Cosplay Kingdom - December 2022 - Issue #3

Letter from the Editor

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

Cosplay Kingdom Magazine would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

The month of December, despite the cold weather, has always been one of my favorites. I’ve always enjoyed the visual scenery of snow covered trees and landscapes, the decorated houses and buildings, and the plethora of hearty homemade food. Include time spent at home with friends and family and the obvious break from work, the Holiday season has always been a wonderful time of year.

Besides the obvious items stated above, I find additionally appealing the fact that the Holiday season is a time where everything seems to slow down just a bit for me. Sure, there’s the hectic feelings of buying and wrapping gifts, or the rush to get to the grocery store to get all the supplies needed to feed the troops. But overall, it feels slower to me. Projects at work tend to wind down a bit in anticipation of having everyone out on vacation, cold winter days spent lying on the couch watching old movies, or moments after dinner where everyone sits on the couch and just chats. These are the great times and are meant to be cherished.

“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”

–John Boswell

No matter what, where, when, or how you celebrate this Holiday Season, I want to wish you all a safe and joyous time! Best wishes heading into the New Year and thank you all for reading this!!!

HOLIDAYS ALL!!

HAPPY

Image by S. Hermann / F. Richter from Pixabay

KEVIN Q. GRAY COSPLAYER: XANDER BEE

PHOTO BY:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER

Kevin Q. Gray - From Disney to Tintypes, Kevin does it all.

KEVIN

Q. GRAY

Tintypes are an old style of photograph that creates a photographic image on a thin sheet of metal or iron that has been coated with a dark lacquer or enamel.

THE CORPSE BRIDE

TIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

Love is a Battlefield MAI Mai is a nurse by day and does cosplaying and modeling on her off days. PETITE PENNYWISE Randy Davidson and EVOLUTION

IMAGES

Pennywise and Killer Clown Post-Halloween Shoot

ARIEL Disney Shoot

Photographer Christa Morgan presents the Corpse Bride

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER KEVIN Q. GRAY

We have the distinct pleasure of presenting the work of talented photographer Kevin Q. Gray in this issue of Cosplay Kingdom Magazine. Kevin submitted images of Espeon for the October Issue and we loved them so much, we asked him to do a full featured spot in this month’s issue. CKM had the opportunity to ask Kevin a few questions for this feature.

CKM: Tell us a little about Kevin Q. Gray Photogra phy and how you got started:

KQG: “I wanted to be an artist from a young age: first a cartoonist, then a painter, and then finally landed on photography during college. Now along with my photo work I am the manager of education programs at a nationally known art museum in upstate New York, and I teach photography as an adjunct professor at a liberal arts college.”

CKM: Is this something you set out to do specifically from childhood or did you fall into photography some other way?

KQG: “It was sophomore year in college that I took my first photo class, back when it was all film (I’m old). I would lose hours in the darkroom making black and white prints and then immediately load more film into my camera for another shoot, and that’s when I knew this was something I couldn’t live without.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY CHARACTER: LAUDNA COSPLAYER: @THECLOUDYKATE

PHOTOGRAPHY

BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY

CHARACTER: ZELDA COSPLAYER: @ITSKENZIEMF

CKM: How long have you been a photographer?

KQG: “Longer than many cosplayers have been alive, since 1999.”

CKM: What got you started in photography?

KQG: “I would always take snapshots during vaca tions as a kid, but it was when I took my first college darkroom course that I began taking it seriously.”

CKM: When you look back at your photography beginnings, how do you feel when you compare early images to the work you’re producing today?

KQG: “I think that my overall aesthetic has remained consistent throughout the years, but my technical skill continues to grow. The largest change recently has been my use of strobes and colored lights for por traits, because as a landscape photographer I was used to relying on natural light. It’s been quite the learning curve!”

CKM: Is photography a full time venture or just some thing you’re passionate about outside of your normal career?

KQG: “I guess I’d call photography a very serious side business! I am full-time at the art museum where I work, so I’m lucky that all of my jobs relate to the arts in some way.”

CKM: What is your favorite gear to use (camera, lens es, lighting, accessories)?

KQG: “I’ve been using Sony cameras since I started doing digital, and have finally upgraded to their mirrorless line. I stick with my 85mm portrait lens for

much of my work but occasionally bring out the wide angle lens for more environmental shots.”

CKM: Do you prefer shooting indoors (studio envi ronment) or outdoors (natural light)?

KQG: “Outdoors, by far! I’m much more comfort able there. But I’ve begun to really appreciate what strobes can do and have been having lots of fun with my colored LED light sticks in indoor locations and at night.”

CKM: What advice would you give to a beginning photographer?

KQG: “Take as many pictures as you can. Just never stop shooting, and use social media to your advantage to showcase your work. Don’t be afraid of criticism. Look at lots of other people’s work. Study it to see what they’ve done and what makes their photographs tick. Try new things, even if it doesn’t work out the way you want the first time.”

