A fancy-dress photo session starts with an idea. And if this is your first experience, it is better to make a plan in advance to save time and get the most out of your creative idea.
So, first, determine the number of participants and the idea that you will embody in the pictures. Choose heroes, their appearance. The best option is to sketch each image on paper to work it out as efficiently as possible.
Costumes
Costumes can be obtained in at least three ways. An interesting way is to make the costume yourself according to the prepared sketches. You can get together in your free time with friends and sew costumes together, helping each other, as well as craft various accessories-attributes for your heroes: decorative lanterns, staves, wings, stylizations for mechanical parts of the body - anything you want can be made of papier -mash and other materials at hand, there would be fantasy and strong glue.
The second option is simpler, but much more expensive. Taking sketches and purchased materials with you, go to the seamstress and order a suit from her. You can control the sewing process by regularly showing up for fittings. However, finding a master who can make attributes and other jewelry for you is much more difficult to find.
The third option is very simple: rent the costumes from theater studios or from your cosplay and role-playing friends. The disadvantage of this option is obvious: you will only have at your disposal already existing images, worked out by someone, so you will not be too original. But if you need a photo session solely for pleasure, and not for creative self-realization, this should not confuse you. Feel free to invent a story for the existing looks that you managed to "rent", and do not forget about some thanks to your friends who lent you the costumes.
The shoot place
Choose the location of the “action” of the scene, that is, the location of the shooting. You can, of course, rent a studio, and then "put" any background in "Photoshop", but then there will be no interaction with background objects, and everything will look quite artificial. It is much more interesting to find a suitable place in reality and conduct an “exit” photo session: it can be a forest for an elven story, an abandoned house for a horror movie, an industrial zone for a steam-punk plot.
The choice of a place is a crucial point that should be worked out in advance: an abandoned house should not be dangerous (do not fall into a rotten floor), in an industrial zone you may be prohibited from shooting (strategic objects), and before a trip to the forest, you should simply wait for good weather (if, of course, you are not having a "rainy" photo session). As a rule, a win-win option for many photo shoots (especially the first ones) is a park (there you can find a lot of interesting backgrounds and objects for filming - benches, gazebos, ponds, flower beds, massive trees and decorative bushes-thickets) or a cafe (should be discussed in advance a costume photo session with the owners of the establishment - perhaps they will disagree or demand some monetary reward for renting a place).
The technical side
To make the photo session as successful as possible, hire a professional photographer who not only knows how to shoot quality, but also owns graphic editors. After all, no matter how photogenic you are, you will definitely have to correct something in a computer photo editor: for example, add interesting visual effects to photos.
You will also need a professional makeup artist for maximum results. After all, a costume photo shoot involves not just makeup, but makeup. A foundation that matches your look, false eyelashes, imitation tattoos or scars are best done by a professional.
And then - it's up to you!
