Pico’s Pictures: Grand Rapids ComicCon 2024

The Saturday session of the Grand Rapids ComicCon was fun. I had intended to visit multiple talks and presentations but became all consumed by my photography. If you are so inclined I have two collections.

• Photos of Cosplay on the convention floor.
• Photos of Cosplay captured during the competition.

I wanted to capture my notes on things that worked well (and not so well) so that I can recall them in the future.

Personal Selections

The best photograph

This photo of the Ghostbuster is probably the best composed and lighted photo I captured. While he was demonstrating the ghost trap with fog, I knew I had to do better than what I had been doing. I asked for help with holding the flash for side lighting and I am so glad that I did.

Side lighting for the win!

My favorite photo

This was a vendor at the show at the ‘build your own lightsaber’ table. Her Twi’lek cosplay was spot on. I wish I had taken more time with her, but she had lightsabers to sell and I didn’t want to take up more time. Also, I now know how to light the subject better based on some professional feedback (see below). This is really my favorite photo because I keep coming back to it.

Look at those eyes! This darkforce wielding Twi’lek cosplay was spot on.

Lessons Learned:

Successes

Gear up: Belt pouches and flash on the monopod. I used my remote trigger and an off-camera flash mounted on a monopod and that was a mixed success. I was able to get the flash in many positions for dynamic lighting, but I managed to poke a few people with the stick and that wasn’t cool. Last year, I carried my camera backpack around and that bumped into a lot of people. The belt pouches worked better, but I really had to cinch up the belt to avoid having my pants migrate south. I did have to to take some of the pouches off to sit for the cosplay competition. I made a small joke that I was cosplaying as Jimmy Olsen.

Jimmy Olsen about to head out to capture a story.

Underlighting for sinister photos. This was probably the biggest win and discovery. I’m glad it came to me that you can get the creepy lighting with the flashlight held below your face, so I did it with the flash and it worked out beautifully. I think I took all the photos of ‘bad guys’ with that lighting and it turned out awesome.

The woman in pink was the first time I used the flash underneath the subject and it made for a much more dynamic photograph.

QR code to scan worked out great. I printed off a QR code and let people know that I would post photos in 4–5 days. It turns out I had them all posted within 24 hours as I was so excited going through the photos.

This QR code almost made me seem legitimate.

Group Photos in focus!

I’ve struggled with getting multiple subjects in focus, but I seem to have dialed in the group photo settings. f/11 with 1/2 flash power seemed to do the trick. There is some professional feedback regarding this photo. (See Below)

X-men group photo and everyone is in focus! (for once)

Flash worked during the cosplay competition. I was surprised at how well the flash worked during the cosplay competition. The subjects were well illuminated from over 30ft away. I had to take a few practice shots of the judges before the competition to see if it was going to work and it did! I asked around beforehand if flash photography was ok and folks didn’t know, so I fired away.

You can see the shadow cast on the subject against the far wall which had to have been over 60ft away.

Struggles:

Same picture, same angle. I forgot that taking a picture just standing there is not very dynamic as that is how most people see the world. Fine pictures, but not dynamic.

Catwoman and a Starfleet officer from a standard angle versus the person from a dynamic angle

Battery ran out! Do I really need to say more? This is the first time my battery has ran out. This is the last photo I took on my way out to the car before it died completely.

Liminal space in the parking garage. I’m getting X-files vibes.

Broad lighting and positioning. I’ve learned some things from the lighting class I took and that broadlighting can be very unflattering as the entire subjects face is illuminated without much shadow. Also, a flash on the left feels ‘wrong’. Seriously, if you look at most professional photos they are illuminated from the right. I didn’t notice until it was pointed out. However, using the flash on the monopod meant I had to hold it in my left hand while holding and triggering the camera with my right hand. Additionally, the camera strap was always getting in the way of the viewfinder. To compensate for the ‘wrong-side’ lighting, I learned I had to rotate the subject away from the lamp and have them looking back. An assistant holding the flash would’ve been very useful.

Broadlight ‘wrong-side’ flash.

Professional Feedback:

My friend is a professional photographer and gave me some constructive criticism that I appreciate.

Light saber lighting: fill light on the opposite side of the face as the lightsaber so it doesn’t wash out the color of the lightsaber. I almost had that here when I used no flash.

Use the environment for more natural light and fill. I took most of my photos on the convention floor or in the conference room for the competition which means that I didn’t use any of the facilities cool architecture of natural light from the atrium and windows. In this photo you can see the difference between it and the others.

For group photos get the light up high and centered. This last bit of feedback was for lighting a group. I think I did it on accident once but you can see the difference between this photo and the first of the X-men I took.

Still not perfectly balanced light, but it was higher up and changed the shadows.

Summary

I had a very positive experience taking photos at the ComicCon and everyone was very patient with me. My goal is to be able to take photos in all kinds of environments and situations so that I can create photos that are special to people.