Supanova Sydney 2013 Day 1 Cosplay

Supanova Sydney 2013 was on over the weekend and cosplayers of Sydney came on mass for one of biggest events of the year in Sydney’s cosplaying calendar.

Day 1 was hectic to say the least.  Droves of people came to Homebush Olympic park in the outskirts of Sydney to celebrate their love of all things pop-culture, anime, comics, cartoons, sci-fi, and fantasy. Many were in cosplay but I was stuck behind a booth for most of the day so didn’t get much of a chance to shoot. The day started grey and overcast and before long the skies opened and the rain started falling, but fans kept pouring in and soon the convention hall was a sea of bodies all sharing their love for pop-culture and anime.  Celebrity guests included David Hasselhoff (Baywatch, Night Rider), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia from Star Wars), Karl Urban (Star Trek) and many more.  

As for cosplay, since I was busy at the Madman booth, day 1 passed by in a blur of anime fans. In the few moments that did get to ‘walk the floor‘ and shoot, I did see some great cosplay. There was a Wonder Woman, Liara and Fem Shep from Mass Effect 3, and an excellent Sister of Battle from the Warhammer 40,000K universe just to name a few. Conditions inside the hall were difficult to shoot for, having not only to find space among the masses, but as always the tricky light inside all convention halls.

Interestingly these images on day 1 are shot with a new piece of equipment I was testing, a new flash modifier which was a a mini speedlight beauty dish. The modifier can be attached via universal flash head mount and can be swapped out for a range of modifiers including softboxes, globes, grids, snoots and as mentioned before, a mini beauty dish. I’m not sure if I like the results yet as I didn’t have time to fine tune my exposure on the floor and I wasn’t at the optimal distance for shooting with a beauty dish. As far as I know, beauty dishes are supposed to be used very close and primarily for head shots, but since I was shooting cosplay, and had to work at a slightly longer distance, it reduces the effectiveness and effect of the beauty dish.

I would really like some feedback on these photos whatever you think of them so please feel free to write back, or if you’ve used this type of equipment too, I’d also like to hear from you.

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Cosplay!

EDIT: Day 2 photos are now up.