Cosplay sessions are some of my favorite times to shoot, but they don’t always go exactly how I plan.

I spent an evening at a open studio night with Enchanted Valkyrie at Copper Flair. This session wasn’t just about cool costumes, it was a reminder of the the importance of lighting choices and quick decisions – especially when you’re juggling multiple concepts in a short time.

We had a range of concepts that night. We went from Pokemon characters to superhero and fantasy setups. That variety is a heck of a lot of fun, but it can be very challenging if you don’t choose your theme first.

For Valkyrie’s Pokeball shots, I wanted something dramatic and powerful. That meant committing to contrast instead of playing it safe. I used harder side lighting to shape the figure and create tension. That concept needed to guide everything from lighting to posing and composition. Softer light would have been easier and flatter. The contrast introduced risk, but it also gave the images weight and direction.

Cosplay photography isn’t just about costumes or color. It’s about committing to decisions that shape how the viewer reads the character. The more intentional those decisions are, the stronger and more coherent the final image becomes.

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