Apocalipstick Photoshoot [Aug 2013]

The ninth of the The Twelve Posts of Christmas is my photoshoot with the awesome girls of Apocalipstick!

I met Apocalipstick’s Abby and Jenna at the first Tokyo Status event, and was thrilled and honored when Abby asked me to do a photoshoot with the band in early August! I was also a bit nervous about whether I’d be able to deliver anything usable, so I enlisted the aid of my two senpai, Sojian and SNTP, to run things.

Across from Art Share L.A. (which is right by Little Tokyo) was this awesome parking lot with crazy graffiti all over the walls. So many gorgeous colors!

I love this shot, especially the sense of movement from guitarist Jenna!

They were walking back from further down the block and I thought this would make a nice shot.

Good night, L.A.!

Noms are an important part of any photoshoot, so we finished off the day at The Pie Hole! It was so good it almost made me not sad after reminding me of Pushing Daisies.

Great fun learning from my senpaitachi and shooting my talented musician friends! Check out my Facebook Page for more from the shoot!

2013 08 04 Sun: Apocalipstick Photoshoot

SNTP Tribute [Apr 2013]

My dear friend and mentor John Lynn has decided to step back from cosplay photography. If you’ve never seen his work, you are really missing out on something truly wonderful.

“Suit Shoot at Midnight” © SNTP John Lynn

Note: All of the photos in this post are © SNTP John Lynn. Click on the photos to access high resolution versions on John’s deviantART (except for the photo above, which is on his Facebook fan page). Again, none of these photos are mine; they are a very small sampling of my favorite photos that he has done.

“The dog bites back…” © SNTP John Lynn

This past weekend, exactly a year to the day when I first met him in the flesh, John Lynn — also known to his friends and fans as SNTP — announced that he was leaving cosplay photography to focus on other pursuits.

“Mari Plugsuit Cosplay 1” © SNTP John Lynn

I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised. I knew that he had been thinking about stepping back from the hobby, but I didn’t think he would leave it entirely — especially since he had given me such a great pep talk after my terrible experience at Anime LA.

“Wanze x Naruto: How’s this for ramen?!” © SNTP John Lynn

John is a great talent, to be sure. The concepts he devises for his shoots are imaginative, and his post-production work is awe-inspiring.

“Fiddlesticks!” © SNTP John Lynn

Even a simple hallway shot or a picture taken at dinner becomes something epic and mind-blowing in the sure hands of this skilled and talented craftsman.

“Shizaya: Taking a Smoke Break” © SNTP John Lynn

More than that, though, is the man himself.

“Miku: Farewell to Summer” © SNTP John Lynn

Despite being one of the most talented artists I have ever had the honor and privilege of working with, he is also one of the kindest and most generous people I know.

“Bonney Jewelry Cosplay 2” © SNTP John Lynn

John is incredibly humble and needlessly self-effacing, which is probably why he is continuously striving to improve his already high-caliber work.

“Kagura Cosplay” © SNTP John Lynn

Friendly and approachable, John is always willing to offer advice and encouragement; so much so, that I’d recently taken to calling him “senpai” (先輩), the Japanese term for “elder” or “mentor”. xD

“Pi Chan and Kuu Chan from 30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku 2” © SNTP John Lynn

Many photographers prefer to work alone out of fear that the presence of others will be a hindrance or will result in “stolen” shots. Not John!

“Final Fantasy Group Cosplay 1” © SNTP John Lynn

John has invited me along on several of his shoots, and as a result I’ve learned so much just by watching him work! I’ve also met many other awesome and talented people, including Enix Remix, pictured above.

“Magi Harem: Kiss for me… Crop” © SNTP John Lynn

I know that I’ll still be able to hang out with John and to ask him for pointers, but I can’t help but feel that the cosplay community is a lot less rich now that it has lost a talented artist and a wonderful human being. I know that with his dedication, talent, and just plain decency, he will have success and happiness wherever his journeys take him. I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing him the best and I hope he will rejoin the community one day. We love you, John!

Be sure to see more of John’s awesome work on deviantART!

Like John’s cosplay photography page on Facebook!

John also does portrait, landscape, and other photography! Check out his other work, also on Facebook!