CKM: What photographers do you admire most and if given a chance, who would you most like to collabo rate with?

KQG: “How much space do you have in your maga zine? Because I teach photography I’ve been exposed to photographic artists from the past 150+ years who have inspired me. Some names to look up would be Edward Weston, Cindy Sherman, Wolfgang Tillmans, Elliott Erwitt, Sally Mann, Carleton Watkins, Herb Ritts, etc. There are also any number of cosplay

photographers working today who are making amazing work and I’m constantly inspired by what they share on Instagram.”

CKM: How did you find yourself immersed in cosplay photography?

KQG: “The first convention I ever went to, and my first exposure to cosplay, was Otakon in 2016. I immediately fell in love with the talents of cosplayers and spent the entire convention taking hall shots. “

CKM: How long have you been a cosplay photographer?

KQG: “Unofficially since 2016 doing hall shots. My first booked sessions began in 2019.”

CKM: What was your first cosplay shoot and how did that go?

KQG: “My first official shoot was with @hillcitycosplay and @lazyrotini as Elsa and Anna from Frozen in 2019. We took a hike up a local mountain and I definitely leaned hard on my landscape photography skills! It was all natural light and some of the shots came out great but mostly I look back and cringe at my work from that time.”

CKM: What is a cosplay shoot like for you? What do you try to get out of a shoot?

KQG: “I tend to run around like a chicken with my head cut off, looking for different angles and back grounds. I try to find a good balance of structure and spontaneity; some cosplayers know exactly what poses they want and I will work with them to achieve it, but I also very much appreciate (and prefer) finding the unexpected shots and having those ‘aha!’ moments where ideas form organically.”

CKM: To date, what is your favorite cosplay session you’ve worked on or created?

KQG: “My favorite would have to be a Princess Mononoke shoot I did with @lazyrotini in 2020. For one thing, Princess Mononoke was the first anime I fell in love with and so I was very invested in the shoot, but also we managed to find the perfect mar riage of poses and environment. We spent three hours splashing across streams and climbing up waterfalls, continuing even as it began to get dark. To date it was the most productive shoot I’ve ever done and I love so many of the photos.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY COSPLAYERS: @LAZYROTINI (ANNA) AND @HILLCITYCOSPLAY (ELSA)

CKM: If you could work with anyone in the cosplay world, who would it be and why?

KQG: “There’s a European cosplayer, @himee.lily, who has done some amazing Rei and Asuka cosplay and whose aesthetic of using lots of natural locations for her shoots is right up my alley. Neon Genesis Evangelion is very important to me as an anime, and so I’d love to work with her as those characters (although I’d probably be too starstruck to work effec tively LOL).”

CKM: Hypothetical situation: You’ve decided to give up photography and retire. If you could chose one last shoot to do to end your career, what would it be?

KQG: “How dare you!”

CKM: Any events or conventions that you’d like to attend that you haven’t yet?

KQG: “I keep getting asked if I plan to go to Holiday Matsuri in Florida so I guess I’d better do that at some point LOL”

CKM: Any favorite conventions you like to work on a regular basis?

KQG: “My list of conventions varies each year but I intend to make Katsucon (Feb), Otakon (July/Aug), and Colossalcon East (Sept) every single year for as long as I can.”

CKM: What does the future hold for you in both long and short term plans?

KQG: “My main long term goal is to watch my now five-year old daughter grow up, and hopefully down the road she’ll want to join me at conventions where I plan to continue taking bookings from cosplayers!

I also hope to expand upon the times I get to make cosplay tintypes!”

CKM: Any upcoming conventions you’ll be attending where people can get a chance to work with you?

KQG: “I will be at Katsucon and Otakon in 2023 for sure, and at Colossalcon East I’ll have the opportunity to make tintypes again.”

PHOTOGRAPHY

BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY

COSPLAYER: @HILLCITYCOSPLAY (ELSA)

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY

COSPLAYERS: @LAZYROTINI (ANNA) AND @HILLCITYCOSPLAY (ELSA)

FUN FACT: ALL DISNEY COSPLAY COSTUMES WERE MADE BY @HILLCITYCOSPLAY

BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY

HOMURA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: KEVIN

CHARACTER: HOMURA COSPLAYER: @LAZYROTINI

Q.

GRAY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY CHARACTER: MULAN COSPLAYER: @CARMENTHESINGER

PHOTOGRAPHY

CHARACTER: BELLE COSPLAYER: @ MICHAELAAA312

BY: KEVIN Q. GRAY

TINTYPES KEVIN Q. GRAY

A tintype, also known as a melainotype or ferrotype, is a photo graph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal coated with a dark lacquer or enamel and used as the support for the photographic emulsion.

