Click on the links below to access all the photos taken at Pop Expo 2015.
Dropbox Photos (High Res)
Facebook Photos (For tagging and sharing)
If you’re looking for you photos from 2014 Pop Expo – this is the right place! Click on the Dropbox link below to get access to the folder.
I’m all done.
Let me know if your photos aren’t up, or if you want any more work to be done on them. Thanks for your patronage!
DROPBOX FOLDER (All the photos!)
FACEBOOK ALBUM (At least one from each customer)
Some housekeeping rules: These are cosplayer photos, so the assumption is that folks want to be seen, posted and shared. If your photos are on here, and you don’t want them share, posted or even seen, just ask and I’ll remove them to a folder only you can access. I’ll need some sort of compelling proof that you’re the person in the photos.
My watermark automatically goes on every image. It’s small and out of the way. I use a watermark because I want to make sure everyone who sees my pictures can easily find me in case they want to hire me. If you use my photos for self-promotion, I would appreciate credit. And of course if you cut the watermark off, that raises questions.
Remember: even though you paid me to take the images, I own the copyright on each and every one. You are allowed to use the images for personal use, self-promotion and any other non-paid activity – but if you want to sell them, or use them in any way that generates direct revenue, we need to have a conversation about profit sharing. I reserve the right to use any or all of these images in a similar fashion – and if I decide I want to sell some of them, I will absolutely not do so without your permission, and an agreement for profit-sharing.
Confirmation that we’re going to Pop Expo, Nov 22-23
Yep, we’re going. Pop Expo is at the EY Centre in Ottawa. This will be our second outing to Pop Expo, and we hope to see you there. We have a booth with studio strobes; a Mac set up and tethered to the camera; a large monitor that shows jpgs of the images as we shoot them. We pose you, then snap, you decide if you like the picture, easy!
These guys were very hard to line up side to side. For some reason, they kept trying to go single file to hide their numbers.
Not Magneto – AGAIN? (facepalm)
Our prices are similar to previous cons
Show up in your best cosplay and we’ll shoot your image for $20.00, a series of images for $40.00 and a week-end pass for $50.00. If you have several cosplays you want to get photos of, this is your chance to get studio-lit portraits done. You spend hundreds of dollars and hours working on your cosplays – you show them off at the cons – folks snap photos in the aisles, or from a distance – “faux-tographers” snap your images and literally run away afterwards (true story!)… spend a few bucks and get some nice portraits done. You won’t regret it!
Hmm… so hard to choose…
Aargh… it’s only $20.00!
Images all get uploaded in high res
As in previous cons, we upload all of the images to Dropbox – you can grab them direct from there. All images are high res, and there are no hidden fees or attempts to upsell you. If you want, we can put the images in a separate Dropbox folder only you can access. We can upload RAW files if you want them. All images are watermarked automatically, but if you request it, we can have a discussion about removing it.
My favorite image from Montreal Comiccon. Wheee!
Just a family aiming to misbehave.
Special Effects? You bet!
We provide basic special effects at no extra cost – things like lightsabers, energy fields, beam weapons, lit eyes, etc. For more, like magazine covers and composite backgrounds – ask and we’ll talk. We usually charge $10.00 extra for a magazine cover or anything that involves more than basic special effects.
“If you strike me down, Darth…”
Peter Parker trying out his webs.
We even bring up the wind when it’s required.
Of course HE would just catch a lightsaber in his hands.
Iron Man in flight.
See you at Pop Expo!
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.
Men. Powerless before women.
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.
Not bad…
… better
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.
You owe us money!
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!
Pierre Farah Lajoie, AKA Montreal Logan
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!
Tender Cosplay
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!
2014-2015 Conventions
There’s just something about a Comiccon or a Pop Expo that brings the best out of cosplayers. Conventions are a wonderful place for you to lose your fear, dress up in your favorite comic book, movie, manga or video game character – and no one can tell you you’re doing it wrong. Faithful adaptations, perfect look-alikes, on-the-cheap trickery, amazing craft work, mash-ups, store-bought outfits, gender-benders, race swaps, or all of the above – cosplay is the 21st century’s fastest growing hobby.
