It ’ s a mix of all of the above for me . It started out as a passion . Similar to horror , there weren ’ t any real rules . With weddings you needed to shoot specific shots of people composed in a specific way , lit a specific way and edited in a specific way . With cosplay , that all goes out the door as you get to put your own creative touch on it by incorporating interesting lighting techniques ( gelled lights , smoke machines , projection or neon lights ), lenses ( fisheye , macro , ultra-wide ) and editing ( composites , over-the-top edits or something true to the videogame or cartoon it originated from ). I loved the freedom it provided and that it was so much different from a typical portrait session or live-event .
Over the years it has turned into somewhat of an income , shooting different cosplay work for promotions / advertisement , but it ’ s something that I love to do to this day .
Some of the effects are brilliant . Those Silent Hill inspired photos are plain creepy . How did you go about creating them ?
Thank you ! I try to incorporate practical effects and real-locations any chance I get . I made all of the costumes myself by putting my own twist on the look of them , most of the effects are actual practical makeup application and the photos are shot on-location with smoke machines and rain effects wherever possible . I ’ ll add any non-practical effects in post processing as well as do final color styling and adjustments , but generally the before and after shots don ’ t vary as much as many of the other cosplay work that I shoot .
We took a look at your special effects room on Instagram ... it ’ s part brilliant part nightmare as in , I ’ d hate to walk in there at night ... do you apply the effects and make up yourself or work with an artist on this ?
When I first started doing horror-photography , I hired makeup artists . I quickly realized it was an expensive addition to the hobby and began to work with several artists over the course of a couple years in order to pick up new techniques . I couldn ’ t tell you the difference between any beauty makeup effects but I can list off the differences from a dozen types of fake bloods and dirts !
One of the things that really got me interested were that I found many of the widely available products weren ’ t the greatest quality and really limited the impact of the photos . Once you get past the widely available products , you start seeing the studio-grade ( and studio-priced !) products which provide a much more realistic effect and greatly add to the overall photo .
I ’ m always up for bringing other artists in for shoots but tend to do most of the effects makeups myself nowadays .
Ok , let ’ s talk a bit about your models , your cosplayers ... how do you find each other and collaborate ?
A lot of the people I work with are friends I ’ ve met at conventions , live events or the haunted houses . We all share similar interests and putting together shoots outside of these events gives a lot more creative control to bring some fun ideas to life . I ’ ve met some amazing people over the years and it ’ s much easier to get quality results from someone who shares a similar passion towards a genre / style than a fresh model with no interest in horror or cosplay . I ’ ve met several models online ( who either reached out to me or I reached out to them after showing similar interests ) but most of the people I work with are those I ’ ve previously worked with over the years .
How long does a project take from start to finish ? What steps do you take when planning a shoot ?
This one can vary quite a bit . Sometimes projects can be very time-consuming ( planning a look / shot list / location and model , creating set-pieces , costumes and makeup applications , shooting and editing ) while others have been a spur of the moment idea that you can pull off hours after the initial thought . A lot of it comes from previous experience but I also like to try new things out . Add some extra lights , try new lighting modifiers , use an odd lens or shutter settings and you ’ ll get some wildly different looks . Lighting a subject from the front versus a side-light , backlight or overhead light will give a much different effect and create some truly unique shots . Sometimes I ’ ll shoot the same look 2 or 3 different times , using different styles , and end up with some very different shots each time .
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