Cosplay Photography

Steve Thewis, also known as Digi-Steve Photography, visited Keyworth Camera Club via Zoom on May 6th to give a presentation called Cosplay Photography. This proved to be a fascinating talk supported by out of this world imagery.

Steve introduced himself as a professional photographer, retoucher and Photoshop trainer. All these areas were covered during the evening. Steve is originally from Belgium, and that was where he learnt how to take pictures. It was only when he moved to the U.K. that he tuned a hobby into a profession.

There were so many hints and tips that it would be impossible to mentioned them all here. Steve explained just what cosplay is and included information about the people who enjoy dressing up as superheroes and other characters, some of whom make their own costumes. Steve stressed that when photographing someone clothed in these spectacular outfits make sure it is of high quality – the costumes that cost thousands of pounds, as these add class to your images. Steve told many funny stories about his shoots, such as taking a male zombie into a pub for a beer after a shoot!

Steve deconstructed five of his images, talking us through the methods he uses to add mood through lighting and post-processing techniques. He showed how he added smoke, fire, rain, textures, different backgrounds and other elements to his images. This was all explained in an easy-to-understand narrative that has given our members many ideas to try on their own images. Steve finished the talk with a live demo that revealed how a few simple tweaks could really change an image from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Thank-you Steve, for a giving us a terrific presentation, one that has certainly inspired us to try some of your techniques and perhaps have a go at Cosplay photography ourselves.