A post over on Xeph-Ink, about photographing costuming, really caught my attention. (In fact, this post is largely in response to Xeph's blog, so please go check it out!) Xeph writes about the best possible ways to photograph costuming; she mentions lighting, context and environment, and models, as well as her own experiences with the ins and outs of photography. Professional costumers are probably familiar with the trials of photographing LARP pieces well, but, with a more general audience in mind (myself included), I wanted to give a few thoughts on photography and costuming.
During a LARP, I think it's easy to see fantastic costumes and makeup for what they are: well-done elements that add to the immersive IG universe. However, to me at least, once costumes drift outside of their intended context (for instance, in the middle of the woods at 3 am), they lose a lot of their magic. Sure, when someone is standing under the fluorescent lights of a bathroom, I can see skillfully applied make-up and/or a well-conceptualized costume, but something is, undeniably, missing. The diamond studded skin becomes a face with glued on plastic gems. The whiskers or scales body paint. While the beauty of the piece is still apparent, the real life of the person wearing it is obvious. In many ways, this is how the art of LARP works: it's ephemeral-- and tenaciously glued to its own context.
This is problematic when/if we decide to show our costumes and makeup to an audience outside of the LARP event itself. As Xeph writes, costumes out of context look a little sad: in your living room or on your front porch, your highborn tarantula queen doesn't look nearly as elegant as she did two weekends ago, deep in the woods. We've all seen the pictures of costumes photographed outside of their intended environment: unless the game itself is modernistic, they rarely look good (boffer weapons, an entirely different story, even less so). This is a pity: a lot of people, even if they aren't LARPers, could probably understand and get into LARP through pictures of good costuming.
All of this considered, I've seen some pictures, including those on Xeph-Ink, that are fantastic: not only are the pictures themselves artistically taken, but the setting works. The model doesn't seem awkward. The costume, even though obviously outside of a LARP or Faire, is displayed to its full potential. While photographs of costumes may seem superficial, to me, they have a larger significance: well-done photography is one way to preserve and communicate our art form. As I've discussed before, LARP is difficult to communicate or display (as well it should be, perhaps). In my opinion, options that allow us to successfully capture our art form should be pursued.
So, what are methods for successfully photographing costuming and makeup? Are you a fan of photographing costuming? Are there privacy concerns involved with photography? And, please, for some really practical technique tips, go check out Xeph-Ink!
During a LARP, I think it's easy to see fantastic costumes and makeup for what they are: well-done elements that add to the immersive IG universe. However, to me at least, once costumes drift outside of their intended context (for instance, in the middle of the woods at 3 am), they lose a lot of their magic. Sure, when someone is standing under the fluorescent lights of a bathroom, I can see skillfully applied make-up and/or a well-conceptualized costume, but something is, undeniably, missing. The diamond studded skin becomes a face with glued on plastic gems. The whiskers or scales body paint. While the beauty of the piece is still apparent, the real life of the person wearing it is obvious. In many ways, this is how the art of LARP works: it's ephemeral-- and tenaciously glued to its own context.
This is problematic when/if we decide to show our costumes and makeup to an audience outside of the LARP event itself. As Xeph writes, costumes out of context look a little sad: in your living room or on your front porch, your highborn tarantula queen doesn't look nearly as elegant as she did two weekends ago, deep in the woods. We've all seen the pictures of costumes photographed outside of their intended environment: unless the game itself is modernistic, they rarely look good (boffer weapons, an entirely different story, even less so). This is a pity: a lot of people, even if they aren't LARPers, could probably understand and get into LARP through pictures of good costuming.
All of this considered, I've seen some pictures, including those on Xeph-Ink, that are fantastic: not only are the pictures themselves artistically taken, but the setting works. The model doesn't seem awkward. The costume, even though obviously outside of a LARP or Faire, is displayed to its full potential. While photographs of costumes may seem superficial, to me, they have a larger significance: well-done photography is one way to preserve and communicate our art form. As I've discussed before, LARP is difficult to communicate or display (as well it should be, perhaps). In my opinion, options that allow us to successfully capture our art form should be pursued.
So, what are methods for successfully photographing costuming and makeup? Are you a fan of photographing costuming? Are there privacy concerns involved with photography? And, please, for some really practical technique tips, go check out Xeph-Ink!
