Feb 1, 2017 | Cosplay, Events, Travel |
It´s official. 🙂 I will attend the Animuc in München (Germany, 21.-23.04.2017) together with my partner Chiko-chan as special guest.
We will give together a workshop about Cosplay studios in Japan and I will also have a concert at saturday evening!
Next to this I will also join panels with the other international Cosplayguests.
I am really looking forward and cannot wait to be in München! 🙂
See you there!
Jan 30, 2017 | Cosplay, Photoshootings, Travel |
This weekend, I had my very first rain set shooting in my life.
I really love Japanese Cosplay studios and would love to take pictures in such a special location more often than once a year (when I am in Japan).
Sadly in Germany there aren’t many photostudios equipped with special furniture’s or special settings.
We still gave it a try and could find a few ones, which are offering furnitured or special locations for photoshootings.
Of course the standard in Germany is compared to Japan quite low but luckly there are still some, which are worth a visit.
About the studio:
This time we tried out the Uwe Lammer photostudio in Wuppertal.
Because I don’t mind traveling for a good photoshoot I decided to travel to my photographers place (Meermiau), who lives 4 hours apart from me.
(Normally he´s the one travelling, but this time it was my turn ^_-).
Uwe Lammer offers 2 different studios. Each studio has several different but unique settings.
We decided to book studio 1 which included:
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| A living room setting |
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| A Lost place setting |
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| Black/ Grey/ White background setting |
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| A Rain setting |
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| Changing corner with a mirror |
Also a fog machine was included. The studio also offers a light equipment rental.
But because Meermiau just bought two new flashes (now he has 5 including 2 umbrellas and colorfoils), we decided to go with our own equipment.
Unlike to Japanese studios you have a lot of place.
It is less cramped and you have enough room for your light setting. It is also a one costumer only studio. You don’t have to share your space and can take pictures without getting disturbed by other costumers.
The rain set:
We decided to book the rain set for an additional fee.
The rain set is approximally about 3 x 6 meter and features 3-4 different types of rain “shape”.
The most important thing: The room is heated and the water is warm or hot (depending on your personal preferences).
During the rain shoot, the owner Uwe will assist you and control the rain and fog machine (if you also want to use the fog machine). He can give you a lot of good advices and is a really nice guy.
You just tell him which water you need and if its too cold or too warm.
It was really helpful to have him, because we made pictures without an assistance and it was really comfortable to have someone around who controlled the water.
What you should know:
In this studio it is prohibit to step on the set ground with shoes without special mats.
It would be very slippery and shoes can damage the ground surface easily.
But the mats are quite big so it wasn’t a major problem.
The next thing is, you will get wet. Really really wet… down to your panties.
After only a few shots, I had a sea in my shoes and I was drowned in water.
If you go there, bring enough towels, changing cloths and shoes.
If you have parts or wig stylings which are not fit to get wet, don’t use them.
Its not like a slight rain, its like jumping into the sea and going diving for a while…
Also be careful and use water proof makeup, so it wont smudge during the shoot.
If you want to avoid looking shiny during the shoot, try to use a make up which has a good matt effect.
Uwe also told us, that the shoot is mostly over if you get water into your eyes. Because it would burn. It seems to be a bigger problem if you wear contacts.
I don’t have this problem, but my Cosplaypartners told me that’s a well known problem.
Although the water is warm, it can be a quite freezing experience.
Your whole body is wet, but during the shoot only a part of your body is under the warm water. This leads to the famous bathroom effect, that he other body parts are getting really cold.
We shooted about 1 hr per costume. Afterwards I got dry and changed.
I think this was a good timeframe. Because after 1 hour, you are not only reeeaaally wet but also really cold.
Warming up is quite important.
I also want to note, that it can be extremely exhausting.
I am pretty used to jump, run, holding difficult poses. But the water shooting was kind of level up. You have to be careful about the shape of your wig and if you want to do more poses than just standing or sitting around it takes more time than usual to get the perfect shot.
Next to your face and body it is important how you move. Because every movement causes a different shape of water.
It is also more slippery than usual and it gets cold very fast.
I can normally shoot about 15 hours a day with a break between every Cosplay for changing and a 1 hr food break.
I guess with a rain set, 8 hours are my limit.
An advice to the photographers:
Spitting around too much water is not allowed, because there are electronic devices, flashes and similar things around the rain set. But water still gets out of the designated wet area.
We used Meermiaus equipment and plastic bags to protect them.
Be prepared that you equipment might get wet.
Also plan your light setting beforehand. The faster you got your light and flash setting, the longer you can shoot. It is a run against the limited endurance time of your model.
Or the cloths and capes, which are getting heavier and heavier after every try.
I know that normally the photographers are making the light setting. When I am working with Meermiau, I make the setting and tell him what I want and need. I like to do this because due to that I have a great influence on the lightning of my pictures.
Maybe it is a good idea to talk to your model about the settings before making a water shoot.
Next time we will definitely bring an assistance.
We both work mostly without any assistant, because we don’t want to bother a third party.
But it is really handy.
If you want to throw capes, wigs or similar it wont fly as usual, because it got wet and heavy.
It is nearly impossible to get a nice flying effect without assistance.
My opinion:
It was a really great, unique and fun experience!
It was not cheap (but cheap compared to other German studios) but worth the money.
