“Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped...in a never-ending spiral of life and death”
The creativity in the cosplay community is inspiring. As I continue to expand my portfolio to include more cosplay, I look forward to seeing these creative influences appear in some of my other work!
Laura of Xanvai Cosplay, whom I photographed recently as Devil Mercy from Overwatch, was a pleasure to work with as usual. When I found out that Laura would be bringing her YoRHa 2B cosplay to ACEN (Anime Central) in Chicago, well I had to make some time for it! Generally, I have come to prefer, if possible, to do cosplay sessions outside of the overall hectic convention scene - even offsite during show weekend. While logistically easier to be at a convention, the hectic schedules can create issues. Laura was gracious enough to come downtown and make it happen!
As for the cosplay, this one is YoRHa No. 2 Type B, or 2B. She is the protagonist in the videogame NieR:Automata. An android created by surviving humans to battle machines that have invaded Earth, 2B has various weapons for battle, but her sword is the one with which most gamers and cosplayers are familiar.
The rest of the gallery can be found here.
Technical details. I wanted to try an infinity look because Laura's cosplay was monochromatic in color scheme. I felt the contrast would look nice in studio. Used one monolight in a 48" octabox as the key light on camera left, smaller reflector as fill, and two monolights on the backdrop. Most of the images were with my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S around 100-110mm. I kept mainly to f/5.6 to f/7.1 for the session since I really wanted to keep her costume in focus.
For the outdoor session, we went to a more industrial area for the dystopian look (as in the game). The gravel and overgrown vegetation at the site was a perfect backdrop! Most of the outdoor shots were under natural light (cloudy day, nature's ultimate softobx) with some images relying on a speedlight in a smaller, portable softbox. The weather and wind took a turn for the worst, but we managed to grab a few images outdoors.
