Winter Fashion Shoot
I went to _shiya_wind's winter fashion shoot yesterday. It was a beautiful day for a photoshoot but our poor models were probably a bit overdressed for the unseasonably warm weather. I was the first to arrive. I arrived at about 10:30 AM, which was enough time to take a quick look around the immediate vicinity of our meeting place on campus by Royce Hall. I haven't been on the UCLA campus and it really was a beautiful place for our photoshoot. After Anime LA and that super crowded hotel, this was heaven. I really love wide open spaces. By the time I returned to the meeting spot, there were quite a few people there already. Of course, the first hour or so consisted of socializing and general goofing off, but that's how we do things and it's fun.
The first group I was assigned to shoot consisted of 5 males, which were all of the male models that were there at the time. All of the other groups consisted of 3-4 females. The time limit to shoot this first group was one hour so I really had to hustle. For someone like me who is a notoriously slow starter, it was a challenge. It wasn't that big of a deal for me. I don't want a lot of anime so when I'm doing a lot of my cosplay stuff, I really don't know much about the characters. A lot of my ideas come from looking at ads in the Sunday newspaper. I was tough, but I managed to get a decent amount of photos of each model.
After that, lunch break. Yay!! Very tasty Mexican food cooked on-site. Enough to keep me going for the rest of the afternoon.
My second group of models consisted of ycysusan , x_angel_wings_x , and hakuku . Oh dear, no good can come of this combination. Whenever I get with these folks, it's nothing but mayhem. We started off by the nearby Kerchoff building. I liked it because it looked somewhat gothic. It started with ycysusan putting makeup on me. As soon as I started shooting, most of it ended up on the LCD protector on my camera. Thank goodness for LCD protectors. I really was trying to work hard and got a pretty good rotation going and slowly, we made our way to the top of the hill, where it seemed that all of us were taking pictures of each other. For some reason, we had to do some "jumping" photos. I really don't understand. I wanted to get photos of x_angel_wings_x walking in the middle of some road that was up there. I just wanted a normal walk, but the first try at it was some drunk hootchie walk. Very bizarre. hakuku was the normal one of the bunch. Without her, maybe it would have been 100% silliness. Gradually we made our way to Royce Hall and shot some stuff around there and down a somehat narrow stairway on the north side of the hill. For awhile, I was on my back taking photos of x_angel_wings_x . I had some of my gear laying closeby on the pathway and ycysusan knocked over my big 80-200mm lens sent it rolling down the path. No!!! Come back lens!!! Bad Susan! It didn't roll very far, only a few inches, but it was scary to see. It's a metal lens that's built like a tank so it wasn't harmed in any way. Still good. Yes. We eventually finished out session at the business school and found ourselves walking down spooky Silent Hill hallway.
After returning to base, I was assigned to another group, but I really didn't know who was in it so I ended up shooting blueyeswhtdragn and mingswly until it got too dark. Before the sun set, it gave Royce Hall a bright orange glow and it was a really neat background. After all of this, I ended up taking more photos here than at Anime LA. That's what happens when I get to shoot at a place that I'm actually excited to shoot at.
After that, dinner time. Decision time because this is where the group split. Noodle Planet in the village or some Chinese food place out in the sticks? I really had no desire to drive out to the sticks. I was too tired and that was too far. So, Noodle Planet it was. I haven't spent a night out in Westwood Village in a long time. Back in my USC days, we would spend a lot of nights out in Westwood even though it was right next to UCLA. Our neighborhood sucked. So, it was pretty nostalgic for me. Noodle Planet was appropriately named--so many noodle dishes from around the world. They give very big portions also. I could not finish my plate. I don't think anybody did. After dinner, we went to Thank You Mart. Everything in the store is $3.99. It's all really wierd stuff, but it was fun. Then, some of the girls wanted to go to Victoria's Secret. I went in also. I don't mind looking at that stuff. It was interesting watching the girls pick out underwear for themselves. Hmmmm... Yeah, it was definitely a really fun night in the village. After that it was back to campus and it was time to call it a night. It was nice to see so many people come out for this. It was a fun time.
