The Collectiva Diva and I attended the re-named Stan Lee’s LA Comic Con over the weekend, and it was one of our most anticipated nerd events of the year. We had a grand time at Comikaze last year, and though the Mutineer could not join us this year, we had a marvelous time (get it? Marvelous…I’ll wait).
As both a cosplayer and a press attendee, I can safely say that I’m exhausted. Mostly because I was a crazy person who decided to do three costumes in two days. It worked out well, though, since I chatted with some favorite cosplayers and I learned some tips from a few cosplay panels I attended and from photographers I worked with.
- Up your selfie game. A Peggy Carter cosplayer that I adore was on a panel called “Posing in Cosplay” and she talked about how she sets up her camera and home and practices her facial expressions and poses in her living room. If you’re somewhat serious about cosplay, this trick will show you what looks good on camera–because sometimes making faces in the mirror doesn’t show us all the angles we need.
- Props, props, props. Although a few cosplayers are also professional models, most of us have day jobs that don’t require intense posing knowledge. Having a prop to interact with is helpful for those of us who are not so comfortable in front of a camera but still love cosplaying (90% of the time, I have a prop because I never know what to do with my hands)
- You can ask a photographer to take your picture. No, really, it’s true. The same panel about posing had both cosplayers and photographers on the panel (and some cosplayers who were photographers and vice versa). All the photographers said repeatedly that they can be just as introverted and shy as any other con-goer, so while some cosplay photographers are very assertive about asking for pictures, others are less so. They’re there to take pictures, so go up and ask! (All the photographers on the panel said they’ve never turned down anyone who asked for a photo).
LA Comic Con/Comikaze/Whatever-it’s-called is one of the cosplay highlights of the year, and yes, I did my press duty while dressed as Black Widow (I’m pretty sure there’s some photos on Instagram of me crouched down in the spysuit taking pictures). Check out these pretty badass costumes, featuring cosplayers like Christina.Is.Crafty, LokiHatesYou (he’s a favorite of ours, in case he looks familiar from one of our past galleries), Hustleandbustlecosplay and more!
-The Collectress
If you see yourself in our gallery, please tell us! We’d love to give credit!
You can follow The Collectress’ cosplay adventures here and here.
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