We didn’t really know if we could manage this shooting, but in the end it was really fun and we could take some nice pictures.
The owner was also a cutiepie and he assisted us even with our baggage and my very very wet costumes.
If you want to try out a rain shooting, I really would recommend to try it once in this studio.
Just be aware you will be very very wet!
Name: Uwe Lammer Mietstudio
Adresse: Scheffelstraße 33; 42327 Wuppertal
URL: http://uwelammer.de/fotostudio-wuppertal-mietstudio/
Jan 26, 2017 | Cosplay, Events, Travel |
It will be my first time with Chiko and my first visit in Belgium!
I cannot wait to meet all the amazing Cosplayers and Belgium Anime otakus!
And I feel so honored to be able to see the first Belgium World Cosplay Preliminary ever!
So looking forward to it!:)
See you there!
Dec 12, 2016 | Travel, Travel Reports |
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| Outside |
The Penguincafe:
I really love penguins and of course I visited the Penguin café in Nagoya!
I visited this place during my trip as World Cosplay Summit representative for Germany.
This is why I could enjoy the Penguin experience together with some German friends and my cute students.
The café is located in the Osu shopping district. As an Otaku you would say, near to Mandarake!
It is a very small shop with 2 floors.
But even it is a small cafe, a penguin sign will lead you to the right entrance. In the ground floor are some seats, the kitchen and the toilet.
The main seat area is located in the 2nd floor.
What I really loved about this shop is that you can find penguins in every corner, in every shape and size.
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| Penguins everywhere! |
You are also allowed to take them and to put them on your lap.
They even put some really cute plush penguins on the seats and displayed some penguin books.
Even the menu is full of penguins!
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| The menue |
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| Kingpenguinplate |
I ordered the Kingpenguinplate (1.100 yen) with an extra penguin and the Penguin Café Latte (600 yen)!
It hurt to eat them ToT all the penguins were so super cute! But it was super tasty!
After eating slowly our menus (puh it was a lot!) I went down to pay my food.
In the entrance area they have a small shop with penguin merchandise.
Of course I got some penguins. *o*
I really enjoyed that experience and had a lot of fun.
The penguins there are super cute and you are allowed to take pictures everywhere.
If you like penguins please have a look and visit this awesome café!
Website: http://www.pgcafe.jp (Japanese only)
Operating hours: 12:00～20:00, Closed on Wednesday
Size: 1F-> about 6 People, 2F-> about 22 people
Budget: Lunch: ~1.000 yen, Dinner: ~2.000yen
Adress:
Nov 30, 2016 | Events, On Stage, Travel |
You can listen to my voice at
~> Saturday the 3th December<~
~~> 14 o´clock at the Cosplay Stage<~~
Iam looking forward to see you guys. 🙂
I am also going to visit the Cosplayball
Mahou no Yoru. ^_- Looking forward to everyone I can meet there!
See you!
Nov 23, 2016 | Cosplay, International Cosplay Contests, Japan, Travel, Travel Reports |
I really need to say, that the World Cosplay Summit was a bit chaotic, because the schedule for the next day were missing or people just didn’t know what to do.
But still it was a life changing and great experience. I experienced so many awesome events, could meet so many great and talented people and had so many moments, which I want to remember forever.
I never expected to make so many friends and to have so much fun in these 2 weeks.
A lot of people told me it is stressful. For me only the championship itself was stressful. You had so much time at the other days and events, could take your time and feel the spirit of all the people who shares the same passion as you. Actually I rested and ate more than the last 7 months before the WCS…
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| One of my most precious memories. |
I never met so many Anime fans at once in my life and I really would recommend everyone, who loves Cosplay as me to go there, to meet the people and to feel the spirit of this community.
I wasn’t sure if my efforts would pay off. I am not a really good Cosplayer, nor a very good performer. I just gave my best in order not to regret it. These 7 months were very hard, where I pushed myself to my limits and barely met any friends or family. I know that other could do much better, but I am satisfied, because I know I gave my best. I don’t regret anything and just to experience this support during the end of the 1rst stage, it was worth it! Every single minute I spent into this costume, skit and preparations. Everything it was worth it.
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| Thanks Eriko chan and Yuuka chan for all your work! |
It was great and I am so happy and grateful for this experience.
I really miss the people and want to go back. I will try my best to meet them again, to have fun with them again and to create more great memories with them.
I am also grateful to have Chiko as my partner, because I never could imagine experiencing this life changing event with someone else as her.
I also was so grateful how much effort Patrick, Iris, Mo and Laura spent just in order to make the trip as comfortable as possible for us. Thank you so much for this support!
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| Thanks Chiko for being an awesome partner! |
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| Thanks Patrick for all your hard work! |
I don’t know if I did a good job as representative, but I honestly don’t care. I gave my best, I am happy with what I could achieve, it was more than I ever expected. And I also nevery expected to gain so much personally.
I am just so so grateful for this.
Thank you! And thank you for all your support!
It really kept me going and I nearly cried when I red all your messages and Tweets after the WCS. Thank you so much for being with us and for thinking about us. I never though that you guys would support me so much!
This was one of my best time in my life.
Thank you for being part of it!
I ordered the Kingpenguinplate (1.100 yen) with an extra penguin and the Penguin Café Latte (600 yen)!
I am happy to announce, that I am going to give a concert at the Comic Con in Dortmund. 🙂
