The Amazing Cosplay Photography of STEPHEN TANG
What differentiates a picture from a work of art? Nerd Caliber interviews Stephen Tang, an amazing photographer, from the worlds of New Jersey and New York. We asked Mr. Tang, with his many years of photography experience, to talk to us about the art of the camera and what separates amateur picture-taking from professional photography. If you just picked up the camera for the first time or you are looking to hear advice from someone who is experienced, or just want to see some really cool pictures, then you are in for a treat! All pictures in this article belong and are taken by Stephen Tang.
Describe how you were first acquainted with cosplay and photography?
My first encounter with cosplay was in 1995. Two friends of mine, who were anime fans, mentioned that an anime convention called AnimeEast was going to be held in East Brunswick, New Jersey. I was an anime fan, and the location was close to where I lived, so I agreed to go with them. At that convention, I observed people dressed up as Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z characters. At the time, the word “cosplay” was not familiar to me. I also experienced watching my first cosplay masquerade. After the convention, I continued to be an anime fan for many years, but I did not go to my next convention until Otakon 2001.
As for photography, I didn’t have any significant interest in photography until 2006 when I bought a Nikon D50 kit with a Best Buy gift card. I received the gift card from my parents as a wedding present. I used the Nikon D50 and its kit lens to take photos during my honeymoon. I was using the camera on auto and obtained some decent photos of our honeymoon. My focus on cosplay photography started in 2007. My wife was staffing at Otakon, and I had nothing else to do at the convention, so I started taking pictures of cosplayers roaming around. In addition, my wife was also a talented cosplayer and lamented not being able to find good photographs of her cosplay at conventions. So, I took pictures of her cosplays.
Why do you feel cosplay is becoming more popular worldwide? What is the allure?
I feel cosplay is popular and alluring, because there is a large number and variety of character designs available. I find that Japanese character designers are able to integrate fashion elements from different cultures into their characters, which often produces interesting designs. In addition, the myriad of characters also means that there is virtually something for everyone who is interested. Lastly, with the number of anime conventions throughout the year, who needs to wait for Halloween to get dressed up (laughs)?
What mistakes, in your opinion, do amateur photographers make generally in photographing cosplayers? What can they do to avoid those mistakes?
I think amateur photographers tend to make the following mistakes.
a) Buying a DSLR and then taking pictures in auto exposure mode. Take the time to learn manual exposure mode and the full capabilities of the DSLR.
b) Taking a photograph of a cosplayer using direct flash. Direct flash rarely produces a flattering photo. Learn to bounce the flash off another surface to create directional lighting. If there are no surfaces to bounce flash, learn about off-camera flash.
c) Putting every single picture of a given cosplayer on the internet. To become a better photographer, one needs to be more selective of his or her photos. Don’t put multiple images of the cosplayer where the differences between them are only minute. Make sure every photograph of a given cosplayer is a different pose, a different composition, or a different perspective.
What exactly makes a photograph a work of art? What are your influences? What photographers do you admire?
In my opinion, a photograph is a work of art if it is iconic, receives recognition from people, and is able to sustain such recognition over many years. I don’t consider my cosplay photographs to be at that point yet (laughs).
The photographer whose work I admire the most is Neil van Niekerk (http://www.neilvn.com/
I also admire Joe McNally for his broad selection of photographs and Dave Hill for his stylistic and highly-processed photographs.
What were some of the challenges you’ve faced in your shoots? How did you overcome them?
My most recent and perhaps biggest challenge has been shooting in the summer heat. Even in shade, the heat and humidity at some locations is unbearable. At Otakon 2011, I did a long photoshoot in the shade, but the temperature was 103 degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity. Unfortunately, I had mostly been outdoors the entire day, so even though I thought I was drinking enough water, I almost suffered heat exhaustion. I had to get into the air-conditioned convention center
to cool off for about 30 minutes and drink additional water. I would not say that I overcame the challenge (rather I survived the challenge), but now I know that I must find a cooler location for a photoshoot whenever the weather forecast states high temperatures.
What camera(s) do you use and why? Which programs, if any, do you use to enhance to your photos?
I currently use a Nikon D700 with the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 lenses. I use the D700, because it is a full-frame camera and has excellent ISO handling. The full-frame aspect ensures that I don’t have to worry about crop factor in setting up the perspective of my shot. The ISO handling is vital at conventions, where there is often poor ambient lighting. I want to be able to increase the camera’s ISO without introducing too much noise. I use Nikon’s high-end lenses, because they help me with 99% of my photos. They are my workhorse lenses.
I also use Nikon SB-900 speedlights for on-camera and off-camera flash. I use the speedlights with lightstands and Lastolite Ezybox softboxes for off-camera flash photographs.
My current software programs consist of Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Topaz InFocus, Image Trends ShineOff, Imagenomic Portraiture, and Nik Software Suite.
On very rare occasions, I run into a photo that needs subtle Photoshop manipulation that I am not able to do. In those situations, I pass them to my wife, who is a professional graphic designer and illustrator. But, I try not to bother her too much (laughs).
What themes, if any, do you work with in your shots?
I usually do not have any specific theme in mind in my cosplay photoshoots. I try to keep an eye out for locations and backgrounds that might be interesting for cosplayers. In addition, I try to remember a few poses in case the cosplayer needs direction.
In any case, each cosplayer has different goals in the photoshoot. Some cosplayers want to recreate poses or scenes from the anime, manga, or video game. Other cosplayers don’t have any specific ideas and solicit ideas from me.
What current projects are you working on?
I do not have any specific projects that I am working on currently. I am not interested in publishing a cosplay photography book at this time (laughs).
Share with us three of your favorite pictures and tell us why.
Title: “Unlocking Secrets”
Character: Original Steampunk Outfit
This photograph was taken at Museum Village (http://www.museumvillage.org/
Title: “Maria, Valkyrie”
Character: Maria from Knights in the Knightmare (video game)
This photograph was taken at Otakon 2010. I like this photograph, because of the awesome armor and sword prop. I should note that this was taken with on-camera bounce flash.
Title: “At the Lake”
Elizabeth Middleford from Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler)
I like this photograph, because I was able to take this photograph in hard sunlight at a wide aperture. I accomplished this by putting 3-stop neutral density filter on my lens, allowing me to use a very wide aperture to isolate the subject from the foreground and background. Then, I was able to use off-camera flash to make the subject pop a little from the background, and I did not need high-speed sync flash to do it.
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If you are interested in finding out more about Stephen Tang and his photography, check out his website here!
