how high quality your cosplay is if you're not beautiful, ultimately your pics are just masturbation fuel for creepy ugly men, not art. Why would anyone with skill and talent waste themselves on taking pics for coomers?

>>10803604
>if you're doing it as a "pro" you're just going after the money so obviously there's no art in it
where do you draw the line on this though? are cosplayers who enter in craftsmanship competitions also not artists? are lolita print designers not artists because they're selling their work on mass made garments? what about artists that sell their work in galleries?
artists and people who do creative work also gotta eat somehow. can't pay for living expenses with "but it's ArT".

>take pics of people
>don't charge them anything
>get to practice my shooting
>no expectation of professional-grade photos
There's really no downside, it's a win-win. Unless you think it's a waste of time or something.

We need more girl photographers
I dont know why anyone would shoot with a male when so many have been exposed as creeps

>>10803623
This has been said so often it's essentially a meme at this point. The amount of male photogs that are "creeps" is exaggerated.
Can you (or anyone else here) even come up with five names along with their "rap sheets"?
Post up or fuck off with this vaguebook faggotry.

>>10803623
>We need more girl photographers
what's stopping them from starting?

>>10803640
Women can never understand the male gaze so they don't know how to take pics men like and only men pay for photo sets
Hence

>>10803623
We can turn this thread into another retarded battle of the sexes thread but maybe we shouldn't

>>10803642
many onlygirls have their friends/relatives take their pictures its cheaper easier and safer
not hard to aim a camera at some tiddies

>>10803646
Yeah and look at the pathetic amount of money they make lmao
Every single woman on onlyfans who has made enough to buy a house had a man take pics and videos, usually their bf
Cope and seethe carpet muncher

>>10803282

Based

>>10803494
>honestly, it doesn't matter if they're local or not.
I also wanted to do some location shoots during the con's off-season which is why I wanted a local one, but yeah for the AX shoots I probably should've just gone for anyone.

>but they would have worked with you for free
Really? I thought everyone who hung out there was for paid sessions.

>>10803375
Nah, I don't really want the burden of learning how to pose, shoot, and edit. I just want to pay someone to do it for me who can make me shine.

>>10803692
>I also wanted to do some location shoots
You know you can simply approach a photographer and ask if they're local, right?

>I thought everyone who hung out there was for paid sessions.
Paid sessions are always at some nicer location. Anyone who hangs out outside the con center is just there to take free photos.

>>10803251
Where amogus

>>10803705
>Paid sessions are always at some nicer location. Anyone who hangs out outside the con center is just there to take free photos.
Occasionally if the venue has some photogenic locations there'll be a few photogs doing paid shoots there. The Otakon Marriott Lobby and Katsu Gaylord Pavilion come to mind

>>10803622
It really is a great place for newer photogs to get some experience shooting people, although the environment is definitely more challenging than studios. Lighting, time, crowd constraints and whatnot.

>>10803692
>Really? I thought everyone who hung out there was for paid sessions.
Some, yes. There's enough amateur photogs that'd be more than willing to take the chance to get a location shoot in just for the experience though. It doesn't hurt to walk up and ask, or use social media to try and find someone.

>>10803494
>it's not the best background (but the lacc is kind of shit for backgrounds in general)

There's like 2 good spots and it's always fucking crowded around them

>>10803375
Sure, I guess if you set it to auto? But I can't tell you how many times I've handed my camera to a friend to take photos of me and they're composition is horrible or the photo is out of focus.

>>10803457
Imagine thinking using auto focus doesn't quality you for being a photographer lmfao. Okay.

>>10803910
Take what you can get really. Most people aren't too concerned about the background if it's a literal 'walk up and ask for a photo quickly' shot. Even walking 5 seconds to an empty wall in a dealers hall makes a shot 10x better than people walking in the background.

>>10803457
no one gives a shit about how you operate a camera as long as you can compose and light things well.

>>10803617
You said it best. If no one was allowed to make money off their art; your favorite TV shows, movies, and musical artists wouldn't exist.

