How are shoots run?

Setting a Date

Photoshoots are planned monthly on WPACS' Facebook group. The group will vote on a date that works best for them. The most popular date that enough moderators/photographers can attend is confirmed and a location is chosen.

Choosing a Location

Members suggest locations in the group, and moderators will research before settling on one. The criteria are fairly simple, it must be within two hours of the Pittsburgh area and it must permit noncommercial photography without any fees. Most public parks fall into this category, and Western PA has plenty of them!

Meeting Up

At the location, the group will gather by a pre-determined landmark or near the parking lot and wait about half an hour for all members to arrive.

Once a cosplayer has arrived, a ‘mugshot’ is taken. All fields on this board are optional except for the character name and the cosplayer’s chosen name—this could be their internet handle, nickname, or just their first name. Mugshots are shared in the private group after the shoot so that photographers may easily credit cosplayers appropriately.

When the full group is gathered, we will do a circle of introductions--this is just standing in a circle and saying our names, as well as pointing out who the moderators are if there are any issues.

Oftentimes, there will be late arrivals. Rather than holding everyone back, we post where will be heading next in the event, for example: "We will be meeting at the Kildoo parking lot beginning at 1, and heading down to the Mill at 1:30."

Shooting

Photographers will split up and choose a particular area to begin shooting in, and cosplayers will rotate between these areas. For example, at Hartwood Mansion, FPS Photography chose to shoot on the porch, Khaligraphy chose to shoot down by the pavilion, and John Hudson Photography chose to shoot at the back of the mansion. After they capture all cosplayers at these spots, photographers will move to another one.

After the Shoot

Once the photographers have finished editing, they will post links to their galleries, as well as their preferred way to be credited, in the Facebook group. Cosplayers can save the images and post them on their own social media with photographer credits.