Final Fantasy VII Photoshoot [2013]

We finally press forward with this first photoshoot from Anime LA 9!

On Day 2 of ALA 9 I ran into SNTP, who graciously invited me to his shoot with Enix Remix!

To be honest, I’m not familiar at all with Final Fantasy (I only know they were cosplaying FFVII b/c they told me OTL ) and only really knew one of the group members, but they were all so chill and they came up with such great ideas that I didn’t really have to worry about anything besides making sure I stopped laughing long enough to push the button. I hope you can sense the fun we had in these pictures!

Red XIII (cosplayed by Yufi) was always mugging for the camera, and I was always waiting to see what he would come up with next! I think Yuffie and Cid were just talking, but Red XIII just elevates this shot, lol.

Cait and his (her!) Moogle.

If I had any Photoshop skills, I’d make Red XIII’s tail actual FIRE!

I love this shot — everyone is having such a great time! Like most of the poses here and in the full album, everyone was just riffing off each other!

Cloud had been doing a one-on-one shoot with SNTP and finally rejoined us!

Cloud and Red XIII decided to start up a band, but apparently, some people just can’t appreciate talent! XD

Yuffie was in the middle of her shoot with SNTP, so I snuck a shot! XD

Snuck another shot when Cait and Moogle did their shoot, too!

After SNTP’s one-on-one shoots, they did some more group photos with SNTP and Sojian. As always, I was happy to watch the pros work… and, of course, steal some shots! 😉

I love Cloud’s expression here, haha.

Thanks again to SNTP and Enix Remix for the invite and I’m looking forward to hanging out with everyone again soon!

See many more photos in the album on my Facebook, linked below!

2013 01 05 Sat: Final Fantasy VII Photoshoot

Full Coverage of Anime Los Angeles 2013:

Anime Los Angeles 9, Days 1-3
Final Fantasy VII Photoshoot
Zatanna Photoshoot

Anime Los Angeles 9, Days 1-3 [2013]

Back for another Anime Los Angeles! Managed to check out a little bit of all three days, but to be honest, most of the con was spent hanging out with friends and just derping. Here are the few photos fit for public consumption!

As I did at PMX, I showed up ridiculously late on Day 1, but thankfully was able to get my badge! After wandering around a bit and running into a bunch of different friends, I finally made it to the Chocolate Covered Cosplay panel.

Was kind of just wandering around the dealers hall on Saturday when I saw this awesome Mari and just had to take her picture. I didn’t even realize it was the awesome ninjagal6 until afterwards!

Figures! I was surprised by the number of figure vendors here, to be honest. More than I expected.

DVD box sets at a not terrible price! If I hadn’t already gotten that AnoHana set I prolly would’ve picked it up.

These Nightcrawler and Mystique cosplayers were so awesome! But what happened to Nightcrawler’s X-Men logo? :3a

We beat the rush for noms, apparently. As we were getting ready to leave, I took a picture of this Mami from Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika who was waiting with her friends to be seated.

My friends and I hit up the dance later in the evening. No, these are not me or my friends. 😛

We also hit up karaoke! I don’t do karaoke myself, but it’s fun to hear some talented (and not so talented) singers take the stage. There are a few performances on my YouTube channel!

Cute! I think she may’ve been at ReactorCon?

SNTP invited me along to his shoot with Missyeru, so I snuck a few shots. ^^

We went for crepes and food afterwards. The crepe place was so small that we filled the entire place!

Not much in the way of loots, but I do have to say that the cloth bag is probably the nicest bag I’ve ever gotten at a con! The separate programming schedule was a nice touch, though you had to grab that yourself. All the ribbons and the button (“COSPLAYING as a Responsible Adult”) are courtesy of my friends, like last year. ♥

Photoshoots will be forthcoming in separate posts. (EDIT: They’re here! Two shoots, one each of FFVII and Zatanna) Check out my YouTube channel for karaoke clips from Day 2 and see more photos on my Facebook linked below!

2013 01 04-06 Fri-Sun: Anime Los Angeles, Days 1-3

Full Coverage of Anime Los Angeles 2013:

Anime Los Angeles 9, Days 1-3
Final Fantasy VII Photoshoot
Zatanna Photoshoot