Summer Cosplay Gathering at McKinley Park.

This past Saturday was extremely busy for me as I had a wedding shot that day. But... before I went off to that job I spent a short time at the Central Valley Cosplay Gethering at McKinley Park capturing some photos of that event. As you know, I love cosplay and it is one of my favorite things to photograph. Check out some of the photos I got that day!

I knew I wouldn't have time to get many photoshoots in, so I began right away. The first cosplayer I shot with was the Tiny Bishie. We've met several times for Wizard World Promotional events, but this was the first pull-out shoot I've been able to do with TIny Bishie. The cosplay was of Akashi from Kuroko no Basket. Luckily, there were some people playing basketball that day, and they made a great background for us!

I actually pulled out some of my Photoshop skills for this shot. I am admittedly an extreme novice when it comes to photo manipulation in Photoshop, but I liked the way this particular one came out. The other one I did was totally terrible... but in a funny way. I'm just gonna keep that one to myself for now... although my Facebook followers can check out the image on my Cosplay of Sacramento page.

My second personal shoot was with cosplayer Lady Meraki. She did a cosplay of Chiyo Saura from Gekkan Shouko Nozaki-kin. This cosplay definitely features that 'school-girl' look that many Japanese anime characters have. I wanted to find a location that would make sense with it at the park. These green bleachers near the tennis courts seemed like something you would see at a high school, so we did some shots there.

Lady Meraki was very easy to work with and provided some great shots today. We also chose to capture some images of her around a tree. She had some nice nature photos from this session. I'd definitely love to work with her again in the near future!

My final personal shoot of the day was with cosplayer Tifatoffee as Casual Madoka from Puella Magica. She had a great looking cosplay as well, but what I think made Tifatoffee stand out was her great facial expressions. She had so many cute faces that she made. I don't think she can ever run out of them!

I am a huge fan of Tifatoffee's pink hair here. It really stands out with the more natural background. The wild and bold colors of cosplay is definitely something that attracts me to it as a photographer. It's just so much fun!

After my personal sessions I wanted to just capture as many images as I could. I just went around the main gathering site and started asking cosplayers to take portrait shots. I really wish I had more time at this gathering because the cosplays I saw there today were outstanding.

People of all ages came to the gathering. These two youngsters were super cute as Captain America and Hawkeye. There were a popular pair to take a photo with that afternoon. 

The cosplays ranged from anime to superhero to horror. As you can see, some cosplayers really get into it. Seeing this guy randomly at night might be scary, but at these gatherings it's all fun... and normal.

The next gathering will be in October, and I really hope to make it to that one! If I do, I'll be sure to get even more photoshoots in. Cosplayers are always welcome to ask me for photoshoots. So, don't be shy and get in contact with me. If you'd like to see my full gallery of the gathering, click on the link to my cosplay site above.

I'll leave you with a video I made of the event. If you haven't already, please like, subscribe, comment, and share it. Starting a Youtube channel is always slow in the beginning. Help me get it off the ground!