During these few days of Firefly ACG Expo, I am stationed on-site from D1 to D4, with the photography zone serving as our primary shooting base for these days. Due to a tight schedule, D1, D3, and D4 are basically fully booked, while D2 still has a few slots that can be coordinated.
To handle various high-intensity on-site convention photos needs, I specifically brought along a folding ladder, a reflector, and two blankets for shooting. The folding ladder is used to find perspective angles at different heights, allowing for a flexible switch between high-angle full-body shots and low-angle shots for long legs; the blankets are for Cosplayers to pad themselves when sitting down or kneeling. When coming across white skirts or fluffy costumes, this effectively avoids getting the hem dirty, allowing everyone to look more relaxed when churning out convention photos.
The shooting principle is no limit on characters and no limit on gender; as long as there is a character you want to bring to life, you can come to book. Many Cosplayers taking anime convention photos for the first time can easily get nervous due to the crowd around them, so I will provide highly meticulous posing guidance during leadingāranging from the position of hands and the holding direction of props, to the landing point of the gaze and the twisting range of the physical torso, offering concrete demonstrations and adjustment suggestions. Posing guidance is not just about striking a posture, but more importantly, finding the dynamic beauty that conforms to the costume's momentum, giving the entire frame a sense of tension.
A lot of effort was also spent on mastering the props. For instance, heavy firearms, giant crossbows, and various polearms all require considering the dead weight of the props themselves and the balance during shooting. I try my best to ensure the Cosplayer holds the props steadily while utilizing the lines of the props for visual guidance in the frame. This way, combined with a large aperture to blur the background, the figures can be beautifully stripped from the cluttered exhibition hall background.
The live lighting of the photography zone heavily impacts the photos. Merging the overhead spotlights of the exhibition hall with the movable reflector, we can maximize the restoration of the costume's texture and color tone. When encountering a backlight or a large environmental light deviation, the reflector can also fill the face light in time, making the skin tone and texture layers clearer. During the day, the crowd in the pavilion streams by continuously; shooting crisp portraits requires patience and sharp observation, knowing how to anticipate gaps in the crowd flow and catching that exact moment when the Cosplayer is in their best state to press the shutter.
Besides shooting inside the venue, the light outside becomes exceptionally soft after 6 o'clock. This period can also be arranged for outdoor convention photography; the natural twilight paired with architectural backgrounds carrying a touch of blue tone can capture a night scene atmosphere with a completely different style. Although continuously transferring across zones from D1 to D4 consumes a massive amount of physical stamina, lugging equipment around, seeing the resulting effects of the returned photos makes all these inputs feel entirely worth it.
Before taking a booking, I will first confirm ideas with the Cosplayer and take a few preview photos at the front end for micro-adjustments, ensuring both angles and compositions are satisfying to both sides. If there are many props or specific material requirements for the clothing, time for organizing props and clothing will also be reserved in advance. The overall shooting process has always been pushed forward efficiently and smoothly. Though the photography zone has a large flow of people, as long as there is clear location planning and collaborative tacit understanding, the photo output speed is much faster than imagined.
Throughout these four days, I encountered a massive amount of well-prepared Cosplayers with great expressiveness. Although the styles of characters shot were entirely different from each other, everyone's focus and passion to restore the characters were shared. As an on-site photographer doing professional cosplay photography, freezing the brilliant moments for them in the convention, while simultaneously assisting in lifting skirt hems, holding reflectors, and carrying large props, lets everyone who comes to find me shoot go into battle lightly, ultimately harvesting satisfying photos. This is exactly where the greatest joy of convention shooting lies.