After a few crazy years it’s good to see things returning to somewhat semblance of normality, Oz Comic Con being packed is one of those normal things = )
Was on the late shift this Saturday so not as many people as previous years, but that means less time photoshopping, so, you win some, you lose some ; )
click the above to view the album
Covid still lingering on but not dampening the enthusiasm for cosplay at the second Oz Comic Con of the year here in Sydney, some great work on display and I fortunately got to capture some of it.
Feel I’ve upped my game this year, breaking out of my comfort zone of natural light and shooting with flash has made a noticeable improvement, though still more work and testing needed I feel!
First 24 are shown below, click the title to go through the album on Flickr!
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Fun at this years Supanova, saw some familiar faces (well, familiar voices, totally didn’t recognise the faces!). Managed to find a good spot for taking pictures, end of an aisle with a nice black backdrop and bit of carpet (maybe it was supposed to be a stall and they cancelled late?), quickly snowballed as people started asking me to take their picture, even had a queue at one point!
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Travelling light: one ol’ Nikon d5100, a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens, a manfrotto tripod and a corded remote shutter release (because, let’s face it, the cordless ones are shite).
I like Vivid, mostly for the chance to get the streaking lights from the ships as they pass the harbour. Not been since 2014 though, maybe I’ll put some of my faves from back then up too, see if I’ve progressed at all = p
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Been down in Melbourne a fair bit lately with the day job so took the opportunity to delay my return flight and enjoy Oz Comic Con down south for a change (though, still quite likely go to Sydney come September too!).
Lot of fun, people just as friendly and some truly awesome cosplay on display as always. Having done a few of these things though I’m starting to form the opinion that shooting cons should be classed as an endurance sport! I do long distance running, 100+ km’s cycles and triathlon’s and generally feel pretty fine afterwards, my wristwatch clocked about 6km walking on Sunday and I was a physical wreck, glad for the cradle of the seat on the flight back (and the extra leg room afford by the exit row).
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Given how much fun last year’s “Trashion” shoot was I had to get down and shoot at the Summerama Festival when I saw Marina DeBris would be showcasing her unique style of work again.
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BTW the close ups of the models is for the Hair & Makeup artists to use for promotion, if you were thinking it odd there’s a fair few portraits that don’t include much of the outfits = )
Spent the afternoon with the talented Roxy, Ivy & Pearl doing some web-promo shots for them, had a lot fun with these absolute pleasures to work with.
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I realised what I love about convention photography this weekend, it’s the five second portraits. As that’s the time you have after asking someone if they don’t mind a picture to thanking them and letting them go, five seconds, tops. The flow of people, the rest of the day they have and the fact you’re probably the hundred and nth person to have asked for a picture that day means you can’t really take much of their time (well, to me), so all these shots are done in very little time, camera settings are set for the day at the start and hope they work best for the various lighting challenges that come up in the day.
Cosplay was as fun as ever, some great efforts made by many, including the 3D printed Batman armour that took 6 months, or the guy who spent four hours painting himself to look like Darth Maul, my highlight though was the portrait shot of a Harley Quinn, the eyes are so emotive, I feel it’s the best photo I’ve ever taken
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So this was a fun morning out at Tamarama beach shooting a show put on by Marina DeBris (quite possibly a pseudonym ; p ) who creates these beautiful works of art from detritus that turns up on beaches!
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Lots of fun running around the beach trying to get these, swapping lenses and hoping to not get sand/grit on them! Challenging but rewarding, especially the early shots where I got to work closer with the models, they seem to come out best and are my favorite of the shoot – if I were to do this again I’d try to get more like that..
Panel’s weren’t as great as last year – but really, they’d be hard pushed to beat Shatner! Feel a little let down that Brisbane got Kevin Smith though and Mark Sheppard was at one of the other city’s too as his panel last year was hilarious. That said Richard Dean Anderson was entertaining enough but let’s face it, the day’s about all the glorious cosplaying and there were so many I didn’t get chance to ask (either space wasn’t available or they looked already inundated!).
As last year, had a lot of fun, great atmosphere and everyone was so happy and friendly when asked by a stranger if they could take their picture!
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