Matryoshka Photo Shoot!

Caught your attention eh? Courtesy of Yummei and Bean for photo edit and concept ^^ 

 Where to start, where to start. I guess I'll introduce myself since I'm new to this blog and only recently really got into the swing of things.

Hej! Jeg hedder Spark. Je kommer fra Amerika. Jeg er taiwanesiske og kantonesiske. Jeg kan tale engelsk og kinesisk. Hvad med dig? Hvad hedder du? Hvor kommer du fra? Kan du tale dansk og engelsk? Hej hej!

*cough* pardon the random, simple introduction. I'm still learning haha. But any way, a little more about me: I've not been in the cosplay scene very long, nor do I really claim to be a "cosplayer". I've only been super into all the outfits and craftsmanship thanks to my lovely roommate Bean. Aren't these people amazing? Really, when they put their mind to it, they make rainbows and sparkles and DEEP DARK EMOTIONAL AWESOME. (pardon the nightly distractions I am tired.) But in all seriousness, let's get to the point that I wanted to reach with this post: photoshoots.

It's one thing to have a photoshoot with friends and your cosplay where everyone knows what is going on and fun ensues! It's another when it is with a professional photographer (well, getting his licenses to be a pro-photographer) who is interested in starting a "Cosplay porfolio" because it is something he is interested in. Where to start this story? Well... it probably goes like this:

Len, Gumi, Miku, Rin

A group of us decided to hit up J-Pop Summit with our Matryohska cosplay! For it, it was the first that I really spent a lot of effort on! I was cosplaying as Gumi while in Taiwan, and hit up FF17, a large anime con in Taipei, Taiwan while I was there. I got the green wig, face markings, and red hoodie. I painted the face, told the others of what I was doing, and probably squealed a lot and just had fun truly cosplaying. So when I came back to the States, I talked about having  Matryoshka group! After all, the others had their "Synchornicity" vocaloids and wigs, so why not? Something simple, something fun. We had the largest group by far, and we were stopped often for pictures, and even interviewed for a SF Daily Entertainment blog! And then there was the picture above, taken by Danny Le.

This is where the excitement begins! After adding us on facebook, posting pictures of J-Pop Summit and more, he sent me a message asking me if my cosplay group and I (I blushed reading that... I hardly ever feel like I contribute enough to really be a part of this group!) wanted to do a cosplay photoshoot. He's never done one before, but he was very interested in working with us. Excitedly, after reading this fb message, I ran to Bean and forwarded the message to her. She promptly replied with a very thoroughly written message about what cosplay we offer and yatta yatta. A few message and a meeting later, we had decided on a photoshoot in Berkeley on the last weekend of September.

Danny Le, photographer and Vocaloids (left to right, Rin, Piko, Miku, Len, Meiko, Gumi)

So we dressed up and scrambled around that Saturday (being me, I of course overslept), and we met up with Danny at the BART station in Downtown Berkeley. We took him to campus to the art building, Wurster Hall, and began to discuss ideas and such with him. Credit to Bean for being a photo director as well and giving him ideas of what to do! At first, I feel like we were all a little awkward, because this is a professional photographer who wants us to teach him about cosplay. But after awhile, we all sorta warmed up to each other, and it was a fun shoot. The most challenging part was probably working with such a big group of people. Constantly, he was asking us for ideas, and trying to find which person fit what he wanted/pictured in his mind. The shoot lasted for 4 hours, and basically Piko dying was what convinced us that we had enough. But did we really?

I can't speak for the others, but it was really exciting working with him! Probably because I have very little experience posing for a camera, the photoshoot was defintely a challenge for me. I had to find different facial expressions and really give Gumi a character. The posing had to be creative, and you had to stay still for the photographer to capture the moment. At the same time, Danny was pretty awesome in the fact that he told you to pose and gave you direction, but he would take lots and lots of pictures and just tell you to relax and be natural or what you want to be. Also he had some cool ideas, like the fisheye pose! And action shots!

Fish eye! There were probably better ones I'm sure ^^;;

Meiko vs Gumi ACTION SHOT GOOOO!

 All in all, it was a good experience for me, not because I'll be a model any time soon, but because it really gave me an insight into what it takes to make a successful cosplay photoshoot. Sometimes are are stories, and characters you nee to display and show your audience with just one picture. We (mostly I ^^;;) came up with bios/disorders that each of the Vocaloids suffered from, or grew stronger because of. Or did it just define their lives? Who knows! The bios are on my deviantart, but maybe one day I'll actually post them for feedback.

Well anyway, I've rambled far enough, so the rest of the post will be just pictures of awesome! Although not complete, but these are just some behind the scene shots of our photoshoot!  Thanks for reading and I apologize for the choppy language >_< Hopefully we'll get this blog updated more gals! *wnik wink* :]

*gets shot* T_T

Kagamine Twins having fun by a wall of graffti (wow bad at captions iAi)

Superstar divas!!! :]

Matryohska Len can camera-whore too :p

THIS PHOTOGRAPHER was willing to do about anything to get the shot he wanted. Even climb an unstable roof just to get the right angle. Can you say committed or what?

Haha, I lied! I'm going to write a little more! But anyway, the next few photos will be behind the scenes and then Danny's interpretation/ideas. Something really amazing is artists and what goes on in their minds. How they create artwork is up to them and their ideas. So how about a little challenge folks? (of the 11 followers we have haha). I'll post these pictures, and you tell me what is going on (sorta like write a little story or paragraph behind the picture.) It's just a fun little exercise to get to know yourself better not only as a writer, but a person. :] (Used to do it all the time in high school, right?)

Photographer and Miku interact

Hatsune Miku

Gumi and Miku in a world of explosive colors

"Stay gangsta homie!"- Danny to Piko

The twins and a random ribbon tree and head @_@

Serious Len is serious...ly attractive! :] xD

The shoot fruited many good comments, many "AMAZING!" and "Wow!", which is great feedback considering the cosplay that went into it, the time, the people, etc... My favorite shots were the interactive ones because they were most interesting. The group shots were also pretty cool :] Thanks to Bean for documenting the behind the scenes!

Group shot! Yes, this tree does exist. Yes, we are in a very dangerous situation. 

Well, that's all folks! Danish homework awaits me as does a physics midterm. I've probably already said too much, but this was a fun post to write ^^ Hopefully I'll get a chance to write more as I participate in more of the madness that goes on with this group. :] Truly a wonderful experience and I am glad that I have them in my life to add just a little more craziness and appreciation of life. ^^

Good night! ^^

- Spark (aka punk rocking Gumi with a lip ring, green hair, and attitude... basically trying out an identity :p)