Cosplay or Costume Play has become a very interesting activity amongst the younger set and it has been growing for the past couple of years. What I admire most is that the youngsters are doing things we old timers would usually think thrice before attempting.
I will be the first to admit that I am a science fiction fan and has fantasize that I would pilot a X-Fighter from Star Wars or blowing enemy to pieces in the Valkyrie Fighter Jet from the Macross series. Heck even donning the helmet would be enough. Just last week I was thinking, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have the Alliance Fighter helmet as a motorcycle helmet? That would be so cool!”
I believe as most of us have hobbies to take some stress away from our daily routine like what photography do to me while I was working full time in other jobs,, cosplay is another type of stress buster, helping those who are into it, a venue or outlet to destress.
There are a lot of events and activities that cater to the cosplay scene in Singapore but what I found is that there are many people taking the players but the environment where they are in are a tad too chaotic or blend to take nice shots of them. I find it a waste that the cosplayers have put so much effort but the environment has a negative effect on the picture taken of them. That’s part of the reason I decided not to take cosplayer during such events since it doesn’t do them justice.
So begin my quest to see who is willing to dress up to let me do some studio shoot. Fact is after so many tries, there was zero response. Maybe because people think I am weird! LOL! Then fate/zero has it that I realise Nicole who joined SPIN, is also a cosplayer because she was sharing her cosplay pictures on Facebook. One thing led to another and we (Terry, Eddie, Raj & Senthil) are able to shoot these players (Nicole, Rossvia, Sabelle & Delia).
Many thanks for those who joined me and tremendous thanks to those who put in so much effort to dress up as a character!
These are just some pictures I have designed as posters for the ladies as a gesture of thanks. I think putting it a bit of effort to rush at least one for each of them would provide some happiness and joy. I believe they couldn’t wait to see them too!
Nicole as Megurine Luka (aka Vocaloid 3). Vocaloid (root word is Android) is actually an imaginary singer idol created to match Japanese songs synthesized by Yamaha’s musical instruments. Yes. The songs are not sung but created just using keyboards!
I was just doing half portrait and full body capture for Nicole. Because a vocaloid is just a singer and is not a character, the shot can be designed in any way. With Nicole in white dress and pink wig, I decided on Sakura backdrop with some snow field. Turned out pretty well!
Rossvia as Unno Rokuro of Brave10. Unno is the personal guard of the feudal Lord that he is protecting. Somehow or rather, the Anime showed him as more of a metrosexual, transgender type of character hence a lot of girls do play him (a quick Google do show that). Rossvia took a lot of effort to dress up to the point that Terry and I took a triple take when she walked into the room. She is one super skilled individual with the brush and cosmetic.
For this shot, I want to take full advantage of the sky and provide a very formidable image of the character. The second picture I would want to portray the softer side too and so I combine it together as a composite.
Delia as Tachibana Hibiki of Symphogear. Another music/song based type of character that derives power from singing and music. Kind of reminds me of Minmei from the Macross saga where her songs caused the enemy to go weak on their knees. Do you know what the enemy in Symphogear is called? Noise. So creative…LOL!
The character is more of the super lively and cute kind of person who was given a special power. So portraying her as fun, cute, cuddly, kawaii and approachable is the key point here. Even if I choose a fighting stance shot, it would still look cute. Maybe Delia is cute no matter what she does lah! LOL!
Sabelle as Scanty of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. The sister of Scanty is Kneesock. Their adversary is Panty and Stocking. Gosh, this whole thing is a lady’s wardrobe! Scanty is one half of the demon sisters and so the character is evil and domineering.
The shoot aims to bring darkness into the whole picture and is lighted from the back to create the shadow, as if evil is stretching towards the viewer and create that sense of dread.
Sabelle took huge effort to dress the part by painting herself demon red. Not easy especially when the weather was humid and hot. Despite her age she did well to be a temptress of sorts and her cool demeanour helps to portray the character (maybe she is think what the hell is this weird uncle shooting cosplayers less than half his age) . Posing sexily ain’t gonna be easy for most girls so kudos to Sabelle for making a huge effort!
There are still some more pictures I can use. Perhaps another set of poster designs. Do check back for more or visit my gallery at:
I hope more such shoot will come for SPIN and me to practise!
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