>>10803918
is that supposed to be an example of good photography

>>10803922
better than any photo posted in this thread so far

>>10803923
It looks like bad 3DCG

>>10803936
almost like they're trying to imitate the actual game

>>10803941
Tifa wasn't in her underwear in the game
there is a difference between Photographers and Thotographers

>>10803941
Imitation is the lowest form of cosplay

Who is the most popular photographers right now? I see Muze's photos everywhere still but are there newer popular photographers?

>>10803917
Venue lighting is just shitty most of the time so it's hard to make things look good (or at least im not good enough at composing) in the short amount of time i have.

>>10803952
That lighting is actually good for death not the composition and focus is just really bad dude
Why not just lay down on the ground and get a proper pose so the angle and lighting works for you

>>10803957
me when im on day 4 of no sleep and shoot wide open aperture that focuses on his fucking left eye and nothing else

i'll keep it in mind next time tho, i couldn't lie down there cuz the lighting was on a stairwell that people were transiting on

>>10803965
>i couldn't lie down there cuz the lighting was on a stairwell that people were transiting on
I've seen plenty of people lie down on stairs, I've done it myself.

>>10803972
guess i'll get over the social anxiety and do it next con

>>10803983
Do whatever you can for that shot anon. I've done fully down on the floor plenty of times for some angles.

>>10803984
the true /p/ experience

>>10803984
I usually do that shit but I'd like wearing a cosplay that's expensive enough I only do indoors. I'm not scuffing my $1000 armor for a photograph I'm taking for free lol

>>10803705
>You know you can simply approach a photographer and ask if they're local, right?
I'm scared. (Jokes aside, I will do that next time.)

>anyone around the con center is there for free photos
That makes so much sense now that I feel silly for thinking otherwise.

>>10803911
Thank you, anon. I'll muster up my courage and try that next time.

>use social media to find someone
I did try using hashtags like #cosplyphotographer and #laphotographer, but I think those were too vague. Is there any search terms or groups you'd recommend? As I mentioned in my first post, I tried reverse-searching through followers' tags on photos but I wasn't ever sure if they would come to the same cons or generally local.

>>10803993
No idea how it is from the cosplayer side, but I usually find cosplayers who want photo ops through convention discords or the con facebook pages. The official photoshoot meetups also will have a pretty large group of photogs show up and they'll usually be someone willing to go off to the side for a few photos although it's hit or miss in terms of quality. If you're in LA I'd check the Anime Expo discord or facebook pages, or some of the other offshoot pages/groups. I think /cgl/ had an AX discord at some point and there were photogs in there.

>>10803988
Just gotta have a selection of 30$ uniqlo hoodies to scuff on the ground

>>10803993

Came into this thread looking to see if anyone was looking for an LA photog. I just like the hobby and wanted some practice, so I'll work for free if you're interested.

>>10804151
Based
Good luck on your shoots

>>10804157
Why this angle
Why just why

>>10804160
I thought it was good enough for a snapshit.
How could I have composed it better?

>>10804162
Being lower would make the lighting better

>>10804164
Something like this?

>>10804151
I guess I should post up a shot of mine as an example

>>10804167
>using a a landscape shot to t ry and convince people you're a competent portraitature photographer
Maybe try going to conventions and hang around the photo rooms, ask people if they want you to take pics for them

>>10804168
wtf there's photo rooms at cons?
>>10804167
praise our lord and saturator

>>10804168
Never said I was competent at portraiture. If anything, I implied that I'm NOT good at it by stating that I want practice.

But hey, if you wanna be all angy for no reason, then more power to ya

>>10804169
No shame on that one, I love me some vibrancy

>>10804171
>No shame on that one, I love me some vibrancy
Preach

>>10804004
Oh that's a great idea! Thanks anon.

>>10804162
In general, head-on shots aren’t flattering because they make the cosplayer look stumpier. A lower angle elongates the figure and makes the cosplayer look more animu.

>>10804398
Does that apply for headshots too or just for waist and full body shots?

I've worked with this photographer off and on for a while now, Other than being kind of sporadic and not that great with posing, I have no complaints.

Photogs to avoid in the south (mostly GA) are Audience Killer cosplay photography, Cubster cosplay photography, AVM cosplay photography, And "Frameshot" who goes by James

>>10804467
but why are they to be avoided?