Some more cool stuff about Saturday:
--Mentos--the fresh maker
--found out that ravendarkwings is practically my neighbor (when she's not in school).
As usual, no previews, but maybe check my staff blog.
Photo project priorities:
1. Anime LA
2. Put smaller versions of Cosplay Underground v. 002 to super-no1.com.
3. Fashion shoot
4. Cosplay Underground v. 003
The first group I was assigned to shoot consisted of 5 males, which were all of the male models that were there at the time. All of the other groups consisted of 3-4 females. The time limit to shoot this first group was one hour so I really had to hustle. For someone like me who is a notoriously slow starter, it was a challenge. It wasn't that big of a deal for me. I don't want a lot of anime so when I'm doing a lot of my cosplay stuff, I really don't know much about the characters. A lot of my ideas come from looking at ads in the Sunday newspaper. I was tough, but I managed to get a decent amount of photos of each model.
After that, lunch break. Yay!! Very tasty Mexican food cooked on-site. Enough to keep me going for the rest of the afternoon.
My second group of models consisted of ycysusan , x_angel_wings_x , and hakuku . Oh dear, no good can come of this combination. Whenever I get with these folks, it's nothing but mayhem. We started off by the nearby Kerchoff building. I liked it because it looked somewhat gothic. It started with ycysusan putting makeup on me. As soon as I started shooting, most of it ended up on the LCD protector on my camera. Thank goodness for LCD protectors. I really was trying to work hard and got a pretty good rotation going and slowly, we made our way to the top of the hill, where it seemed that all of us were taking pictures of each other. For some reason, we had to do some "jumping" photos. I really don't understand. I wanted to get photos of x_angel_wings_x walking in the middle of some road that was up there. I just wanted a normal walk, but the first try at it was some drunk hootchie walk. Very bizarre. hakuku was the normal one of the bunch. Without her, maybe it would have been 100% silliness. Gradually we made our way to Royce Hall and shot some stuff around there and down a somehat narrow stairway on the north side of the hill. For awhile, I was on my back taking photos of x_angel_wings_x . I had some of my gear laying closeby on the pathway and ycysusan knocked over my big 80-200mm lens sent it rolling down the path. No!!! Come back lens!!! Bad Susan! It didn't roll very far, only a few inches, but it was scary to see. It's a metal lens that's built like a tank so it wasn't harmed in any way. Still good. Yes. We eventually finished out session at the business school and found ourselves walking down spooky Silent Hill hallway.
After returning to base, I was assigned to another group, but I really didn't know who was in it so I ended up shooting blueyeswhtdragn and mingswly until it got too dark. Before the sun set, it gave Royce Hall a bright orange glow and it was a really neat background. After all of this, I ended up taking more photos here than at Anime LA. That's what happens when I get to shoot at a place that I'm actually excited to shoot at.
After that, dinner time. Decision time because this is where the group split. Noodle Planet in the village or some Chinese food place out in the sticks? I really had no desire to drive out to the sticks. I was too tired and that was too far. So, Noodle Planet it was. I haven't spent a night out in Westwood Village in a long time. Back in my USC days, we would spend a lot of nights out in Westwood even though it was right next to UCLA. Our neighborhood sucked. So, it was pretty nostalgic for me. Noodle Planet was appropriately named--so many noodle dishes from around the world. They give very big portions also. I could not finish my plate. I don't think anybody did. After dinner, we went to Thank You Mart. Everything in the store is $3.99. It's all really wierd stuff, but it was fun. Then, some of the girls wanted to go to Victoria's Secret. I went in also. I don't mind looking at that stuff. It was interesting watching the girls pick out underwear for themselves. Hmmmm... Yeah, it was definitely a really fun night in the village. After that it was back to campus and it was time to call it a night. It was nice to see so many people come out for this. It was a fun time.
Some more cool stuff about Saturday:
--Mentos--the fresh maker
--found out that ravendarkwings is practically my neighbor (when she's not in school).
As usual, no previews, but maybe check my staff blog.
Photo project priorities:
1. Anime LA
2. Put smaller versions of Cosplay Underground v. 002 to super-no1.com.
3. Fashion shoot
4. Cosplay Underground v. 003