Shooting Begins for Cosplay Underground v. 002

I’m currently working on another edition of Cosplay Underground.  Before I joined J!-ENT, I was a big fan of the original Cosplay Underground section.  At that time, I was already doing a lot of cosplay photography at conventions.  Some of the people that were interviewed for that were people that I had photographed and knew.  I still see some of those people at local events.  A few months ago, I thought that it would be a fun idea to bring that section back to life in a new way and to try new things with regards to my cosplay photography.  The result was v. 001, which was done at Fanimecon.  It was fun project and I’m definitely going to try and get more editions out before the year is up.  I’ve done a few photoshoots done for the next edition.

Cosplayer “Susan” will make her second appearance in Cosplay Underground dressed as the character Minagi Tohno from the video game and manga, Air.  This series of photos was done at a picnic for the local anime and cosplay community at William R. Mason Park in the city of Irvine, CA.  The event was held in early August and drew over 100 attendees.

Also returning to Cosplay Underground will be cosplayer “Shiya” dressed as Princess Kairi from the video game, Kingdom Hearts.  New to Cosplay Underground will be cosplayer “Celestial Aurora” dressed as Aerith from the movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.  These photo sets were done at Nisei Week.

Progress has been fairly slow on this edition.  I was at Comic-Con in San Diego in July and wanted to do some photo sessions there, but it was so crowded and congested there that I was simply discouraged.  There simply wasn’t a lot of room to be flexible and everybody was so busy and didn’t seem to have time to do a long photo session.  Most of the time, I’d be working with people that don’t know what I’m taking photos for, and that’s how I want it to be.  I like to drag cosplayers out to less crowded areas where there is room to be a lot more creative.  The cosplay picnic in Irvine had a lot of possibilities, but the midday sun was harsh and I didn’t want to start taking photos until later in the day, after a lot of people had already left.  A lot of cosplayers also showed up to Nisei Week, but were busy with the cosplay contest and parade.  The two cosplayers that I managed to photograph at Nisei Week weren’t interested in participating in either.  It seems easier to work with people that I’ve worked with before and have them bring in more cosplayers to the project.

In three weeks, I’ll be attending Mikomicon, which is a small anime convention held on the campus of Cal State Northridge.  It’s probably the most picturesque location for any convention in the Los Angeles area, so I should be able to finish shooting for Cosplay Underground v. 002.  There are also a few other cosplay events on my schedule in September and October, so getting v. 003 by the end of the year is also a possibility.