>>10950765 (OP)
I was the guy throwing a lot of parties at Ota and cosplaying a bit. Good con. The removal of 18+ stuff was a huge mistake. I don't buy much/go to many panels, but it made the tenor worse and clearly was an attempt to push out adults in favor of kids.
Some fun random stories:
- I had to slam the door on multiple people trying to sneak into my private parties
- Most of the female cosplayers continue to hate each other, go figure
- Lots of black dudes slinging bad drugs
>>10958795
Dude, you should never worry about photographing cosplayers. Cosplayers want it, and they totally get how difficult it is. I was cosplaying all weekend AND taking photos, and most people in the cosplay scene are basically desperate for you to try. It is very normal for ~5% or fewer photos to come out right, given how weird the lighting can be in the WEWCC, how bad some people are at posing, how hard it is to control the background, etc.
Only tips I can give:
- NEVER feel shy to ask, keep in mind that it's wildly flattering. You're complimenting people, after all.
- If you can, get some sort of lens with more flexibility. I roll with a 24-70mm. It's not "perfect," but you can adjust to way more weirdo situations on the fly. Lots of dudes rent lenses, which is a crapshot - you're then running around with $1k++ of someone's money.
- Shoot in raw. You can bail yourself out of shitty lighting.
- Secretly, most cosplayers will tell you they want realistic shots, but don't want that. When in doubt, shoot brighter, not darker. Shoot from a higher angle, not lower (except for some limited stuff, like superhero shots for good cosplayers who know not to do the double chin thing). In editing, less noise/texture = better skin for most folks. You can even go as far as GENTLY slimming down the entire image to make them seem taller.
- One secret location for good shots is the top floor near the windows, assuming you can get the right angle. Tons of sunlight.
Going to other cons?