You spend a lot of time, money, and effort on your cosplay – so treat yourself to a studio photo set so that folks will remember what you looked like on that day. Walking around photos are fine, but don’t take a chance on strangers posting your photos in a place where you might not be able to find them… instead, take advantage of our Dropbox system where your photos are waiting for you to grab them.
You’ll be able to find Open Shutter at most of the main events in Ottawa and Toronto in 2014 and 2015. Check out the links below.
- Cornwall CoTiCon – Aug 30, 2014
- Montreal Comiccon – Sep 12-24, 2014
- Ottawa Pop Expo – Nov 22-23, 2014
- Ottawa Comiccon – May 2015
For all conventions, we offer a basic studio shot rate, and we offer week-end rates for those cons that run more than one day (this is great if you plan to come in with different cosplays on different days), as well as “after-hours” shoots if you want a longer session away from the cramped confines of our booth. Our lights are powered by batteries, so we can shoot literally anywhere you can go.
Check out some of the awesome cosplays from previous conventions:
OttawaComiccon 2014
Montreal Comiccon 2013
Pop Expo 2013
Part of the service you get – if the shoot is one that generates enough images – is an Apple photobook in PDF format. You can also order a print at a cost of approximately $3.00 per page. Book are expensive. These are printed and bound by a third party, and come in about a week. These books look really good – take my word for it.
Here are the sample pages from a book I am having done for my favorite 2014 Ottawa Comiccon photos: The Book
We are at booth 911/1010 this year – the map is up – check it out! The actual site, where you can see the vendors, etc. is here.
Pricing is the same as previous events: For the basic price of $20.00, we take several shots, (and WE WILL GET THE SHOT, DAMMIT!), and you get to choose any three, which will be processed and uploaded to Dropbox as fast as mobile internet will allow. Most people choose a wide shot, a medium shot, and a closeup. Up to you.
For groups, same deal – your $20.00 gets you three shots, any way you want. Our booth is only 16 feet wide, so large groups will really have to cram together. 4 wide is about as much as we have been able to fit in at other cons.
I will apply light photoshop work to bring out lights, lightsabers, energy beams, etc.
I also offer to have photos printed and mounted as well. I specialize in large (20×30) metal prints, several of which will be on display at the booth. The base price for a large metal print is $300.00, including the photography at the convention. You have to see these prints to believe how good they look. For smaller prints, I offer 8x10s mailed to your home for $20.00 each, not including the price of the photos.
Upsell: For $10.00 more, I’ll put you into a scene, or a comic book cover, or a movie poster, for whatever medium your cosplay comes from.
Cosplayers, you have worked hard on your costumes. You DESERVE good pictures of yourselves. Don’t settle for “free” shots in the aisles, and don’t let the only memory of your awesome cosplay come from a cell phone selfie.
Discounts:
- Members of the 501st Legion get their photos for $10.00 instead of $20.00. Consider the discount my donation to the many and various charities they support.
- Anyone dressed up as any character in the Whedonverse (is that really a thing?) also get the $10.00 price. That’s Firefly, Dollhouse, Buffy (etc.), and (obviously) Dr. Horrible.
- Anyone dressed up as any character from Homestuck also get the $10.00 deal – or free if they are part of my daughter Catherine’s crew. Catherine gets to decide.
Dr. Horrible:
We are doing a Dr. Horrible lip dub video. Bring your best lipsynch skills and we’ll video you – gratis! The video will go up on Youtube, no monetization, just for fun. You don’t have to be a Dr. Horrible character, but we’d like to see you if you are.
Come to Open Shutter at Comiccon in May of 2014 – and be ready to sing your favorite Dr. Horrible song in front of our camera.
Slideshows of some of the awesome cosplays I saw in 2013. Can’t wait to see what I see in 2014!
Click on the link below to get access to your Pop Expo photos.
As mentioned onsite, let me know if you have any issues with your images, or if you want them moved to a private folder or simply emailed to you.
QUICK EDIT – SUNDAY NIGHT – All of the photos should be up EXCEPT for a few Star Wars ones because lightsabers. If your photos are NOT on the Dropbox folder, don’t fret. But do let me know and I’ll hunt them down for you.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xp6iicon1ptl84u/HdSpE1UKDP
Day One Video Slideshow (Animoto)
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