>>10803604
If you think "good" portraits only happen with beautiful young people I feel a little sorry for you

>>10804520

Audience Killer has given alcohol to minors, general creepiness.

Cubster is a creep, Body shames, talks shit about his clients, is unstable as fuck

AVM cosplay photography is just a shit person, shit photography, talks shit about other photographers, clients, is buddy-buddy with Cubster.

Frameshot is a creep as well, preys on young women and generally only takes pictures of skimpy dressed cosplayers.

I'm on the east coast and started as a cosplayer but after a year or two of subpar and overpriced work from con photographers (male and female) I just made friends with cosplayers who also do photography and we just take turns shooting. I was always decent with it but upped my game over the pandemic with gear, software, more practice. Unfortunately a side effect of this is my portfolio is only my friends so I don't feel comfortable selling my time/photos even though I have the skill level. Also I remember a east coast/west coast stereotype was you'd never get a free photoshoot at a con in the east coast but on the west coast there are so many rich tech kids trying to flex their gear you'd get a lot of free photos lmao.

The other thing about the pandemic made me realize I hate all con photos (at the con center) bc the lighting and background is so unpredictable or bad. During the pandemic we did a lot of location shoots and overall I'm happier with my cosplays and my photos. But there's a special pride in doing a good convention shoot to overcome the odds.

Another east coast/Canada stereotype I ran into was how fucking snobby these photogs are. They either act like gods gift to cosplayers or king of fob mountain lol. Anyc is horrible for this

How do you search for a place for a location shoot? How do you know which place to pick?

>>10804595
not tech myself but the side effect is that wages are higher in a lot of other industries out here on the west coast. prices are to the point where a shoot at east coast prices is probably an hour or two of pay (and for someone in tech half an hour to an hour) so a lot of us just handwave it away and just shoot for free. not much of a flex, people just want to shoot. if you want to charge you would have to be really good (like alive alf for example is good, prices are kind of high imo but he's consistently good at least) to be worth it over all the free people. average/low-level people have to be free too by extension because of all the free people, of which many are good.

>>10804701
Ideally, you just want a location that fits the genre that you want to shoot with interesting lighting (if you aren't making your own with flashes or reflectors). Hard to say more without details on what you're trying to capture though?

>>10804530
Sorry but it's true
I've had photos of me in very high quality commissioned cosplay taken by some of the best, and they all looked like shit. You can't fix ugly, that's why I take pictures and only let people take pics of me if I'm wearing a mask.

>>10803985
>>10804867
stop posting this ugly faggot.

>>10804867
I really hope this isn't your definition of a good location.

>>10804904
>t
Nope, I'm just posting early snapshits with my posts.
If you want an example picrel

>>10804867
I dont have one in mind specifically, but just wondering how y'all search. Like let's go with the character in your picrel. If you googled "diners near me", you'd get results for Denny's and shit.

I suggest shooting with photographers of the same sex, there are less groomers, creeps, and pervs when they are the same sex.

>>10804919
Schizo advice. The real answer is only shoot with photographers in a committed monogamous relationship.
I assure you that if you are a male cosplayer and aren't ugly those single male photographers probably trying to fuck your ass.

But besides that if you can't tell by talking to someone if they're likely a rapist you have bigger problems.

>>10804916
Probably use autism to trawl web articles for historical diners in the area and see if the article photos have photogenic areas. For the picrel, DC has a bunch of interesting architecture scattered around so it's mostly walking around looking for spots. Stealing spots from local social media works too.

>>10804916
>shimakaze
>diners
what

>>10804994

Spooderman >>10804907

>>10804994
The most accurate location for shimakaze is a dirty filthy motel room obviously :3

>>10804994

>>10805113
The focus
The leveling
The color balancing
The composition

Please tell me this is a picture taken with a phone or a really shitty cheap camera. It looks bad

>>10805134
this is clearly a shitty phone pic with a filter slapped on top, retard.

>>10805134
Bruh its someone eating, not a photo shoot lmao.

>>10804929
Thanks, anon!

