When you’ve spent countless hours making an amazing costume for Comic-Con you hope to get your picture taken, right? Well, you will! Tons of professional photographers, amateur photographers & folks with digital cameras are going to be stopping you to capture your cool creation. So how do you ensure that they’ll get a good shot? You don’t have to rely on them to be an amazing photographer if you follow these ten easy tips:
 

1. Practice your poses. Put on your outfit and stand in front of the mirror to try out a bunch of different stances, looks & faces. Character specific poses are the best. Are you going as Wolverine? Make sure you get those arms up and claws out! Thor? Hold that hammer high! Try your best to invoke your character and you’ll get a dynamic shot every time.

2. Make sure you are wearing all your costume pieces. Pull your mask on tight, button up your jacket & straighten your wig.

3. Put down anything you're carrying that doesn’t enhance your costume. Having a picture of the Hulk holding a little bag of goodies and a hotdog might be fun for a candid shot, but is that how you want to be remembered? Have a friend hold your beer or stash your purse under your foofy skirt for the shot.

4. Hold your props correctly. You want to look like you know how to use that sword. Again, practice holding it. Don’t hold a sword on edge or it will get lost in the photo; you want the flat side out. Also think about where you are holding your prop. Is your giant, Viking battle axe obscuring the coolest part of your outfit or half your face?

5. Hide your badge! Nothing messes up a cool costume shot more than a giant white square.

6. No matter how you decide to pose, do not just stand there with your arms hanging limply at your sides. Do something to imply movement or your character. No matter how cool your outfit is, a shot of you standing bored in front of a wall is no fun.

7. Step away from the crowd. Don’t let a photographer stop you in the middle of the walkway. You’ll get jostled and bumped. Someone will inevitably walk between you and the photographer and you’ll basically just look like a jerk for stopping traffic. It takes two seconds to step to the side and find an open spot.

8. You can always say no, but be polite. Photographers understand that you are there to enjoy the Con and may be on your way to a panel, a booth or just barely about to make it to the bathroom line, so just politely decline and keep on your merry way.

9. Most photographers will want to take more than one shot to make sure they get a good one. Have a couple of different poses on hand so you can change it up.

10. Most everyone will be posting their photos somewhere and don’t you want to see them? Ask if they have a card or write down their facebook/flickr/myspace account name so you can find them later. It’s always good to have a little notebook handy just for this purpose. If you have a card, make sure to give them one and ask that they send you the link. You’d be surprised how many people actually will.

Most important of all – HAVE FUN! The more fun you are having, the better photos you’ll take.

Make sure to check back with ComicsOnline for my next post filled with tips on being on the other side of the camera!