Welcome to the Good Cosplay Thread Part 3 - The Pros of Cons.
Part 1 is lost to mists of time, but
Part 2 can be found in the Hall of Fame (hopefully).
Everyone is welcome to post what pictures they find, and I love it when the cosplayers themselves post in the thread.
Make sure to help me fill out tags for the thread. Characters, cosplayers, conventions... please add tags.
Be sure to help me identify cosplay I don't know, or correct me when I'm wrong. Also, if you know the name a cosplayer goes by, and if they have a website, Flickr photostream, Youtube channel, DeviantArt account, blog or other home on the web, I'd love to know about it.
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When I started the last Good Cosplay thread ten months ago, having no idea it would run to 2,000 posts. In hopes of getting this thread off on the right foot, I've gone through the old thread and picked out some of my favorite photos. It was hard whittling it down, so I went with the best images, not necessarily the best costumes.
*Disclaimer*, I'm not a cosplayer or a photographer. These were chosen by my personal preference, and may not reflect a general concensus of artist merit.
*
It was very difficult to pick photos, and I had over 60 that were on the "short list" before narrowing it down to the final 30 that will make up the first 3 posts in this thread (please hold your replies at least until I get done with these three "best of" posts.) I estimate there were over 7,000 cosplay photos in the last thread, and I hope no one feels bad if one of their favorite pics didn't end up in the half-of-a-percent that I chose. (Damn, I once figured that I sifted through over 100 pictures on Flickr to find one photo for the thread. I've probably flipped through well over a half a milllion photos by now, even if my numbers aren't as conservative as I think. :wtf
One last note. I'll be switching photo labels to below the image, since Google image search seems to expect them there, and the "best of" photos will be larger sizes. I'll go back to the medium size when I move on to new photos.
So, what draws my attention, and makes me like a cosplay photo?
Well, sometimes the character is captured perfectly. As in this photo, with it's wonderfully mad smile.
the Joker : DC Comics
Other times it's just my fondness for redheads, though this Sally is excellent beyond a beautiful canvas.
Sally : The Nightmare Before Christmas (Cosplayer:
Tallest Silver)
I also have a fondness for wings. Even when I don't know what character is being cosplayed.
Golden Wings
I'm also drawn to colored glasses, favorite or obscure characters (especially those I haven't seen before) but a wonderful location can really compliment a costume:
Setting the photo as an epic adventure.
Steampunk Slave Leia
Or complementing the colors of the costume.
Zafina : Tekken
Giving a super-hero a city to protect.
Ms. Marvel
Matching the setting of the source material...
Big Daddy and Little Sister : Bioshock
... or completely breaking cannon.
Batmen by the pool
Even something as simple as a set of stairs can provide the perfect backdrop.
Wonder Girl / Donna Troy : DC Comics
The right setting provides wonderful lighting and color, showing off wonderful costuming.
Black Canary : DC Comics (cosplayer:
Kelldar)