>>10804994
My b, I mixed up characters in my head. I've never seen the one Shimmy is from.

>>10803623
Like women haven't had their own issues or been exposed in the past. Anna Fisher scammed over 20k in money for her Wild Places BS. Lauren Pihhl conned people out of money left and right on the East Coast before she rebranded in Texas. Didn't Ash B and some NJ Russian check also not deliver on their paid photos? Granted you get less pervs, but you get outright scammers instead from women.

>>10804919
As a man I'd be more wary of another man than a woman

>>10804877
hey that's just my bad posing and location, I promise I'm not ugly when I actually do pose nicely and my face doesn't look like I'm on drugs

>>10805360
For a dude you're not that ugly bro but as a trap you're hideous
Astolfo is the most feminine you can go ok

>>10805448
it's just the camera angles and overall exhaustion from the event. see the pics I have on insta @iorikun10 for how I look with good pics instead of bad shots

>>10805450
Did you make this thread just to selfpost your ugly ass? Kek.

>>10804871
I'm sorry you have an unfortunate face anon. Good theatrical makeup and hairstyling can make a world of difference, as well as choosing the right angle, composition and pose. "Knowing your angles" is something models actually train at. On the other side, I have seen more than one cute, clear skinned, big tiddy cosplayer still look bad in pro edited images because they just don't know how to pose their face and no one tells them to. They end up looking like mannequins or like they derped out.

Any advice for "getting good" at cosplay photography?

>>10805482
That's like asking how to become a good artist in any medium
Have talent and put in the practice
Never listen to liars who say anyone can be good at anything

>>10805482
Take a shit ton of photos and improve over time
You can't develop composition skills without just grinding them out over time.
>>10805459
Nah those were some fucked up shots I took at AX this year

>>10805488
can you stop posting? nothing you post is good.

>>10805488
*took of them

>>10805489
I'll gladly take constructive criticism or learn from ur examples if you can offer any.

>>10805491
oh, you're one of those fuckers. i will just ignore you since your opinion is utter shit.

>>10805493
Fair enough.

>>10805491
>>10805490
>>10805488
>>10804867
>>10803985
Everyone ignore this idiot. He's one of those "idiots with a camera" you hear about. These photos are camera phone quality at best.

>>10805495
Well yeah, you use a phone for snapshits

>>10805493
lol, can tell you take sooooo many amazing photos, teach us o master

>>10805511
kek, you're so pressed.

>>10805482
Honestly practice doesn't really do much when it comes to photography. Technical skill is like 10% at most. It's art, the most important thing is knowing what looks good and what doesn't, and being able to adjust things until they look good.

ok

>>10805512

>>10805515
bad picture taken with a decent camera lens

>>10805517
not as low quality as anon's shit photos.

>>10805512
my man
I am not the original anon
please take your meds, get off /cgl/ and try taking some actual photos some time

>>10805525
nta but there's no fucking way I'd post photos I've taken of people on 4chan

>>10805527
but would you get so pressed about an anons photo quality and refuse to even explain why the photo isnt good?

>>10805482
Anon's babby to photogroomer EZPZ guide:
First practice portrait photography in outdoor environments, that will teach you most of what you need to know about composition, focal length, angles and lighting. Learn at least how to use aperture priority and shutter speed priority modes on your camera.
Second learn photo color grading in whatever editing tool you linkto adjust skin tone and fabric colors, and learn healing brush/clone stamp to remove pimples and stray hairs. (Wigs in a con environment have A LOT of stray hairs)

Once you master those two areas you'll be decent. Then if you're enjoying yourself and want to push further:
Third learn how to use flash units to adjust lighting indoors and outdoors to make the images more dramatic.
Fourth learn how raw files work and how they can give you more flexibility in adjusting photos in post.

