My New Project: Cosplayers v2.0

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't been updating my blog lately but quite a lot has happened recently. But I thought I should kick things off by announcing my new project.

If you've been reading my blog for a while you might already know that when I was at college, I had to create a photo-series on a topic that was close to my heart. I always loved cosplay and studio photography so I decided to create a series of portraits of cosplayers in their normal clothes and their favourite costumes.

I wanted to create a photo-series that focused on the people behind the costumes rather than trying to shoot them as their characters. I tried out a few ideas and decided that two studio portraits of the cosplayer in two different outfits worked best. 

Over the next month, I shot my series with about a dozen cosplayers at my college studio and I ended up with a good grade for the project. I was happy with the grade but I've always wanted to revisit the project to try to improve it. Now that I've left college and have my own studio, I've got the chance to do it!

But sadly my Nana: Pauline, passed away in May earlier this year. I took a break from photography to spend some time with my family right when I was trying to restart this series. Now I'm starting to get back to work and I thought it would be a good time to start this project and dedicate it to her memory. And since she had been a great supporter of children's charities, that it would be a good idea to make this a charity project.

I wasn't sure which charity to pick but eventually, I choose the Ronald McDonald Houses Charity. I picked the RMHC because a few years ago my little sister had to fly to Switzerland for an operation. My parents went with her but weren't able to stay in the hospital. Thankfully the RMHC was able to accommodate them next to the hospital so they could easily visit her. I know this might not seem like a big deal but I remember how much of a relief it was for them to know that they didn't have to worry about their accommodation when their focus was on their daughter. While my parents and sister were away, I stayed with my Nana and Grandad and I know she'd think that the RMHC is a great cause to support.

So now I'm rebooting this project, in memory of my Nana and I'd like to ask that each cosplayer who takes part to make a small donation to the RMHC from this page. Any extra donations would be greatly appreciated as well and I'll be making a few donations of my own throughout the project. 

I'm not really sure how this will go but if enough people get involved I'd love to get the images printed or even make them into a book or hold a small exhibition. I'm also thinking about doing a few spin-off shoots as well so fingers crossed this all goes well, as this is the first charity project that I've done by myself.

If you would like to donate to my project please feel free and if you would like to take part, the series will be shot at Trinity Photography Studio in Gateshead, UK. 

If you'd like to get in touch or get involved please email me at njdunnphotographer@gmail.com and check out NJDunnPhotography or Trinity Photography Studio on Facebook or Instagram for more examples of my work and please check out my justgiving.com/nicholasdunn18 page to donate.

Thank you for your time.

Anime Attacks 8 with Little Rascal

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't been posting much but things have been a bit hectic lately. Without getting into it too much, someone very close to me passed away recently. I took some time to deal with that and since then I've found it really hard to get back going again. Things are starting to pick up again so I'm trying to make an effort to catch up with this blog. 

I thought I'd start with this snap of Little Rascal in her Druid Celebi costume at Anime Attacks 8 last weekend. I'd taken my gear along but I wasn't really in the mood to do a lot of shooting. So I took a few snaps of Little Rascal and we had a chat about some ideas for the future. Hopefully we will be working together again very soon, which I'm really looking forward too!

Like I said, things are still a little bit slow but I'm just happy that they are starting to pick up again. I'm going to try and keep by blog up-to-date from now on so keep your eyes peeled for more posts and please let me know what you think.

Thor Battle Video Shoot Posed Photos

You might've seen one of my earlier posts with some of my favourite Behind the Scenes photos from the set of Team Beard Films latest fan film inspired by (the then upcoming) Thor Ragnarok. 

While I mainly shot Behind the Scenes photos as the priority was to finishing shooting before we lost the light, I did get the chance to shoot some posed photos throughout the day. 

I managed to snap a few shots of James A.K.A God of Thunder, Dennis, who was portraying an archer who had a swordfight with Loki and Chris who was the The God of Mischief in question. Admittadely it was mainly Chris because I know him more than the other guys and because he loves getting his photo taken. He really gets into charachter when he's in costume!

I'm really pleased with how these turned out especially as it was quite rushed and really cool in the Yorkshire Moors. But now that I've seen the film several times, I really want to try and organise another shoot and possibly recreate the Mjonir breaking scene in Norway. 

What do you guys think?

