Two weeks ago, during the eGames expo, we held our own little cosplay meet on the Saturday. As it was hot, Neil decided it was a good idea to storm the empty car park (eGames was that exciting) and use it as a studio.
So Neil had a nice clamshell setup going, and was getting stunning shots of Siera and Annie. I was just hanging around trying to think of something creative to do in the environment and Annie’s amazing Dagger cosplay.
I only had one flash with the big shoot thorough umbrella.
At the time I wanted to get the amazing shots Neil was getting. With only one flash this wasn’t possible. I looked at the back the back of the LCD and was disappointed they weren’t as good as this. I let my lack of confidence get the better of me and just stopped trying.
This was a really bad move, as when I got to process the photos, the lighting worked pretty well, and was I really surprised how it came out with just one light and shoot through brolly.
I realised how much better the photos could have been if I spent a bit more time shooting with Annie instead of just wishing I had more flashes and giving up.
One light and big brolly gives a completely different mood than the clamshell style and it would have been great working with Annie seeing how to bring out Dagger’s character with just this simple setup. So the lesson for me is, I shouldn’t be thinking “If I only had I had 2 more lights…“, but instead, think of all the different possibilities and opportunities that become available with the given situation. More importantly, to not just give up. If the first few shots don’t work, staying confident, moving on, and keep shooting.