smithers456

Here is my Story:

I started to do Amateur Photography when I was 10 years old. Having just over 40 years of experience I have been able to take photos of a wide variety of subjects over those years. Photographic categories have included travel, nature, history, geology, family, and people.

A new photographic category has recently gotten my attention that I'm very excited about. I have been taking photos of Cosplayers since 2009. When I started going to Cosplay / Anime cons I was surprised by 3 things. Most Cosplayers wanted to have pictures taken of them and they would even pose at times for the pictures. I was also amazed at the number of Cosplay outfits which were mostly hand made.

Being born on Halloween I have always liked costumes in general. Cosplay outfits are costumes that are worn all year round. They are a tribute to the characters that the cosplayer portray and range from bought costumes, ones created from scratch, and professionally made ones. One thing that they all have in common is the cosplayers desire to dress up as one of their favorite characters. A dream came true when I combined my Love of Costumes and photography together into a new interest, Cosplay Photography!!

For the first time in my life other people including Cosplayers at the Cosplay / Anime conventions wanted to take photos of me!! Like a lot of photographers I'm a bit shy about having pictures taken of me.

About 50 photos were taken of me in my Star Trek Cosplay outfit at my first con. After that experience much of my shyness went away and I was definitely hooked on Cosplaying, taking pictures of Cosplayers, and going to the cons. You can check out photos taken of me in my cosplay outfits in "My Cosplays" album.

My first venture into Cosplay Culture was creating a ACParadise.com Page. It was a wonderful experience creating my profile their and showing off my Cosplay outfits. Then I created a Cosplay.com page. On that page I started to showcase and share my Cosplay photos.

On this site I will showcase the photos that I have taken of Cosplayers and their outfits. My photography hobby also includes photos that I take when I go on outings and often shed light on many of my other interests. On this page I have two examples of my other photography work in my "Manistee" and Crystal Gallery Albums.

Check this DA page often to see new photos that I have taken of other cosplayers and even new ones of me!! You can follow my Cosplayer / Cosplay Photographer journey by reading my journals.

In addition to this page I also have a Facebook Photography page. On my Facebook page I promote and support artists, cosplayers, and other photographers. I often will post the work of others that I either have an interest in or simply admire. My Facebook address is listed below.

I also help run an Anime, Manga, Cosplay, Convention, and Otaku Guild. This Guild is called "Anime Conventions: The Global Connection" Guild. The Guild is on the Gaia Online Website, www.gaiaonline.com. I believe that you need to be a member to view the Website. If you are on Gaia Online already you can check out my profile page at www.gaiaonline.com/profiles/sm…