Serenity and Yukata Photoshoot

Sept 3, 2012 my wife arranged a cosplay/yukata shoot of our friend, Yayi.  Yayi has been part of the cosplay circuit for quite a while now.  In preparation for the shoot I had to borrow some equipment which were not with him when I came by to pick up some stuff(thanks alot Pogs! LOL).  On the day(more like the night) before the shoot I had to report to work.  So I had to stay up all night and still be awake for the shoot.  

We went to Cambridge Condominium and was hoping to get start shooting outdoor as planned at 8:00 am to still get a bright morning sun but not too strong.  We came there around a few minutes after 8 and when I was snapping on some photos away in Cambridge clubhouse a guard told me to ask for some permit.  And we still had to wait for our friend to finish up preparing since she'll be in costume and all made up.  We had to wait and start checking out the place.  :(   Later in the day we found out that we have to pay Cambridge Condominiums just to shoot in their clubhouse or anywhere in the vicinity. 

So we waited and finally Yayi our subject for that shoot arrived. And we went away from the clubhouse and admin office.  We started shooting around 10AM, so the sun is to hard for direct light so we went under a building shade and started shooting.  We were aiming for more greens and plants for the first part of the shoot but we were shoo'd away but the admins so we made most of another location.  One of the things that I  borrowed is a reflector and it seems very helpful.  It's very useful in these types of situation.

Second part of the shoot we went into Yayi's condo unit and shot indoor.  We were going for a more dramatic feel with the help of my speedlite(Canon 430 EX II).  I was hoping for a 2 strobe setup but the other flash wasn't available so we had to make do with what I had.  

All in all  it was lots of fun, improvizations and all in all a great experience.  I'm thinking of shooting another friend(Kaye Warm). Hey Kaye, if your reading this, better free up your schedule, so that we can shoot you soon!

-PCheng