I'm glad you brought this to more people's attention. How LARP is presented to the rest of the world is something we all seem to be thinking about more and more these days. How to make it look good seems to be an art unto itself.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a lot of pictures of costuming and makeup that look sad (needless to say, many of those pictures were taken at the end of event weekends, after busy workdays etc). I think it contributes to the "LARPers are delusional misfits" misconceptions that fritter around. Presenting things professionally and/or artistically can go a long way in how people understand us as a community.
DeleteMy experiences with LARP photography has largely been in the realm of NERO. Most Acellerant games I've attended either forbid photography or are not well suited for it. My pictures have tended to be broad candid pictures of groups. These were usually taken during the day when PC's were idly socializing. I was also able to get a decent number of shots of daytime town and field battles.
DeleteSince I almost never got posed pictures my technique resulted in a large number of a certain kind of shot. I was almost always shooting from >10 ft away, so my pictures were mostly groups and scenes as opposed to small intimate photographs. My combat shots unfortunately resulted in a whole lot of pictures of the backs of people's heads since in order to see their faces I needed to be behind enemy lines. Fortunately the IG/OOG nature of most NERO events allowed me to often drift behind the monster's line in order to get better shots. Sometimes I wore a white headband, but often the NPC's were just willing to allow it so long as I didn't use it as an excuse to gain in game advantage (ie backstab all the monsters.)
My photographs were usually quite well received, but the audience for them was always the participants of the event. They were very tolerant of crappy composition, messy makeup or amateurish photography. For that audience the thrill was in being visually reminded of the cool event they attended and the fun scenes and battles in which they participated. They liked spotting themselves or friends in pictures.
Very little of what I shot was of good enough quality and composition to showcase LARP's well. Not much was the sort of thing that would do well on a website or such. In addition to the problems I listed above there is the issue of so many of my shots being a combat. One of the cruel ironies of combat LARPs is that the combat is the most visually striking element of the game and it is also a huge part of why people enjoy it. But it is also the most contrived and artificial part of the game.
Until you are educated to the standards and practices of LARP combat the entire thing frankly looks very bizarre and weird. People are mostly running around shouting nonsense and doing strange gyrations that bear little resemblance to theatrical swashbuckling combat seen at fair, on TV and in movies. This problem is very much noticeable in LARP combat videos, but is also comes across a bit in the photos.
That said, the vast number of pictures I took did result in a number of fairly good ones. The law of averages was in my favor there. I've had a few people who have mined my photography collection (most of it is on photobucket) for various projects. One guy culled some of the better ones to use to make a NERO promotional CD. Some ended up getting used in the new NERO rulebook. One person borrowed heavily from my pictures to create a very effective musical slideshow presentation commemorating a significant national plot arc in NERO.
So in terms of advise on how to take pictures at LARPs, I'm afraid my own experience amounts to “take a crapton of pictures for a long time, and if you shoot enough shots then at least some of them are bound to be fairly decent.” That isn't exactly the most precise or efficient advise, but it does seem to work after a fashion.
George
"So in terms of advise on how to take pictures at LARPs, I'm afraid my own experience amounts to “take a crapton of pictures for a long time, and if you shoot enough shots then at least some of them are bound to be fairly decent.” That isn't exactly the most precise or efficient advise, but it does seem to work after a fashion."
Delete^_^ So goes life. I think that's pretty reliably decent advice.
I've lost track of the number of times people have suggested that I do a film/video on LARPing. What they didn't realize was that, without the suspension of disbelief, we often look ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThis can be proven by doing a simple YouTube search these days...
George does have the rule of photography down. Take multiple shots. Even professional models have tons of pics taken in a shoot, in order to get the few that you'll see in a magazine. And these days, it's all digital, you're not wasting film. FIRE AWAY!
Try different angles. Shooting from below is a great way to imply emphasis and strength. Even a slight change can make a huge difference.
The next is control of the scene. Lights, colors, background, shadows, props. Props is an important one. Unless the boffer weapon would look impressive to Joe Average Viewer, don't have it in the shot. Maybe a sword in a "scabbard" so you just see the hilt. You might want to consider exchanging it with an actual metal weapon.
Lights and colors are especially important with makeup shots. Make sure to get a proper white balance first. You don't want too much color to change the effect of the makeup. If you're dealing with reflective surfaces, be aware of lens flare (see above comment about taking lots of shots).
Video has all these challenges, plus motion and sound to consider. The big benefit is that you're automatically taking lots of shots (about 30 per second) to sort through later for the perfect shot.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.