Cosplay Photoshoot Safety
As cosplayers, we work hard on our costumes and it’s important to get great pictures to show off our hard work! It’s also extremely rewarding and inspiring to find other creatives to collaborate with when it comes to photoshoots. However, it’s also important to make sure that we are following safety guidelines while participating in shoots. We want everyone to stay safe while enjoying this wonderful hobby of ours, so we’ve put together a list of safety tips:
-Pick your photographer and cosplay partners wisely:
-Ask around for honest reviews from others in the community.
-Check their portfolio-does it match up with what you envision for your shoot? Is there a wide variety of cosplayers represented in the portfolio?
-Talk to your collaboration partners ahead of time about your vision for the shoot and any accessibility concerns you might have. Are they receptive to these?
-Clearly establish boundaries about what you are and aren’t comfortable with in the shoot.
-If you don’t know your collaborators well, do the shoot in a public place and bring a friend along. It’s just safer that way and you’re likely to feel more comfortable.
-Do NOT bring weapons, whether real or simply realistic prop weapons, into a public place. If something is mistaken for a prop weapon, the police could get called or someone could get into panic mode and act defensively.
-Don’t step into a busy street to get a photo-please don’t trust that cars will see you!
-Most railroad tracks are NOT abandoned, and a train conductor will not see you in time to stop the train, nor will you see the train in time to get off the tracks. Please just don’t take pictures on tracks-it’s not worth your life. This is what fake tracks/green screens are for.
-Do not trespass on private property. If you really want to get a shot somewhere, try to get contact information and ask permission-you’d be surprised how many people are willing to accommodate if you simply ask politely. But if they say no, you should respect that.
Most importantly, use common sense and listen to your gut feelings. And of course, watch out for each other. Feel free to share your own safety tips with us-we’d love to see what you do to stay safe while letting your fandom flag fly!
About the author:
Kelly Guentner started as a guest on the show and became the first personality to host her own BOTCB spin off show! As the host of the Back Issue Breakfast Club, Kelly coupled her encyclopedic knowledge of comics with her unbearable likability to create on of the most refreshing shows in digital entertainment! She now also co-hosts Cosplay Cafe and Gilmore Sisters: A Rant Podcast.
Kelly is one half of the popular cosplay duo Phoenix Sisters Cosplay and the host of Drunk Comics on her own Phoenix Sisters Cosplay YouTube Channel! She is also the author (Kelly Edwards) of the supervillain urban fantasy novel Scorcher: Forces of Nature! It’s available wherever books are sold, and a sequel is on the way!
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