P.S. Don't actually become a groomer. That's bad. Avoid any and all shoots with minors unless they have an adult present at all times. If you have a foot fetish fucking HOLD IT IN and don't try to casually sneak feet pics, especially if they're dirty from walking around barefoot. Yes it was necessary to specifically call out foot dudes

>>10805482
Anon's snapshitter to photogroomer EZPZ guide:
First practice portrait photography in outdoor environments, that will teach you most of what you need to know about composition, focal length, angles and lighting. Learn at least how to use aperture priority and shutter speed priority modes on your camera.
Second learn photo color grading in whatever editing tool you have to adjust skin tone and fabric colors, and learn healing brush/clone stamp to remove pimples and stray hairs. (Wigs in a con environment have A LOT of stray hairs)

Once you master those two areas you'll be decent. Then if you're enjoying yourself and want to push further:
Third learn how to use flash units to adjust lighting indoors and outdoors to make the images more dramatic.
Fourth learn how raw files work and how they can give you more flexibility in adjusting photos in post.

P.S. Don't actually become a groomer. That's bad. Avoid any and all shoots with minors unless they have an adult present at all times. If you have a foot fetish fucking HOLD IT IN and don't try to casually sneak feet pics, especially if they're dirty from walking around barefoot. Yes it was necessary to specifically call out foot dudes.

>>10805531
>Third learn how to use flash units to adjust lighting indoors and outdoors to make the images more dramatic.

This will probably be the most valuable skill for conventions settings since most CCs have horrendous lighting conditions.

>>10805529
why do you care so much? photography is objective quality wise, you don't need to point out the shit lighting and poor framing explicitly.

>>10805534
why care enough to spend this much effort defending shitting on someone

>photography is objective quality wise
ah, theres the problem, into the trash the opinion goes

>>10805536
He's right though. There's a hard difference between quality and artistic merit. If a photo has shitty lighting or shitty framing or poor focus it's low quality, if it's low quality it doesn't meet the minimum threshold to possibly have artistic merit. Technical skill is only a small part of taking good photographs, but without it you can't take good photographs.

>>10805537
yes
but I fail to see how majority of the pictures posted were of low enough quality to be below the threshold

>>10805537
I genuinely want to know if my images fall under that threshold tho, and how to improve if they do.

>>10805539
Using
>>10805488
>>10805491
as examples the lighting is bad because of the angle and distance
they look like they were taken outside, if you're taking photos outside you want to optimize your lighting from the sun
also the framing is bad for both, they look really claustrophobic and way too close up for what it seems like the intended aesthetic is supposed to be

>>10805540
>as examples the lighting is bad because of the angle and distance
So would this be a metering issue or should I recompose to get more interesting lighting?
>also the framing is bad for both, they look really claustrophobic and way too close up for what it seems like the intended aesthetic is supposed to be
First one was a photoshoot snapshit but would something like this work better?

>>10805543
>would this be a metering issue
I honestly wouldn't know since the only thing I know about metering is I change the shutter speed and ISO until I like how it looks. I mean this photo is better. It has no artistic merit though because both of those people are shit at posing

>>10805545
Fair enough, I guess I'll go shoot more until I get an eye for lighting and people.

>>10805546
Just don't have high expectations.
Just like not everyone can be a master sculptor or painter not everyone can be great at taking pictures. I've met plenty of people with $10k cameras who take mediocre photos and have invested decades when they're talentless frauds who make money only because cosplayers are mostly naive children who don't know better.

>>10805554
As long as it's enough to stop my friends from getting scammed by those photogs, it's enough for me.

>>10805555
Well you're obviously not good at posing people which is a big part of photography. And if you're going to take GOOD cosplay pics you need to actually know the source material and what characters should look like, what kind of personality they have, etc.
Most photogs who do cosplay shoots do mediocre shoots because they don't know shit about anime

>>10805536
do you know what nta means or?

>>10805532
Thanks anon. I don't expect or really even hope to get much out of it besides enjoyment. I'm getting older but still like cons & looking at cosplays so I mostly just want more avenues to engage with that since I'm aging out of hardcore drinking.

>>10805576
yes
but I am assuming they didnt just ignore the rest of the thread, see my comment and only say that in responce, id assume agreement in the initial sentiment otherwise it would make no sense

>>10805627
You're actually retarded.

