Essay – Convention Photography

We have come full circle. Just one year ago, I asked myself – is it possible to make a go of it, shooting cosplay portraits at a major pop culture convention?

The goal was twofold: First, to create a service where cosplayers could drop in, get their photos taken, and have rapid access to their images through file sharing. Second, make we needed to make money doing it. If we were going to run this like a business, we had to make money doing it.

We considered various options. We decided we needed a booth to call home. This way, our customers would come to us. In a booth, we could control the light and the background, and offer a tethered computer/monitor experience. We decided not to offer prints onsite. The cost of producing high quality prints at a convention just didn’t make any sense to us. Also, we didn’t want to try to compete with the prints that the photo op people produced on their commercial machines. Besides, I think the last thing a cosplayer wants to do is carry a print around all day. We considered different file sharing methods (like CDs and USB keys) – and decided that since we are in the 21st century, and everyone uses mobile technology and file sharing… we would use an online solution: upload to Dropbox!

I booked a double booth at 2013 Montreal Comiccon, got my gear all lined up, got business cards and flyers, and went for it. So how did it go over?

The initial reaction from most cosplayers was surprise.

It wasn’t free? There were no prints? You see, there were vendors with booths at that con offering free photos with a 4×6 print – I think one was a local radio station. Some vendors offered a very low price but asked for more money for high res photos after the fact. That’s all fine – there are many different business models in photography: for example most commercial outfits charge a sitting fee, then charge for the choice of images, then charge for individual prints, etc. I just decided I was going to charge cosplayers one time for the initial point of contact – for which they got my skill, my booth set-up, and high-resolution images, all paid for up front. No surprises, no upsell, just nice images. Don’t get me wrong: I am not judging how other photographers do it; there is no right way or wrong way to do convention photography – I just wanted to offer a cost-up-front kind of deal.

Even so, many cosplayers just wouldn’t go for it.

Others thought about it, and still others told us it was a great idea! Cosplayers spend a lot of time, money and effort getting ready for the cons. They walk the halls, attend panels, and get asked, every ten feet or so, if someone can take their picture. But they rarely end up with good, studio-quality images they can use for themselves. Sure, sometimes they do – there are some great photographers walking the halls, taking photos just because they love to do it – but why take a chance? Our set-up includes controlled studio lighting and a dark backdrop to put the focus squarely on the subject. We shoot tethered to a Mac, which means you see a jpg. preview of the final image right after the shot. No blinking or derp faces – unless that’s what you’re going for.

 

 

Some background on why people were so surprised at being asked to pay for photos:

Historically, pop culture conventions like Comiccon, Pop Expo, Fan Expo, et al. attract photographers like no other kind of activity. There are so many shooters at these conventions that it sometimes looks like a paparazzi shooting gallery at the Cannes film festival. There is no typical shooter – the gamut ranges from curious con-goers holding up iPads and mobile phones to grizzled veterans wielding tens of thousands of dollars in photo gear. Some take pics and walk away. Others hand out business cards. Some try to set up small shoots along the walls to try to cut out the crowds in the back, while others just blast away, hoping for the best.

Cosplayers LOVE the attention they get from photographers. It’s a form of recognition when people ask for a photo of your awesome cosplay, and it feels good. So why on Earth would these people want to pay us for photos they can get for free? Well – we control the light, and the background, and we pose you to look as good as possible. We show you your images. We upload them for you to retrieve later. We’ve built up a bit of a reputation as well for quality, and that can only improve as time goes by.

 

We process the images using Lightroom, and upload them to Dropbox right from the convention floor (in some cases, you might have access to your images as quickly as half an hour) but when it gets busy on Saturday, expect a delay until the next morning!

• The basic fee of $20.00 gets you a couple of images – a wide shot and a closeup. that includes basic special effects and processing.
• For $10.00 extra, I’ll put you into a magazine, comic, game box or movie poster.
• If you want a longer session, with dozens of images, the price is $40.00.
• A week-end pass is $60.00 – change cosplays and come back on all three days. You’ll have LOTS of photos with this package.
• We also offer off-site photo sessions with our mobile studio lights after hours – it’s $100.00 for a hour shoot outside of the exhibitors’ hall.
• Groups are the same price, but if you want individual closeups, it’s going to go to the $20.00 per person pricing scheme.

So how did we do at that first convention?

It depends on how you gauge success. No, we did not recoup our expenses. Not even close. But then again the goal for that first con was to try to figure out the business model, and to see if people would go for it. So we got noticed, shot some great images, and got the ball rolling. By Sunday, people were looking for us based on the images we had posted on Dropbox, and from word of mouth. One lady told us it was the best $20.00 she had ever spent at a con. That meant a lot to us.

 

 

We decided that the first attempt was encouraging. We knew we had to build up our client list, build up the trust, and get people to start looking for us. We booked a double booth at Pop Expo in Ottawa a few months later. We upped our prices, and got ready for the show. The first day went like gangbusters. We were busy, we took in money, people were looking for us… and then Sunday didn’t go so well. Long story short: we didn’t recoup our money there either, but we did better than at the previous con.

We are returning to Pop Expo again this fall, so look for us there!

 

 

We went to Comiccon this May in Ottawa. We adjusted the pricing, adjusted the offering, and went for it. We were extremely busy, lots of people were looking for us, and guess what – we actually turned a profit. Not a huge profit, but there it was. The light at the end of the tunnel. Also, we started realizing ancillary benefits – I started to get bookings for photo shoots outside of the cons, for cosplay, glamour and (possibly) a wedding or two!

 

 

In the meantime, we took a booth at CoTiCon (Cornwall Tiny Convention) to give our new smaller studio lights and backdrop a shake. I am happy to report that my new gear works REALLY well. The lights are so nice to work with, and give us that mobility we lacked at previous cons. The small cons are so much fun, partly because we don’t have that pressure to recoup high booth costs. So we do much lower prices, and just enjoy the day. CoTiCon was fun too because it was just two weeks before Montreal Comiccon… a good trial run for our new gear.

 

So now we’ve come full circle: We are all set to go back to Montreal. We’re hyped. Our new studio lights and backdrop are tested and true. So all we need is you to come in great numbers to make my dream a reality. Bring it!