8th Philippine Cosplay Convention

The past month kept me busy with travel photography editing, but I chose to take a break from all that to honor my yearly visit to the Philippine Cosplay Convention.

Due to changes in management, the event has been reduced to 1 day only compared to the 2 days of the previous years.

Furthermore, there were no stalls vending toys or cosplay goods this year and the lack of congestion made it easier for people to move around. However, I do wonder if this was the wisest decision since the shops seemed to be one of the main attractions for people of this community.

For one reason or another, there seemed to be fewer participants this year, and that's a shame since I was looking forward to seeing more familiar faces.

<photography jargon>

3 years ago, I decided to attend the 5th Philippine Cosplay Convention (PCC) to practice my photography. Since then, I've slowly brought with me more techniques (and equipment) with each successive visit.

2012
camera settings: aperture priority, JPEG
shooting technique: none, lots of fumbling due to being unfamiliar with camera controls
people skills: none, mostly shot cosplayers whom other photographers also happened to be shooting
editing: none

2013
camera settings: aperture priority, JPEG
shooting technique: low-angle shots to de-emphasize background crowds
people skills: started to make direct requests to shoot people
editing: exposure compensation in post

2014
camera settings: manual, JPEG + RAW
shooting technique: single off-camera flash mounted on a hand-held monopod, ambient exposure dropped to de-emphasize distracting backgrounds
people skills: made an effort to tag cosplayers online to give credit to whom it is due
editing: curves adjustment instead of exposure compensation

2015
camera settings: manual, JPEG + RAW, customized picture profile (minimum contrast, slightly increased saturation)
shooting technique: on-camera fill flash (TTL), off-camera main flash (manual) on light stand, color gel with white balance shift
people skills: connections from last year allowed me to participate in a mini-photoshoot
editing: more aggressive cropping in post (fewer full-body shots), learned to use GIMP for more localized exposure control

By 2016, I hope to have developed the necessary skills for directing models and finding more dynamic camera angles.

</photography jargon>