>>10805543
I agree with >>10805540 that the framing in those two and >>10805543 are claustrophobic and too closed (or in the case of the second pair maybe not cropped enough)
On the shipgirl her right (our left) cannon blends into the vertical pole of the handrail so you don't know where the barrel starts and ends. You could have asked her to shift to the right to be away from the handrails. She doesn't show her power enough. I would have squatted down a bit or asked her to pose from 2-3 steps up on the stairs to make her look more imposing.

On the second one with the knife the girl looks good but the guy's head throws off the shot. He's slightly hazy and blurry, probably because you were wide open and he's slightly outside the depth of field. I would have stopped down a little to get them both sharp. I think his pose with chin down is also kind of awkward. If he had leaned his head back so his face was up toward the knife, that would have improved the impact. I think maybe also because he's in profile and she's in 3/4 view. Maybe a better angle would have been over them looking down, with her looking up at the knife and his face also facing up at the camera with eyes closed.

On the third, again the chin down pose feels awkward and might have been better if he was holding the phone up between his and her face to highlight the emotional disconnect between them. Cropping his body at the hip/shoulder adds to the claustrophobic feeling. If you had stepped back a little to show the surface of the bench he's lying on and to show her knees that he's resting on the composition would feel more complete.

>>10805632
>because you were wide open
*because your aperture was wide open

>>10805520
NTA but that's all my photos.

>>10805772
I feel second hand embarrassment when I see people with cameras that cost thousands of dollars and lenses that cost a thousand or more take way worse photos than I do with my shitty old $200 DSLR and Chinese cheap ass lenses
Legit embarrassing

>>10805772
Which ones?

>>10805773
It's a tale as old as time
Gear can't make up for shit composition

>>10805482
It's not cosplay specific obviously, but /p/ has some great resources in their sticky. I've also been reading through Kamui's photography book. I find the latter easier to understand.

>>394981762
>>394981762

I don't go for male photographers. Always go for female.

>>10803233
>All male photographers are right wing sexist misogynistic bigots.

This is going to shock you, but it is VERY WEIRD to even know or want to know the political leanings of people who provide goods and services. Like, this isn't normal. You pay people, they do a job. Their political leanings do not affect this.

I am saying this as someone who leans left. You don't need to make sure everyone you pay or work with agrees with you.

>>10806547
Was it a bad experience in the past or just personal preference?

As a strict rule I only take photos if my gf is in the frame.
Nobody else is worth my time, my talent, or my skill, for any price. I think I do a good job, she has a little over 200k followers on IG and when I started dating her a year ago she had about 300

>>10806683
Based

>>10806683
do you just take pics of her ass to promote her Onlyfans?

>>10806709
She doesn't doesn't have an onlyfans. She just does cosplay and modeling and has a really nice face.

>>10806767
fansly, gumroad, camming, whatever.

Are there any photographers that will accept payment per good photo? Instead of per hour just getting paid 50-100 per good photo?

>>10807233
no because that's a retarded business model. the expectation of any shoot is to get 'x' amount of usable photos afterwards. the work a photographer does is the shooting itself. if you personally dislike the photos you still need to pay for the shoot itself
otherwise you could theoretical say you hate all of them and the photographer would still have to work to satisfy you. you're basically asking them to work indefinitely for the same amount of money they'd get for 2-3 hours of work.

>>10807233
At that point you might as well hunt for the beginner photogs that'll shoot for free, and hope you luck into some good photos.

>>10805811
I honestly don't know why anyone would even take photography advice from Kamui. All her photos are basic as shit glamour shots and don't look particularly good.

>>10807233
who is deciding what is/isn't a good photo? $50-100 sounds good for the photographer but also sounds like a number that someone will try to fuck over the other person with.

>>10807337
I guess a post on social media? Or photofeeler

>>10807959
... they meant you vs the photographer you moron.

>>10807233
That's a brilliant idea

>>10807233
the hourly rate includes all the time they spend editing the pictures later
if you just want unedited pictures you could try asking a local photographer, worst thing that happens is they say no

I'm in the military I want to get into cosplay photography as a side gig to make some extra spending cash and also as an excuse to enjoy going to a convention. I do underwater photography for fun and some extra cash. Since the season is ending and I still have my canon DSLR
I don't care if the photos are for lewds, OFs or whatever so long as obviously the subject in question isn't a minor and I'm not going be labeled as some creep for doing that type of shooting.