Should I try it?

Unleashed Gateshead Comic Con April 2018

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while but I've had a few family issues to deal with lately and it slipped my mind. Too make it up to you I've posted some of my favourite photos from the latest convention I photographed: Team Unleashed's Gateshead Comic Con at The Lancastrian Suite in Dunston.

Unfortunately, the main hall was very crowded and dark so I decided to avoid taking photos in their and instead focused on shooting on the top floor and outside. I even managed to find a loading bay on the outside of a nearby factory that I used as a background for a few Psylocke photos and some trees that I used for Captain Jack and Mr Gibbs.

This was probably the most hectic con I've shot at for quite a while, because it was so busy and there wasn't a lot of places to get photos but I enjoyed it and think I got some cool shots. 

 I usually prefer to go to conventions to meet cosplayers and organise solo shoots with them rather than try to get amazing photos at the conventions because they are usually too unplanned and chaotic for my liking. 

Luckily,  I meet some fantastic cosplayers and I'm already discussing ideas for shoots with some of my favourites. I'm looking forward to my next convention but I'm not sure which one that will be yet.

As usual, I shot using my Nikon D610 with a 18-85mm lens and SB-700 speed light with a portable softbox. My settings were 1/125 shutter speed and aperture f/5 and I increased my ISO to lighten the background depending on where I was shooting.

For more of my images check out my Facebook page album; https://www.facebook.com/pg/NJDunnPhotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1338315396269570 and please let me know what you think.

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Unleashed Hartlepool Comic-Con March 2018

This weekend I went to Unleashed Event's Hartlepool Comic-Con at Borough Hall in Hartlepool. This was my 3rd convention of the year and since I didn't take too many photos and I had the next morning free I decided to focus on getting some of my favourite photos edited and posted as soon as possible.

I really enjoyed the day; the location was very easy to get too, it was a really interesting venue, the team were fantastic as ever and as always I got to meet some great cosplayers and I took some fantastic photos.

I've been a bit lax with posting new work lately as I've been quite overwhelmed with my new studio and business lately but I'm trying to push through it and I'm going to endeavour to keep up with editing and posting new content on my Facebook page, Instagram accounts and this blog. 

I'm still editing my photos from Middlesborough Comic-Con and I'll be writing a post about my photobooth EXP-0 Video Game Convention after this, so keep your eyes peeled for more convention photos coming soon. I'll also be attending Anime GO in Wallsend on Saturday and I'm planning on attending Unleashed's conventions at Gateshead and York later in the year. 

As ever, keep your eyes peeled for more posts coming soon and let me know what you think in the comments.

Behind the Scenes: Thor Battle Video Shoot

In November, last year I got invited to Team Beard Film's video shoot for their latest Marvel fan-film "Thor's Battle", directed by Strange Porcelain Cosplay and staring God of Thunder UK and God of Mischief UK.

I managed to get lost on the way to the location but eventually, I found the cast and crew rehearsing in the middle of a valley in the heart of Yorkshire. Unsurprisingly, I was really cold and windy on the location but I managed to get a few fantastic Behind the Scenes photos of the team shooting throughout the day. I really felt sorry for James/God of Thunder who spent most of the day in the freezing cold with bare arms.

Towards the end of the day I even managed to get a few posed shots with Thor and Loki which I'm really pleased with. Apparently, the team are planning another shooting day and I've found an awesome cliff location that I would love to use for a location shoot with Thor, Loki and Hela to recreate the scene from the start of Thor Ragnarok. 

But until then I'm planning a Kingsman, Harry Potter, Overwatch, Game of Thrones and Sucker Punch cosplay shoots and I've got a few more in the works so I will try to keep you updated with my plans for the future.

 

Behind the Scenes: Captain America Video Shoot

Last year, I took some Behind the Scenes photos during the filming of Team Beard Film's cosplay video: The First Avenger UK and the Howling Commandos, staring The First Avenger UK and The North East Avengers. I spent most of the day shooting images of the cast and crew in action in the woods around Tanfield and a nearby clearing. 

The highlight was the opportunity to shoot with some amazing cosplayers and some World War 2 re-enactors and vintage vehicles that had come along to add some authenticity to the shoot.

I really enjoyed working on the video with the team and I am looking forward to doing another Thor video with them this year.