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[Tifa_Lockhart_X]

**************EDIT****************
So, I slipped out of the photography world for a bit, put it on the back burner and such till recently. I decided to try cosplay photography, after a year or so hiatus of it, at Anime Boston. I'm not the most savvy person with photoshop, so if you have any tutorials, or even for cheap lighting 'tricks', it'd be appreciated.

So critique, please?


Just critique these:
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547770/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547769/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501651/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501611/
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/20...XDandelion.png
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...XDandelion.png
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...XDandelion.png

[FiveRings]

You might get more responses if you picked a couple shots that you think are your best, otherwise we can really only make sweeping generalizations that won't help you much.

[Tifa_Lockhart_X]

Originally Posted by FiveRings

You might get more responses if you picked a couple shots that you think are your best, otherwise we can really only make sweeping generalizations that won't help you much.

Hmm... actually then how about these few:

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547770/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547769/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501651/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501611/

[Lithium Flower]

For some reason cos.com wont let me post this all at once no matter how I've removed the HTML so here it goes..

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

Hmm... actually then how about these few:

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547770/

I really like the dramatic effect you've given it, but it seems to be slightly borderline on being too dark on the cosplayers face. Though I do like how the effect obstructs the less then perfect backgrounds we often get at conventions ^_^' it can be so annoying to get a great cosplayer but have a Taco Bell above their head.

[Lithium Flower]

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547769/

Again just a slight bit too dark for liking, but the composition is really lovely. Perhaps getting it from a slightly further away angle would have kept the reflection of her head in the glass table instead of cutting it off at the neck?

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501651/

Over all it's a nice shot, they look like a natural group of buddies being goofy and having fun. But the cosplayer to the far right with the long white wig has lost a lot of detail in that. It seems to be faded out with the harsh effect used. Maybe you could isolate the wig and regain some of it's detail back from the effect used on the rest of the picture? The same effect has happened to the middle cosplayers blonde wig.

[Lithium Flower]

Sorry about having to post strangely...I removed all HTML tags and such and it still went into loading mode for several minutes. T__T so I had to post this way. It also wouldn't load at all when I tried to edit my first post.

Lame.


It also appears to have eaten one of my reviews when I tried to post it. Oh bother.

[FiveRings]

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

Hmm... actually then how about these few:

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547770/

You could take just a step back to get a little bit more of the hat and possibly her hands in the frame. It's not that it's too dark overall because your whites are bordering on overexposure, but your blacks are too black and you lose a lot of detail in them. Likely your contrast is up too high. Your white balance seems off.

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547769/

Again, the contrast seems too high so you're losing details in the black areas and your whites are pushing it. Her arm almost gets lost in the image because the blacks are too dark. The white balance still seems off. Compositionally, it's good, though you could've got more of her reflection in the image to complete the effect. Moving slightly to the left would cut the "coffee" sign out of your background.

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501651/

This one seems like too much of a snapshot. The lines aren't straight, nor are they skewed. It just looks off because you're shooting too wide. You cut off the foot in the lower right and the arm on the top left.

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501611/

This is probably the best shot, lighting-wise. I'm guessing it's ambient light from both sides? The shoulder area is blown out. Still looks like more of a snapshot and I'm not really sure what look you're going for or what you're trying to say here.

[Crown of Laurel]

Just a note beforehand, I'm not a professional photographer, far from it. So, this is just my own personal opinion here.

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547770/

Personally, I would like it better if you got a bit more of Ciel in the shot. I would like it better if it was at more of a dramatic angle too. (i.e. down looking up). That way you might also be able to get Ciel's hat in there too.

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2547769/

There's too much white in this picture, making it hard to focus on her. Wheter it's the lights in the background, the reflection of the table, or even the words "coffee". If the table was, say, a wooden one, or you darkened the background a little bit, I feel that it would be better. (Also, it's just me liking angles, but if you could have gone a bit lower to shoot up at Ciel, I feel it would have given it a better look.)

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501651/

Eh, the words (and the red sign in general) are too distracting. The rest of your colors are really dark/plain, which makes the red stand out too much. The photograph seems to have been taken at an angle? At least the lines of the building and ground seem to give that impression. Also, I feel it’s too zoomed out.

Originally Posted by Tifa_Lockhart_X

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2501611/

I like this photo quite a bit. Though I must say the cosplayer gives off a soft look, so maybe if you made the photo a bit ‘softer’, it would help compliment that a bit more? Also, the sleeve blends in with the white of the window. Lastly, it could be me, but I’d prefer it if you also got in the top part of Tsuna’s hair. (i.e. move the camera up slightly, right below the ring, and take it like that.)

[Tifa_Lockhart_X]

@Lithium Flower:

Yeah, I'm totally new to cosplay photography and it just feels like sometimes it's so much more difficult to find good spots that lack so much noise in the background, or good in door lighting at that. Before I started adjusting the Ciel cosplayer shots the colors were far too bland and when I went to lighten her face, that's as much as I could do it without making her skin look too awkward. I need to learn my way more around photoshop though, I guess. I feel terrible for accidentally cutting her head off in the reflection, or even leaving the "ffee", I'm far too used to having a pretty solid set for a background. Good idea with the third shot though, I'll definitely try to touch it up and fix that area.

@FiveRings:

I'm far too fond of upping my contrast, it's a habit/taste I'm sure I'd be best to avoid from the sounds of what you've said. The third and fourth I hadn't realized felt like a snapshot until you really pointed it out, but you're right. I'll definitely keep in mind all you've said in future. The final shot was actually all natural light, I'll try to darken it a bit and get some of the detail back in the blown out spots though.

@Crown of Laurel:

I was working with trying to keep people from the background out of it as much as possible was the problem; it was a -VERY- cluttered hotel lobby/restaurant. I might try to darken the background on the second, but that's all. The red sign in the third was more of less just a little joke esque shot, so I guess I really shouldn't of chosen that.

Thanks guys for all of the advice, hopefully I'll have some improvements to show from my Otakon shoots.