Would it be weird to offer myself to do cosplay photography pro-bono as least at first to get my foot in the door? What is the best way to approach this? Would advertising myself at a con as a photographer be a good idea? Also what is the best platform to start with? Instagram I guess is the default choice?

>>10810692
If your going to charge people you need to have a portfolio to showcase your stuff.

>>10810694
Oh I wouldn't charge at first, I work pro Bono with the caveat of keeping the rights to my photos.

>>10810736
You will still need to put together at least a banner to gain some people but you said you do underwater work? Do not do that for free anon you ill regret it one you start charging. My suggestion is to start out doing free regular shoots but do charge fee for the underwater stuff, it does not have to be a lot.

>>10810692
I use Instagram and link to my website portfolio in my bio. I find most cosplayers don't care about my website, but I keep it up for the odd time that I apply to be media at a con. Also looks nice on a business card. Twitter is good as well, lots of cosplayers on there.

I don't think you need to go to the trouble of hiring models. Just attend a local con and take hall shots of cosplayers. I started off doing hall shots for a little under a year, and then progressed to networking at cons and doing paid shoots. I did have prior portrait experience, so YMMV.

Answering this because I saw your /p/ thread: draft up an agreement/licensing policy. If it's personal use (posting on social media) I don't charge anything extra. If they are selling the photos on OF, I would charge a commercial licensing fee on top of the photoshoot charge. My commercial licensing fees are pretty fluid, depending on who I’m working with I might charge less if they are just starting out. Normally my fee is around $50 - $75. You still retain your copyright in this case.

>>10810756
> I find most cosplayers don't care about my website, but I keep it up for the odd time that I apply to be media at a con.
How much does that cost you per year?
I had considered doing that myself, but I assumed that the cost wouldn't be worth it for the 2 or 3 cons I would apply as media for during the year.
I also assume that if I used one of those free blogging type sites and applied as media that they'd have a giggle and immediately reject.

>>10810756
>>10810754
I think I would want to get a theme going for a photoshoot. like for example a photoshoot I could showcase with a model/cosplayer who likes a specific character/anime lets say cyberpunk edge runners. Since the next con that is happening nearest to me is anime NYC, that could be a good start to do a shoot in parts of the city that would ideally fit into the cyberpunk theme. But that's just an example

For the record I don't necessarily like flavor of the month trends but whatever pays the bill and I don't mind it too much.

>>10803233
Thanks

>>10802934
Why are these threads allowed? Do we really want to encourage more scrotes to be coming and shitting up our board?

Real professional photographers will not ever read this site. Only neckbeard scrotes will see this thread and feel like they have a little place here...

How much do you pay the popular cosplayers? I want to get clout and become popular, and doing shoots with these nobodies are not getting me far.

>>10805482
As a shit photographer, believe in the machine gun method.
Just get a good camera that can go sanic fast and take a stupid amount of photos. Ninety nine percent of my photos are garbage. But when I shoot a hundred at a time, there's gonna be one good one there

>>10803233
Not all males are right-wing but all men are.

While we are talking about cosplay Photography whats your choice for gear and post editing? 20mmF3.5 Lens?
I feel like a lot of the current trend with pro cosplay photography is a muted lower saturation particular with the more fashion/coord side of the house like pic related.

>>10810976
REEEE GET OFF my board! "Real" professional photographers also don't visit anime cons with that logic. Any dumbass can buy a DSLR camera some umbrella lights and call themselves a photographer.
>>10810982
>>10805482
I agree and disagree, I personally believe in the the play around with your cameras settings and see what works best. You can do this with some phone cameras too if they have a pro setting, Mess with the ISO and EV and always if possible get a 12bit RAW. I also personally never use Auto focus. Someone both IRL and on /p/ said your goal should be to get the best raw photo possible with as little as possible required post editing

No one wants to photograph ugly /cgl/ girls we want the hot cosplayers then we take a cut of their OF

>>10810991
That's not a good way of thinking, also as a pro/hobby photographer consider the fact you have the tools and skill to give someone a better overall look.

