7 Easy Tips for Cosplay Photo Shoot Success

After hours and hours, possibly hundreds of hours your masterpiece of a costume is finished.  Useless snaps are in the right place measured within millimeters for screen accuracy.  Even the inside lining of the costume is the right fabric and color.  No one knows but you.
 
Admit it.  You’ve sat down in your costume and watched TV.  Just reveling in the joy that you have become your own real life action figure.  But it’s time to get off the couch, out of the garage or out of the closet and get that costume where it belongs.  I’m not talking Comic-con or any other comic type convention.  Those are great, but nothing beats COSPLAY ON LOCATION.
 
Here are seven tips for a successful on location photo shoot.

1. Wide shots.  You’ve spent time and money getting to your destination.  Close-ups of your costume are great, but don’t forget to shoot lots of wide shots with the full scenery in the background.  A close-up can be done anywhere and is also easily Photoshopped.  Having the background fully visible in all its glory is what will make your shots epic.
 
2. Timing.  Before booking your trip, make sure to check the season.  If you are crossing the equator, seasons will be opposite of what you’re use to.  A photo shoot in the Wadi Rum desert in the winter is very pleasant when covered head to toe in heavy robes, armor and a helmet.  But in the summer, you might pass out faster than you can finish the shoot.
 
3. Screenshots.  Print screenshots before you leave.  There is nothing cooler than to stand where Rey was standing, in the same pose, in the same costume at the same exact angle.  But the only way that’s going to happen is if you print out a screen shot so you can match it up when you cosplay on location.

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4. Local Film Commission. Contact the local film commission before you go.  Oft times they are super accommodating, know exactly where to go and will help you more than you would have ever thought possible.

5. Start off easy.  Go to Vegas, and you can knock out both a Transformers costume as well as Superman.  Both were shot at the Hoover Dam not far from the Las Vegas Strip.  
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6. Holiday Inn Club Vacations - Of course you'll need a place to stay.  If you're heading to Jordan, check out the Holiday Inn Resort Dead Sea.  Or better yet, visit Holiday Inn Club Vacations where they can connect you to any number of great exotic locations, of course with the comforts of home at the Holiday Inn.

7. Fairytrail. If you want to go to a cool location, but your friends just aren’t as dedicated as you, check out Fairytrail.  You can connect with like-minded folks and trips are always to cool, exotic locations.  Plus, profiles are based on Fairytale characters.  So if you are an Aladdin or a Jasmine, take a trip to Jordan and kick back in the Wadi Rum (where Will Smith and Mena Massoud relaxed in the desert and turned from Aladdin into Prince Ali).  You might just also make friends with a stormtrooper on that very same planet.

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What has been your favorite cosplay costume?  Leave us your best cosplay moment in the comments below.
 
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