Contrary to popular belief, posing while in costume takes skill and/or practice. Stephanie Scholl, Erin Shaffin-Townsend, and Heather Irete (aka; Sailor Moon, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Saturn) explained the proper methods of how to pose for photos at a convention.
General tips from the Scouts;
* step out of the way of passer-bys to avoid causing bottlenecks and allow less chance of people stepping into the view of the camera
* before a photo, “check yourself”. Make sure skirts are pulled down, hair isn’t a mess, you don’t have spinache between your teeth, and so on.
* if you are carrying a bag PUT IT DOWN or behind you or hand it off to a friend. Keep it out of the picture as much as possible.
* Practice getting into character before the con. Study up on typical stances and actions your character typically makes and then do those actions yourself. While you may be an awesome person, people want your picture because you are dressed as a character they like and not because you are you. Be that character.
Group Posing Tips;
* lining up tends to be an instant fail. It’s hard to get everyone into a camera’s view and it’s simply dull.
* consider character relevance. Keep main characters center stage and lesser characters on the side while at the same time trying to display character relationships.
Tips for Posing with Props;
* beware of your surroundings. People tend not to enjoy being smacked with a 7 foot scythe (or even a 12 inch wand) no matter how cool the scythe (or wand) happens to be.
* when solo: use the prop as the character would (if possible); weild a sword, wave a wand, lick a lollipop. If not enough space place the weapon “dynamically” behind you or tilt it upright in front of you.
* in a group weapons should be in the back if they are large
* obey con rules, you don’t want your weapon taken from you and despite the feeling that some rules are made simply to annoy, they’re NOT. The rules are there for a reason; protection of others as well protection of the con.
Never (try not to!) forget that the most imporant aspect of cosplaying is having a good time.
During the panel on “How to Pose” the Scouts allowed several member of the audience to demonstrate different tasks and emotions.
A note of warning from Sailor Uranus; if any photographer makes you uncomfortable DO NOT feel bad about leaving the situation and if worse comes to worse, CALL THEM OUT!
Happy posing!