I feel like coomer brains and also girls are getting super demoralized when looking at exploitative media like OF. People don't realize most of the people who make money on that platform have both pro photographers or even production teams/managers and so much of it is fake and altered.

Being a makeup artist + good photographer is a awesome powercombo.

>>10810756
>You have to pay me and I get to photographs you paid me to take.
Imagine if tradesman did that, you can't use that faucet that you already paid for and paid me to install without paying a extra use fee.
Photographers are such scummy scammers.

>>10811004
anon is actually wrong about holding the copyright. if someone pays for photos, fees or not, they automatically hold the copyright to those photos. commercial fees are a one time thing, so it's not as big of a deal as you think, but anon is wrong.

>>10811004
That's not how intellectual property works, also it depends a good photographer be amateur or pro will usually have a simple contract outlining this. Allmost always negatives(if analog) and/or RAWs will always be in possession of the photographer.
It was not uncommon for commercial film developers like at drugstores to refuse developing film from suspect professional shots.

>>10810891
not him but my hosting is $20 a year. domain is $10 or so. i believe they also have free hosts out there if you aren't doing much in terms of bandwidth

>>10810965
as other people have mentioned, take hall shots at cons. get people's contacts. once you know each other, then you can try doing shoots on location. in order to charge people you have to build up a few photos that show that you do know what you're doing when it comes to a portrait. i wouldn't start charging until i was confident i could perform reliably. last thing you want is to charge someone and have shit photos and word gets out about your shit photos.

>>10811034
unless a contract says otherwise, the copyright belongs to the photographer, even if it was a paid shoot by a client. if the client wants copyright, they have to have it in writing. generally the photographer will allow the client to use the photos to a certain degree that excludes commercial use. likewise the photographer should get a model release if he wants to use it for commercial use. this is the kind of thing you discuss and hammer out before anything else happens. if someone doesn't like the terms at that stage, they either negotiate or walk away. either all parties or happy or the shoot doesn't happen.

>>10804530
It's generally true for cosplay photography though. With things like street photography or travel photography, yeah, a old guy with wrinkles and a sort of funny looking face would be considered a 'character' worth photographing and it would be considered high brow art. These weird looking people would even be considered more interesting than young beautiful people. Every line on their face tells a story, etc etc.

With cosplay though, the overall goal isn't to be yourself, it's to replicate the look of an existing character. Most characters, specially in anime tend to be very beautiful. For cosplay photography to be good, therefor the cosplayer must also be beautiful. The exception is if you're cosplaying a character who doesn't look traditionally beautiful and you look very similar to that character.

Simply put, different genres have different standards. Cosplay photography is intrinsically shallow and relies on beautiful subjects. You generally can't take a picture of an obese Madoka cosplayer and over consider it good. Well, in theory, if you have Steve McCurry level aesthetics, you could take a photo of an obese Madoka. That photo would be shit if you considered it cosplay photography, but it might be considered god tier fine art if you choose to frame it as street photography. It would tell the story of an obese cosplayer who wants to cosplay as someone who clearly doesn't match their body type, and that story is what adds depth to that photo transforming it into fine art. Context means everything.

For professional photos in LA I've paid $400 for an hour, and then they give you a catalogie of thumbnails to look through and pay an additional $80 per photo you want them to actually edit and give you the full res version of.. cosplay photography is peanuts compared to portraits for models and actors etc

>muh right wing
People saying this are probably fundamentally right wing themselves and don’t realise it.

>>10811936
So personally as a new pro photog I would charge a set price for a shoot + post for the shots just to make it easier If feel like a $100 for a girl doing an OFs or Kofi upstart is fair and I would promote my work as a means of gaining more viewers and subs.
Also I rather do semi pro anime cosplay ot even lewd OF photography then the bread and butter wedding photography.
With weddings there's always drama, alot of traveling around and shelping gear which is heavy and hard on your body. It also makes you super cynical about the whole wedding process.
Cosplay even people who do it for lewds generally have an interest in the hobby or the Fandom

>>10813053
Also to hell with any prudish or mad seagulls on /cgl/. Guys watch anime/hentai for both the lewds and for the plot.