‘I Cosplay’ Development Update
Lucky - Yukari Yakumo Portrait of a Cosplayer
It’s been nearly a month since starting up the ‘I Cosplay…’ project. Things are progressing well. It’s time to take a look at what worked and what didn’t, and where to go from here.
I mentioned that I’d come across a new lighting style using a ‘beauty dish’ as a key light. I like the effect but there was a bit more of a learning curve to using it than I expected. When mounted on a Speedlite, the fall-off point isn’t very far and depending on the flash head’s orientation, the unit returns various light patterns.
I found when positioned above and just to the side of the camera during the studio shots that if the person moved just a bit outside of the ‘sweet spot’ the result was terrible- such as a face in shadow or a blown out torso or arm. In the ‘sweet spot’ the lighting is great. The dish creates beautiful light and shadow (more…)
Looks like ‘Kickstarter’ needed a bit of a kickstart itself.
Well, that didn’t work. The ‘I Cosplay’ kickstarter project I mentioned a month ago is about two hours away from fizzling out. Kickstarter didn’t work for the job I hoped it would, which was to find supports willing to inject some much needed funds into the project. It did, however, succeed in some other ways.
I’ve reconnected with old friends and colleagues whom I haven’t heard from or spoken to in quite a long time. I found out a hundred or so people ‘like’ buttoned the project on Facebook. And…
No, I guess that was it. Just those two things. But those are two great things to accomplish! (more…)
PhotoWalk #4b – Liuhua Lake Park
On the last Sunday of March, the photo group got together for the 4th photo walk- around Liuhua lake. One of the things we like to do after each walk is come together, with a large media display, to look at our best images from the day and discuss our successes and set-backs during the walk.
It is a great chance to share our work, discuss our challenges, and possibly come away with new insight on how to do better the next time we are confronted with a similar situation in the field.
Well, it took two months to come together this time, but it finally happened. And it certainly didn’t disappoint! (more…)
The ‘cosplay’ project has 10 days to raise its funding – we can do it!
There are still ten days to get this project supported. ‘Like’ the page one more time on Facebook. ‘Tweet‘ about it once more time on Twitter. Forward the page to one more person in your contact list. This book and these people, the Cosplayers, are offering a fantastic and rare glimpse into the Chinese culture today that really shouldn’t be brushed past.
When I first read about Kickstarter.com on Lifehacker my reaction was ‘This is awesome! This is exactly what my project needs to get underway.’ (more…)
New Photo Documentary Book Project, ‘I Cosplay’, underway.
Wow, what a difference a day makes! Really. Did you read my last post about joining up with a group of ‘cosplayers‘? Well, I’m hooked. This is going to be my next book length project and to see it through, I turned to a new online ‘funds finder’ called Kickstarter.
This project has got me so excited I didn’t get much sleep last night, literally. Here’s the gist of it- cosplay is a relatively young art form on mainland China. It is a pretty radical form of self-expression through performance art. This is not a place with a good track record for allowing self-expression to flourish and grow. Put all of that together and I see tremendous chance to peek into the positive future and the progressive development this country is heading towards. (more…)
PhotoWalk #4a – Liuhua Lake Park
This was the largest showing for our photo walks yet. Twelve walkers gathered at the north entrance of Liuhua lake park in downtown Guangzhou for our 4th photo walk. The weather and lighting conditions cooperated well giving us a cool breeze and even, bright, overcast light. The area around Liuhua lake is an ideal size for a two-to-three hour walk. New spring growth was beginning to blossom, and since it was a pleasant weekend afternoon, the park was bustling with people enjoying a day in the park.
The camera mix was an exciting array from high-end DSLR cameras to mobile phone camera apps with a variety of point-n-shoot devices in between. (more…)
PhotoWalk 3b – Baiyun Mountain
On December 26th the photo group and I set out on our third photo walk together up Baiyun mountain. Only a mere 3 months later we finally were able to come back together again and talk about the photographs we took on the walk.
Two of the ‘walkers’ made it and a lot of new faces were there as well. Just about everyone brought some photos to share from the past three months. (more…)
PhotoWalk 3a – Baiyun Mountain
Over the Christmas weekend we headed out on the third photowalk in Guangzhou. Walks were delayed by a couple of weeks due to some scheduling conflicts so instead of a walk up Baiyun Mountain during the first weekend of December, as originally planned, we combined the walk with the holiday and this is how we celebrated Christmas.
Baiyun Mountain is the highest point in Guangzhou. From Moxing [moe·sheeng] summit on a clear day, visitors can get a beautiful 360° view and the breadth of the Guangzhou skyline. (more…)
PhotoWalk 2b – Gongyuanqian
A good group of people joined in to see the photographs from the second photowalk. We used the multi-media room again, which really enhances the effect of any good photograph. The discussion was fantastic and there were a lot of great photographs from each of the participants.
(more…)
PhotoWalk 2a – Gongyuanqian
Friday evening, November 12th, was the opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games. I knew I wanted to see this- the people, the crowds, the excitement. So when the photo group asked if we would do a photo walk over the weekend I thought; “Why not do both?”
For our second walk, we went to the People’s Park of Guangzhou at Gongyuanqian. (more…)
Visit to Xiao zhou cun
On Saturday, November 6th, I got up extra early (for a Saturday) on the plan that I would photograph the torch relay coming into Guangzhou for the Asian Games. Unfortunately or fortunately, you can judge, the date for the torch relay to enter Guangzhou changed to the 9th. I found this out ten minutes after I was en route to downtown.
What could I do but finish the journey, find a coffee shop, and see what happened next. (more…)
PhotoWalk 1b – Liwan area of Guangzhou
We wrapped up the first photo walk last Wednesday evening, November the 3rd, by coming together for the second night of PhotoTalk. This, by the way, was a much more successful display of photographs than the first evening, thanks to much better display hardware. Instead of piping pics onto a 32″ television screen via an iPod nano, as we did on our first night, we projected lovely, larger than life images from a 50-something inch flat panel display with audio. (more…)
Light Show at Huacheng Square HDR #1
Friday night, October 29th, I went into downtown Guangzhou intending to photograph the light display at Huacheng square with some of the photojournalism students from Baiyun University. I wrote about this in the previous portfolio post- Man Walking His Bike in Huacheng Square.
PhotoWalk 1a — Liwan area of Guangzhou
Saturday was forecast to have heavy rains and high winds- the outer bands of typhoon Magi. Fortunately for Guangzhou, the typhoon took an easterly change in course. Instead of rain, wind, and generally poor weather, we had a sunny, balmy, pleasant day. It was the ideal day for being outside. I mention this first because, like so many things in photography, a little determination is often rewarded with a little luck and the result is nearly always one or a few great photographs. (more…)