Digital photography is great, but sometimes I want to get my hands dirty like I used to in the darkroom and so about eight years ago I took a workshop on what is called ‘wet plate photography. Tintypes are one of these wet plate processes that dates back to the 1850s and involves coating black metal plates with collodion and silver nitrate, exposing them in a large-format camera, and developing them on-site. Everything must be done while the plate is still wet, so I have to carry my darkroom with me. In my case I use a pop-up ice fishing shack! Tintypes were popular with Civil War soldiers in the 1860s because they were inexpensive, quickly made, and because they were printed on sturdy metal they could survive being stuffed in a backpack or mailed back home.

They have a look that is so ethereal and unique, and there’s a reverence involved in the whole process of making them. Slight differences in temperature, age of the chemicals, quality of light, and a million other atmospheric changes can affect the final look of the plate, and you need to learn to accept the happy accidents and make adjustments on the fly. People who pose for a tintype can lit erally watch their image form when the plate is dipped in the fixer, and seeing this magic take place never ever gets old.

Be sure to check out Kevin at Colossalcon East 2023 for more of his Tintype work.

TINTYPES

Mizz ChantAl Cosplay

My name is Mizz Chantal Cosplay, and my Spidey over there is Oliver.

We decided to have some fun for the Holidays and do a Black Cat, Spiderman team up. This photo set was shot very tongue and cheek, and was taken by the amazing Ashley from Demonerd Photography. After all, the Black Cat always gets her man!

We hope you enjoy! See you around! :)

Spidey - @iammarriott Photographer - @demonerdphotography Me - @mizzchantalcosplay

The Corpse Bride

This photo shoot was a labor of love on both mine and Mia’s part. Shooting body paint in the heat is a lot of work but Mia persisted and the photos turned out abso lutely stunning. We are both so proud of this shoot and had the best time doing so.

-Christa Morgan

Model: Miamorcosplay

IG: miamorcosplay

Photographer: Christa Morgan IG: faesandphotos

Model: Miamorcosplay

Photographer: Christa Morgan IG: miamorcosplay IG: faesandphotos

TIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographer: Tight Photography Hair Stylist: Magicwithmartino Wardrobe Stylist/Model: Katelynn

Photographer: Tight Photography

Hair Stylist: Magicwithmartino

Wardrobe Stylist/Model: Katelynn

MaiMai is a nurse by day and does cosplaying and mod eling on her off days. Mai’s love for modeling started at a young age when she worked as a child model for shampoo TV commercials. Mai is currently active on creative scene as cosplay guest for events where her tasks include judging competitions, having a stall where she sells photos for charity and holding panels where she talks about cosplay art making and performing. Mai is actively participating in runway shows and travels all over UK for modeling and cosplaying gigs.

FEMALE MODEL: MAI

PHOTOGRAPHER: MATTHEW CHIANG

PHOTOGRAPHER: RANDY DAVIDSON IG: RANDY.DAVIDSON.PHOTOGRAPHY MODEL: KAYLEE ONEIL IG: PETITE_PENNYWISE

Once I saw the submission for Petite Pennywise, I couldn’t resist adding a few favorites from a recent shoot in No vember of Pennywise and Killer Clown. These shots were taken after Hallow een (the weekend after to be exact), but came out pretty good so I decided to share them.

Evolution Images will be at Steel City Con on December 10, 2022 and will also be attending Katsucon 2023 on Feb 17 and 18, 2023. Check out the Evolu tion Images Instagram page for updates and additional images.

PHOTO: EVOLUTION_IMAGES_2023 MODELS: KEVIN AND MEL

EVOLUTION IMAGES

DIGITAL ARTIST: RIPUSHKO IG: RIPUSHKO

PHOTOGRAPHER: ANDREW DULE IG: DULEDESIGNPHOTO

Hi there, I’m Ariel and I’m an avid fan of Disney and anime. Growing up I always dreamed of being some of my favorite characters so I decided to teach myself the ins and outs of cosplay and as of recently, I’ve started making my own cosplays via hand sewing as I don’t own a machine quite yet. While having a machine would be nice, I find enjoy ment by completely hand sewing my cosplays since it reminds me of how much some of the characters mean to me.

I first started cosplay with Kiss The Girl Ariel from the Little Mermaid all the way back in 2017, however, now I cosplay from some other fandoms as well including Twisted Wonderland and the Disney Princesses. The cosplay featured in this months issue of Cosplay Kingdom is Snow from a Webtoon called Fairybend.

Snow was my first really big sewing build and I’m very proud to say that I sewed him completely by hand. He took about a month and a half to complete and he was made for Colossal Con East’s 2022 masquerade. I unfortunately didn’t place with this cosplay how ever I still had fun making it and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to show Snow off to hundreds of people. Snow means a lot to me as he helped me through a tough spot in my life last May, so I’m really excited to have the opportunity to show off his cosplay in this issue.

If you would like to see more of Snow as well as my other Disney Princess and Twist ed Wonderland cosplays you can find me on Instagram at @ariellynncos and also on Tik Tok as @ariellynncos.