Finding the Best Light | Shooting at Cosplay Conventions
At a convention I typically shoot outside regardless of what the light is like on a particular day. The only time I’ll shoot indoors would be if the conditions outside are just too extreme (heavy rain, wind etc.). I mainly do this because, despite the lack of control, you just have more variety and space to work with outdoors and the quality of light is much better than you find inside a typical convention hall.
When referring to this ‘quality of light’, I’m actually talking more about the shadows than the overall brightness. Even on a dreary overcast day, you’ll still find the light outside is more pleasing than it ever will be inside unless you bring additional light with you.
You can’t just shoot anywhere though, you need to search around for the areas where the light doesn’t create too much contrast or harsh shadows (although sometimes that can work too).
On an overcast day this is much easier, the cloud cover will naturally soften the light and open up more possibilities — but it does also make the colours a bit duller and can at times be too ‘flat’ and boring as there is almost no contrast (difference between light and dark).
Harsh or ‘hard’ light — like that found on a typical sunny blue sky day — is often more difficult to shoot with because you’re under the other extreme. There’s now too much contrast and you risk ‘blowing out’ either your subject or the background. In addition, the harsh shadows this produces are often unflattering to most subjects.
So location here is key, try to find areas where there is a nice balance between the two.
When the Sun is Out
On brighter days, try to find shadows cast by buildings, trees etc. and place your subjects inside them. Ideally the sun shouldn’t be behind or in front of you or your subject — instead find an area where the sun is slightly to your side.
If the light is at your back then this will not only be very bright, but it also forces your subject to stare directly into the sun — which doesn’t generally create the best shots.
Shooting into the sun can be awesome, and I do this a fair bit, but it’s quite challenging for the camera and requires very specific settings and processing in post to really have the shot work. Even then, it can often create flares and other issues which may ruin the shot.
Note: Flares and other things can be awesome, so don’t avoid them, but it takes more practice and even then, it’s not always the ‘safest’ choice for a good photo. Experiment first before doing this in the field.
My general rule of thumb is to place the subject in the shadow, but only just enough that they aren’t in direct sunlight anymore. Then, put yourself in the light (i.e. with the sun to your left or right) and shoot ‘into’ the shadow. What this does is puts the subject in just enough light that they are able to be exposed nicely, but also ensures there aren’t any nasty shadows across their face or costume, obscuring detail. It also ensures you’ll have a nice contrast as the subject will often be brighter than the background behind them which is in shadow.
When it’s Overcast
As stated before, overcast conditions are a lot easier to work with, because there are just less harsh shadows everywhere so you can move around more freely. However, don’t underestimate just how bright the sun is, the sky is still going to be much brighter than your subject and you still might find that you’re loosing details in the background if you’re not careful.
So the idea here is less about finding pleasing areas of light, and more about finding a nice background which doesn’t distract too heavily from your subject. Since you can’t use the light to create separation anymore, you’ll need to ensure that whatever background you place your subject against isn’t too complex or distracting.
These distractions can take many forms, but look out for things like beams, posts, trees and other objects which might intersect or cross behind your subject. If the objects are too similar in size or colour, the lack of contrast can easily cause them to muddy out the details of your subject.
An obvious choice here is to find a plain wall somewhere and shoot against that, however I’d generally advise against this if at all possible. While this will definitely make your subject stand out, it will also make all of your shots look very similar and will lack a bit of personality.
Instead, look for areas that have big openings with lots of depth in the scene. This helps because, due to the distance, background details will often be quite small in comparison to the subject. The classic example of this is a long alleyway. There might be all sorts of distractions on the sides and off in the distance, but provided your subject is centred up just right, those elements shouldn’t take too much away from them.
Additionally, the same rules of not putting the sun directly in front of your subject still apply. Even when it’s overcast, looking directly into the sun will generally cause discomfort for your subjects — which is rarely consummate to a ‘good’ photograph.
Shooting into the sun when it’s overcast on the other hand can actually work quite well depending on the subject and position of the sun. As I said before, you need to remember that even an overcast sky is still going to be quite bright but because there are less shadows on the ground and the light is more evenly spread, there won’t be quite as much contrast as on a bright, high contrast day.
Consider the Environment
Often it’s easy to take the environment around us for granted. We spend our time looking for nice colours and backgrounds but can too often miss how the environment can actually help us control light better.
Simple things like a white wall may not make for an interesting background, but when the sun is in the right position, they can make a great reflective surface. Standing your subject next to it can fill in the shadows and help reduce the contrast. Likewise a dark surface will absorb that same light, creating the opposite effect.
Essentially, the environment is more than just what you can see inside the frame, so don’t take it for granted!
The last thing to consider is the time of day. The early morning and late afternoon are often where the most appealing light will occur (just after sunrise and before sunset). Basically the closer the sun is to the horizon, the softer the light and the shadows will be, regardless of the cloud cover etc.
In saying that, you obviously want to get as many photos as you can and you won’t always be able to control the schedule of the convention or the cosplayers you’d like to shoot. So with this, it’s less about ‘only’ shooting during particular times of day, and more just being observant about the position of the sun and how that impacts the location(s) you shoot in.
Thankfully, the sun is pretty predictable and there are also apps out there like PhotoPills which can tell you where the sun will be at certain times of the day. So the key here is to just stay ahead of the sun, know that what was a good spot in the morning might become undesirable later on in the day so you’ll probably need to think about an alternative should you wish to keep shooting the best light throughout the day.
Final Thoughts
One last thing before I wrap up. Using speedlights and other light sources is a perfectly acceptable way to get more light, indoors or outdoors. I always carry a speedlight (or two) with me as a backup, but I find they slow me down and I avoid using them unless absolutely necessary. I use lights all the time on private shoots and it’s a brilliant way to really control and shape the light around your subject — I just find it too unwieldy to implement at conventions.
So that’s it really, for lighting anyhow, try not to make it too complicated — just read the situation and roll with it. Observe how the light is falling in your location and move things around it. Getting to the convention early definitely helps here as you have more time to scope out potential locations and get an idea of where the best light and backgrounds will be.
I hope this little guide has been helpful — or at least just sparked a few ideas in your mind. Keep an eye out for a future article on this topic, where I’ll cover some of the ways choice of angle and framing can also help you get the most from your convention photography experience.
Stay tuned!
Originally published at https://thevaliantknight.com on July 4, 2021.
